Azerbaijani troops seize commanding ground on border with Armenia
By Laman Sadigova
Azerbaijani armed forces have restored its control over the Odundag commanding ground located between the Azerbaijan’s Gazakh district and Armenia’s Noyemberyan settlement.
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has confirmed news, stating the national army keeps under control the Odundag commanding ground.
The commanding ground has been strengthened from a tactical point of view and through engineering works, said the ministry on January 25.
Armenia keeps under occupation 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territories, ignoring their international calls to respect the international rule of law and withdraw from the occupied lands.
Armenia frequently stages provocations in the contact line to break the peace process mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group to achieve a solution to the lingering conflict.
In this situation Azerbaijan improves its military forces, spending big amounts of money to ensure its state security.
Azerbaijani expert Uzeyir Jafarov praises the progress that the army has achieved.
"The Azerbaijani army achieves more and more success in the light of recent developments," he noted.
Jafarov believes that this step can cause serious modifications in the conflict between the two South Caucasus countries. Jafarov said .
He also noted that this step can cause serious modifications in the conflict between the two South Caucasus countries.
Armenia pursues aggressive policy, and is unwilling to come to the table in the sake of peace.
Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.
The peace talks have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the co-chair countries over 20 years.
The sides to the conflict currently hold talks based on the renewed Madrid principles, which envisage return of occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control, ensure the right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their former places of residence, future determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh and etc.
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