Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

In far 1994, after the most intensive military activities in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to a ceasefire and signed the relevant document. Unfortunately, time has shown that the agreement doesn't present any significance for the Armenian government.

Constant ceasefire violations and provocations that the Armenian side commits every day on the frontline are the clear evidence of that. The Armenian army uses mortars of various caliber, sniper rifles and large-caliber machine guns during ceasefire breaching.

The tensions on the frontline increased in April last year, when the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire of large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers by Armenian army. To protect the civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and liberated several strategic heights and settlements.

However, the loss in the so-called Four Day War did not diminish the ardor of the aggressor Armenia, thus the provocations have not ceased, but even intensified. Now, the Armenian side violates the ceasefire 100-150 times on average a day, and the muzzles of Armenian machine guns are aimed not only at the Azerbaijani military positions, but also at the frontline settlements where peaceful civilians live.

Moreover, the aggressors often commit arsons in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, particularly in summer, which also spread to villages located near the contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani troops. By committing such provocations, the Armenian side deliberately seeks to cause harm to Azerbaijani people by making life at the border difficult and risky for them. Villages in Agdam, Fizuli, Jabrayil, Tartar and other Azerbaijani regions frequently face such destructive acts by Armenian soldiers.

It is also noteworthy that the Armenian militaries on frontline have even more intensified provocations during the OSCE Minsk Group's visit to the region. This has resulted in the death of an Azerbaijani soldier during suppression of the Armenian provocation on June 16.

Thus, although the OSCE Minsk Group constantly calls the sides to refrain from the use of force, prevent any further escalation in the conflict zone and return to peaceful negotiations, the Armenian side turns a deaf ear to all these calls and continues shelling the Azerbaijani side.

Azerbaijan, the country that for over two decades suffers the occupation of 20 percent of its territory by Armenian armed forces, has repeatedly voiced readiness to settle the conflict through direct negotiations with Armenia, in mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. However, the Armenian side is constantly trying to make up reasons to avoid a constructive dialogue and preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz