Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov has said that military provocations staged by Armenia demonstrates the terror tactics of the political-military leadership of Yerevan.

Bayramov made the remark during phone conversations with OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs of France Stephane Visconti, Russia Igor Popov and U.S. Andrew Schofer on October 4 amid escalation of the tension near Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The minister briefed the co-chairs on the increased tensions in the region, especially Armenia's deliberate shelling the Azerbaijani civilians and civilian objects.

He underlined that targeting the Azerbaijani cities located far from the line of contact, including the second largest city of Azerbaijan Ganja from the territory of Armenia, resulted in casualties among the civilian population and destruction of Infrastructure, reminding that so far 24 Azerbaijani civilians were killed and 111 injured as a result of shelling by Armenia.

Bayramov said that these military provocations Armenia pursues the goal to terrorize and spread panic among the civilians.

The minister stressed that the withdrawal of all Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in accordance with the related resolution of the UN Security Council is necessary for ensuring peace in the region.

In turn, co -chairs expressed their serious concern over the increased tension in the region and emphasized the importance of respecting the ceasefire.

On October 4, Armenia launhced missile attack on Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest populated city, killing one civilian and injuring dozens. There were also attacks on Mingachevir city that has a hydroelectric power station as well as on Khizi and Abheron region on the same day.

Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale operation in the front-line zone on September 27 at 6 am, shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani army from large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibres.

Azerbaijan launched a counter-offensive operation along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Azerbaijan liberated Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district as well as strategically-important Murov height and destroyed the positions of the Armenian armed forces in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag. In addition, on October 2 Azerbaijan liberated Madagiz (Sugovushan) village between Tartar and Aghdara districts as well as seven villages in Tartar, Jabrayil and Fuzulu regions. On October 4, Azerbaijan liberated from occupation Jabrayil city and several villages of the region.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

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