Azernews.Az

The military leaders of Armenia that is facing turmoil at home have requested both the Azerbaijani government and international groups to immediately stop shooting on the frontline, the Azerbaijan Defense Ministry said.
In a statement issued last Wednesday, the ministry said the other side had incurred "numerous casualties and injuries" during a ceasefire breach by Armenia early last week.
"The combat readiness of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces is high. Challenging our army by force will not become the Armenian military," the statement said.
The defense ministry has confirmed that four Azerbaijani soldiers had been killed and one injured after Armenian armed forces breached ceasefire in the frontline Terter and Goranboy districts on March 4 in what is described as the worst fighting seen in the region in years. 12 Armenian soldiers died and 15 others were heavily injured during the skirmishes, it said.
The ministry said Armenia had violated ceasefire to divert attention from the internal crisis that followed the country's February 19 presidential poll.
Thousands of demonstrators protested in the capital Yerevan for 10 days after the election that they said was rigged. The protests were marred by heavy clashes.
Armenia blamed the opposing side for initiating the frontline shooting. It also claimed that the Azerbaijani ministry's data was inaccurate and it had allegedly sustained no casualties. President Robert Kocharian maintained that only two Armenian soldiers were wounded in the skirmishes. "One of our officers was wounded in the arm, while another's leg was injured by an anti-tank mine."
Kocharian alleged that after Armenian troops had regained the positions taken over in an attack by Azerbaijani armed forces, the two countries' defense ministers had a conversation and agreed to stop the fire. "I believe that by taking care of that incident we managed to stop the shooting along the entire frontline."
Kocharian claimed that the Azerbaijani side, wrongfully assuming that part of Armenian troops had been withdrawn from Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, attempted to take advantage of the situation. "I am saying with confidence that no forces had been pulled into Armenia. In my view, capitalizing on such situations is inappropriate."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus republics reared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims. Armenia has been occupying over 20% of Azerbaijan's internationally-recognized territory since the early 1990s in defiance of international law. The ceasefire accord was signed in May 1994, but over a decade of efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been fruitless so far.
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev visited the frontline two days after the deadly frontline shooting.
"Armenians have repeatedly resorted to such provocations on the contact line, but the latest development was more intense," he said in a meeting with Terter's executive officials.
During the visit, Abiyev enquired about the combat readiness of the servicemen in Terter and met with the soldiers and officers who were involved in the latest fighting.
The four Azerbaijani soldiers who fell during the ceasefire violations have been awarded posthumously with the Distinguished Service Order under the minister's order.
Abiyev delivered a harshly-worded message to Armenia. He warned that if the Armenian side resorted to such provocations again, Azerbaijan's retaliation would be harsher. He said that if the long-standing conflict is not resolved in peace, Azerbaijan will liberate its occupied territories through military action.
The co-chairmen of the mediating Minsk Group - Yury Merzlyakov of Russia, Bernard Fassier of France and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza of the United States - issued a statement on Friday over the developments.
"The co-chairs deeply regret the tragic loss of life along the line of contact in the Upper Garabagh conflict. The co-chairs call on the parties to restore confidence along the line of contact and desist from any further confrontations, escalation of violence or warmongering rhetoric," it said.
The co-chairs reiterated that there was no military solution to the dispute. "The outbreak of hostilities would destabilize the entire region, with calamitous consequences for all involved. The recent casualties and loss of life only underscore the urgent need for both sides to reach to an agreement peacefully through ongoing negotiations under the mediation of the Minsk Group co-chairs."
The mediators further called on Armenia and Azerbaijan "to redouble their efforts" to endorse the basic principles for the peaceful resolution of the conflict presented to the sides on the sidelines of the Madrid OSCE ministerial in November 2007, and to begin as soon as possible the process of drafting a peace agreement on this basis.
The co-chairs reiterated their support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and that Upper Garabagh's status is the subject of negotiations.
The OSCE chairman, Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva expressed "serious concern" about the latest skirmishes, in particular over reports of casualties including fatalities.
"I call on the parties to exercise maximum restraint, and observe the terms of the cease-fire," the minister said. "At this critical juncture in the negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the Garabagh conflict, any action leading to a destabilization of the line of contact can only have a negative impact on the overall situation. I urge the parties to avoid actions that could lead to further unnecessary loss of life."
The NATO representative on South Caucasus and Central Asia Robert Simmons said such developments could adversely affect settlement to the Garabagh conflict. At the same time, he voiced hope that the tension would not take a toll on ongoing peace talks and that such incidents would not reoccur.
Deputy spokesman for the US State Department Tom Casey said Washington "regrets" violation of the ceasefire along the dividing line in Upper Garabagh.
"We've expressed to both sides, both directly from Matt Bryza with folks in Baku as well as through a phone call he's had with the Armenian foreign minister our concern about this," he told a news briefing. "We think it's important that there be no further violations and it just points out the need for the two parties to work together with the Minsk Group to be able to come up with a diplomatic resolution of the situation."
Asked whether either Armenia or Azerbaijan have provided assurances that there won't be more violence, Casey said: "I'll let them speak for themselves. Again, we've made our views clear. There has not been a repeat of the incident and we hope that continues."
US co-chair Bryza told Russian ITAR-TASS news agency that the United States had received guarantees from Azerbaijan and Armenia about compliance with the ceasefire.