Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

The use of force will not resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan told Trend news agency on July 17.

The embassy made a statement on the hostage-taking of Azerbaijanis (reportedly Russian citizen Dilgam Ahmadov, Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliyev and Hasan Hasanov) in occupied Azerbaijani Kalbajar region and launching a criminal case against them.

Armenian media had previously spread information as well as photos and videos about the Azerbaijani citizens taken hostage in the Kalbajar region, which has been under Armenia's occupation since 1993. They were represented as soldiers by Armenian media but the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry dismissed the reports.

The embassy reiterated its call upon all parties to refrain from the use or threat of force.

"The U.S., as a co-chair of the Minsk Group, remains deeply committed to working with the parties to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the embassy said.

Meanwhile, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said the Armenian side will mine all possible ways leading from Azerbaijan to the occupied Kalbajar region.

The State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People is taking all necessary measures regarding the Azerbaijanis taken hostage by the Armenian side.

The commission stated that people taken hostage in the territory of Kalbajar region do not infringe no state boundaries, as the Armenian side asserts, they were at the territories of sovereign Azerbaijan, recognized by the UN.

The International Committee of the Red Cross in turn continues negotiations with the sides on this issue.

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.