Azerbaijan slams killing of border guard by Armenian forces
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has slammed the killing of an Azerbaijani soldier by Armenian forces on January 7.
"The killing of a soldier of the State Border Service guarding the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan is a crime, and the Armenian side is responsible for this vicious act," the ministry said in a statement published in its official website on January 8.
The ministry said that Armenia once again confirmed its aggressive nature by deliberately killing the Azerbaijani soldier.
"Consistent violation by the armed forces of Armenia of the ceasefire regime on the state border, as well as along the line of contact of the troops of the two countries, targeted fire on the Azerbaijani military and civilians… once again clearly demonstrate the falsehood of Armenia's calls for peaceful resolution of the conflict and the desire of Armenia to hide its occupational and aggressive policies," the statement reads.
The ministry said that Armenia, the country which keeps under military occupation the territories of Azerbaijan, violates the fundamental principles of international law.
"The Armenian side regularly attacks the Azerbaijani military and civilians by violating the ceasefire regime, and it should be aware of the responsibility for all its crimes and that its actions will not remain unanswered," the ministry concluded in its statement.
Azerbaijani border guard Farzali Farzaliyev was killed as a result of sniper fire in the direction of Gushchu Ayrim village of Azerbaijan’s Gazakh region, on the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border on January 7.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, which along with seven other regions were occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. Around one million Azerbaijanis were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities that were started by the Armenian forces due to territorial claims against Baku.
A temporary cease-fire agreement was signed between the countries in 1994, however a final peace deal has not been reached yet. Peace negotiations mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have yielded no results to this date.
Since 1992, negotiations have been underway for a peaceful settlement of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. In 1993, the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, due to the unconstructiveness of Armenia, they still remain on paper.
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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94
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