Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Armenia openly stages provocative actions on the contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani troops, even ignoring the monitoring operations of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Armenian armed forces fired at OSCE representatives, as well as Azerbaijani positions during the monitoring on the contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on January 14.

Following the increased tensions on the frontline during the past days, the Armenian troops once again resorted to provocations during the OSCE monitoring, which was held on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops near the village of Horadiz of the Fuzuli district.

Yevgeny Sharov, the field assistant of the personal representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office, who took part in the monitoring from the Azerbaijani side, said the country’s armed forces created appropriate conditions for the monitoring team.

“As always, the Armenian side resorted to malicious moves to aggravate the situation. By such acts, it is trying to attract the attention of international organizations,” the Azerbaijani defense ministry said.

This is not the only case that Armenian armed forces grossly violate the ceasefire regime with Azerbaijan during OSCE’s monitoring operation.

In late October, despite being informed earlier about the OSCE monitoring operation, the Armenian troops continued their provocative moves on the contact line. The Armenian militaries opened fire on the contact line of troops prior to passing of the monitoring group to the opposite side.

Also, in early 2014, the OSCE monitoring group was forced to delay its monitoring operation due to heavy shelling by the Armenian armed forces.

Openly ignoring all the rules and laws, the Armenian side showed how it's indifferent to life of other people even if they are international mediators.

Despite obvious violation of international norms and laws by the Armenian armed forces, the international organizations and world powers continue to turn blind eyes to Armenia's aggressive policy. Such acts of Armenia have been ignored by the international community, though there are numerous facts proving Yerevan’s policy of aggression.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Armenia continues the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal of armed forces.

Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.

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

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