Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

Dozens of volunteers appealed to the Azerbaijani Armed Forces expressing desire to fight against Armenia as part of the Azerbaijani army after the aggravation of the situation on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in recent days.

Those who appealed include persons who passed military service, got higher education, as well as persons under 18 and elderly people.

The appeals indicate willingness to become volunteers in the case of war. Alongside with Azerbaijanis, citizens of foreign countries, including Turkey are also among the appealed persons, who also expressed their willingness to become volunteers in the case of war.

Gratitude was expressed to all the appealed persons and it was stressed that there is no necessity yet, as Azerbaijan has a strong army that is able to restore the country's territorial integrity.

The situation remains tense on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops. Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that the number of truce violations and intensity of shootings have increased in recent days. Thus, the ceasefire was violated 2,000 times from January 21 until now. In all cases, the shooting was countered by return fire.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs expressed their deep concern over continued violence in the region, according to the organization's statement on the results of the Paris meeting between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

The co-chairs stressed that recent incidents undermine negotiations and diminish the prospects for peace.

In addition, U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said at a press briefing on January 24 that the use of force will not resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the US and the OSCE Minsk Group are underway on the basis of a peaceful outline -called Madrid Principle -proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.