Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Baku accused Armenia of creating insecurity and causing human causalities in the region.

By not withdrawing its occupying armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, Armenia escalates the tensions and creates insecurity and human causalities in the region, said Hikmat Hajiyev, Foreign Ministry’s Press Service Head.

Hajiyev’s comments came in a response to the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry on January 3, 2015, which accused Azerbaijan of diversive actions on the contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani troops.

“Armenia, in flagrant contravention of the norms and principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations has committed aggression against Azerbaijan and occupied its territories,” Hajiyev said.

He stressed that continuation of the occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories and presence of Armenian armed forces in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan can only bring the negative consequences.

“Armenia, as a state committed to occupation and aggression, bears full responsibility for these actions,” Hajiyev noted.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

The large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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