Armenia continues to maintain tension: Azerbaijani civilian injured
By Rashid Shirinov
The negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which have been held for more than two decades, are unsuccessful yet, and the parties involved in resolving this issue know well what is the reason for such a long delay.
Although the ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan was signed back in 1994, the situation remains tough on the fronline. The Armenian armed forces break the ceasefire on the frontline everyday and commit provocations with the use of large-caliber machine guns, mortars and other weapons. On April 18, another ceasefire breaking from the Armenian side resulted in an injury of an Azerbaijani civilian.
The Armenian armed forces subjected the Giyamaddinli village of Azerbaijan’s Agjabadi region to intense shelling on that day. As a result, a resident of the village Rahim Hajiyev got wounded and was taken to the hospital with heavy injuries.
This is another proof of Armenia’s hostile attitude not only to the Azerbaijani Army, but also to ordinary population, unarmed civilians who are just engaged in their daily activities. The Armenian troops often attempt to shell the Azerbaijani settlements located in the frontline regions, thus trying to threaten the lives of peaceful Azerbaijanis living there.
Azerbaijan’s villages in Fuzuli, Agdam, Tartar and other regions frequently face such destructive acts by the Armenian military. The murder of a 2-year-old Azerbaijani toddler and her grandmother is still fresh in the memory of all Azerbaijanis. That hideous provocation happened on July 4, when the Armenian troops, using mortars and grenade launchers, shelled the Alkhanli village of Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli region.
Azerbaijan has many times noted in the international arena the inadmissibility of such a conduct of the Armenian side, but the leadership of the aggressor country continues to preserve tension in the region by such provocations. The main objective of the Armenian authorities is to maintain the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh in defiance of the four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied regions.
Therefore, the international community must exert pressure on Armenia to ensure the cessation of armed provocations against Azerbaijan, the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions, and the beginning of substantive negotiations with Azerbaijan. Then, and only then, will peace reign in the region.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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