Defense ministry: Frontline tension unrelated to political developments
By Sara Rajabova
Linking the tense situation on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces to political processes, particularly the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, means engaging in speculations, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman has said.
Eldar Sabiroglu was speaking to Trend news agency while commenting on Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan's statement claiming that the activeness of Azerbaijani servicemen, in particular snipers, on the Line of Contact, is related to the political situation, namely, the October presidential elections in Azerbaijan.
According to Sabiroglu, by making such statements Armenia is seeking to divert the attention of its disgruntled population.
"As is known, the situation within Armenia itself is critical. The people express their discontent to the Armenian authorities almost every day. In order to defuse the situation to some extent, Armenia is trying to shift it to Azerbaijan. But they should not worry: everything is normal with the elections in Azerbaijan: both the political situation and the situation on the troops' contact line is under control," the Ministry spokesman said.
As for the activity of snipers on the frontline, Sabiroglu said that until Armenia withdraws from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, these problems cannot be solved.
"Such a situation always exists. So long as Armenia has not relinquished its invasion policy, the situation on the Line of Contact will be tense. They are expressing concern over the activity of snipers and even put forward proposals on a withdrawal of snipers from the Line of Contact. But they do not realize that by the withdrawal of snipers it is impossible to solve the problem. In order to drastically solve the problem, Armenia should first give up its policy of occupation and pull out of the occupied territories. Only then will it be possible to talk about anything," Sabiroglu said.
A precarious ceasefire, reached after a lengthy war that displaced over a million Azerbaijanis, has been in place between the two South Caucasus countries since 1994. Since the hostilities, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Peace talks are brokered by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs representing the United States, Russia and France. The negotiations are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons to return home.