Armenia conducts military exercises in Azerbaijan's occupied lands
By Rashid Shirinov
Yerevan has once again proved its reluctance to engage in serious talks to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as Armenian armed forces in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan launched large-scale exercises there this morning.
The exercises, involving heavy artillery and armored vehicles, take place on the territory called Bagbanlar in the occupied territories of Agdam region. The sounds of fire from heavy artillery are heard in the villages of Agdam, as well as in Agjabadi and Barda regions, APA reported.
Baku has repeatedly stated that existence of Armenian armed forces in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories itself prevents the settlement of the conflict and serves to intensifying the aggravation in the region and occurrence of incidents.
The military exercises are illustrative as to the real intentions of Armenia and its unwillingness to settle the conflict through negotiations. This is also a clear manifestation of continued illegal use of force by Armenia against Azerbaijan.
Failure of the international community to properly react to such blatant and repeated violations by Armenia is a serious blow to the peace process.
Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims to Azerbaijan. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, but they have not been enforced to this day. Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. within the OSCE Minsk Group have also produced no results so far.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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