Azernews.Az

President Iham Aliyev has said that Azerbaijan’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is based on the norms and principles of international law and on historical justice, adding that Armenia must withdraw its troops from occupied territories before the sides can come to an agreement.

Aliyev made the remarks in an interview with the Russian “Perviy Kanal” television on October 6.

“First of all, four resolutions of the UN Security Council, which were adopted in 1993, at a time when the Armenian occupying forces were seizing the territories of Azerbaijan, must be implemented. These resolutions send a very clear signal to the aggressor. They state that an immediate, unconditional and full return of the occupied territories must be ensured.

“Twenty-seven years have passed since then. The Armenian side does not comply with these resolutions, ignores them and tries in every possible way to freeze the conflict as much and as far as possible. All calls from the international community, including the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, that the status quo is unacceptable and must be changed, remain in the air,” the president said.

Aliyev said that current escalation of the confrontation began on 27 September, when shelling of Azerbaijani settlements, as well as combat positions, began from the occupied territories, as a result of which civilians and servicemen were killed in the very first minutes of this attack.

“We were forced to take adequate action and quickly launched a counteroffensive. As a result of this counteroffensive, we suppressed a large number of firing points and combat positions of the opposing side and liberated a part of the occupied territories in the northern and southern directions. Therefore, many settlements of Azerbaijan, citizens living there, can already live normally there because they are beyond the reach of Armenian artillery.”

The president reminded that 27 Azerbaijani civilians have been killed and more than 170 civilians have been injured in the Armenian attacks. More than 800 houses have been destroyed. As to Azerbaijan’s military losses, the president said that information related to this is confidential and the Azerbaijani public will be informed about this after the end of the active phase of hostilities.

Azerbaijan suppressed a large number of firing points and combat positions of the opposing side in counter-offensive operations and liberated a part of the occupied territories in the northern and southern directions. Therefore, many settlements of Azerbaijan, citizens living there, can already live normally there because they are beyond the reach of Armenian artillery, the president said.

“In recent days, however, the shelling of the territory of Azerbaijan is carried out by long-range artillery from the territory of Armenia, using such deadly systems as "Point U" and "Elbrus", which represents a flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention, a crime, a war crime. The shelling of the town of Tartar, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the conflict zone, continues this morning too. The population of Ganja, the second largest city of Azerbaijan, was also shelled. One missile hit the territory of our largest power plant in Mingachevir. More than 10 of our cities and hundreds of villages are subjected to massive artillery bombardment. This is an old tactic of the Armenian side. Every time they suffer defeats on the battlefield, they resort to such ignoble actions, trying to harm the civilian population and thus attempting to stop the counteroffensive of the Azerbaijani army. But they are not succeeding and will not succeed.”

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz