Azernews.Az

By Trend

Azerbaijan’s reestablishing control of its occupied territory will benefit both Azerbaijani and Armenian people, Samuel Kliger, Director of Russian and Eurasian Affairs at Jewish Advocacy Organization (AJC) told Trend.

“People in the United States watch with great concern the unfolding dramatic and tragic military conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Naturally, we, as well as the international community, call for a ceasefire and for a peaceful and diplomatic resolution of the conflict that is more than 30 years old. That said, we fully recognize Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and its right to defend itself and reestablish control of about 20 percent of Azerbaijan territory. Such an outcome will benefit both Azerbaijani and Armenian people,” Kliger.

In turn, commenting on the escalation of the conflict by conducting missile attacks against the civil population and infrastructure, Kliger said it is unacceptable and should be immediately stopped.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.

The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.

On October 6th, at about 9 pm (GMT+4), Armenian Armed Forces launched missiles at the Azerbaijani Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the largest strategic project in the region, which plays an important role in Europe's energy security. Azerbaijani army was able to disable the missiles in the air, so no damage was done to the pipeline.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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