March to celebrate anniversary of April victories held in Horadiz
By Rashid Shirinov
A march dedicated to the first anniversary of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces’ victory in the April fights was held in Horadiz city of the Fuzuli region on April 6.
The procession started from the Heydar Aliyev Avenue and ended at the Flag Square.
The march was attended by Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Bahar Muradova, Ombudswoman Elmira Suleymanova, rector of Azerbaijan State Economic University Adalat Muradov, Fuzuli region chief executive Ali Aliyev, MPs, military and members of the public.
Besides, a ceremony of opening a monument in honor of Azerbaijani soldiers martyred in April 2016 for the release of Leletepe height was held in Horadiz. The attendees observed a minute of silence in the memory of th fallen soldiers.
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan are under the control of the Armenian military and separatists since a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan ended in 1994. Negotiations lasting for over 20 years have brought little progress in resolving the conflict, though a fragile truce has been in place.
One of the most tragic conflicts in the history of the 20th century and affected the destiny of millions again aggravated on April 2 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijan’s positions.
To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Leletepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.
With the assistance of Moscow on April 5, the parties agreed to suspend hostilities, but violations on the contact line continued until May 16. On this day, first meeting between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia - Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan from the beginning of the escalation of the situation in Karabakh, was held in Vienna for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (Russia, France, the U.S.)
During the meeting the presidents agreed to reduce the risk of further violence, the presidents also agreed to finalize in the shortest possible time an OSCE investigative mechanism. The presidents also agreed to the expansion of the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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