Azernews.Az

The Azerbaijani ambassador to the United Nations has sent a letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemning frequent violations of the ceasefire signed with Armenia following a lengthy war in the early 1990s.

The letter, sent by Agshin Mehdiyev on March 5, was circulated as an official document of the General Assembly and the UN Security Council, the Azerbaijani permanent mission said last Friday.

About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including the Nagorno Karabakh region, has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since the two South Caucasus republics signed the precarious cease-fire in 1994. Long-standing efforts by the US, Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have been largely fruitless so far, and clashes on the frontline continue.

Mehdiyev said in the letter that as a result of ceasefire violations by Armenia`s armed forces in December 2011 and January 2012 two Azerbaijani servicemen were killed and one civilian was wounded. The annex to the letter says that during this period Armenian armed forces attacked both military and civilian targets in Azerbaijan, shooting from their positions both in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and in Armenia.

The letter also condemned the statements made by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on the 20th anniversary of the country`s armed forces on January 22 and at a conference of the Volunteer Homeland Defenders Union on February 18. Mehdiyev pointed out that the statements contained ``fresh examples of blatant cynical distortion and perversion`` of the root causes and consequences of the war unleashed by Armenia against neighboring Azerbaijan.

The letter also said that amid Armenian propagandists` criticism over Azerbaijan`s increasing its military spending and allegedly bracing up for war, Sargsyan is making clear statements confirming Yerevan`s policy aimed at armament. In January 2010, the Armenian president claimed at the NATO headquarters that ``Armenia`s military has weapons that countries which are tens of times bigger could only wish for``.

The document also stresses that Armenia continues to increase its military presence in the Azerbaijani occupied territories.

``Notably, the media recently reported that Armenian armed forces are using intelligence drones in those territories. It is known that such a plane was presented to the public at a military parade held in Armenia on September 21, 2011,`` the ambassador wrote.

Ethnic Armenians are running a self-proclaimed republic in Nagorno Karabakh. Its so-called independence, declared at the time of the Soviet collapse in 1991, has not been recognized by the world community.

The region`s status has been a stumbling block in peace talks. Baku says it could be determined within Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity only after the occupied districts are freed, while Armenia insists that self-determination is the core principle for a settlement of the long-standing dispute. The OSCE mediators are seeking a solution based on both principles.

This story is published by AzerNEWS Weekly under a project funded by the Foundation for State Assistance to the Development of the Media under the President of the Azerbaijan Republic.