Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has stated that Armenia has become a source of great threat in the region.

He made the remark in a meeting with OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, who are on visit to Azerbaijan on October 28, AzerTac state news agency reported.

During the meeting with co-chairs - James Warlick of the United States, Igor Popov of Russia and Pierre Andrieu of France, as well as Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, President Aliyev lambasted Armenia’s military dictatorship for the continues provocations against Azerbaijan.

He noted that the Armenian leadership does not give up provocations.

“Armenia launched large-scale military exercises in Azerbaijan`s occupied lands less than two weeks after the Paris negotiations of the presidents. Fight helicopters of the Armenian armed forces attacked Azerbaijan`s positions. The Azerbaijani side remained unresponsive to this for several days. Finally, the helicopters of the Armenian armed forces, which were conducting combat maneuvers over our positions, were annihilated when they openly attempted to fire at our positions,” President Aliyev said.

The Paris talks between President Aliyev and President Serzh Sargsyan took place last October. The meeting was expected to bring some breakthrough in the stalled conflict, but Armenia’s provocative actions and intensive ceasefire violations have aggravated the situation even more.

President Aliyev further noted that an attempt by a reconnaissance-raiding group of the Armenian military to commit a provocation in Azerbaijan`s territory was prevented this September, adding that the occupants suffered serious loses.

Armenian President Sargsyan was responsible for all these provocations, the president emphasized.

President Aliyev expressed regret over the fact that the international community, especially mediators, do not adequately react to cruel actions of the Armenian side.

“The Armenian armed forces regularly fire at civilians in Azerbaijan`s occupied territories, even the people who attend wedding ceremonies are shot, and as a result our civilian population suffers loses. But when the Azerbaijani side responds to such provocations, we face accusations,” the president said.

The head of state went on to note that the dictator Sargsyan regime has recently committed another political provocation by stating that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Armenia.

“Unfortunately, the mediators have not responded to this unbearable statement, which is contrary even to the official position of Armenia itself,” the president said.

President Aliyev further noted that the Azerbaijani side is deeply regretful about this situation, adding that this casts a shadow on the mission of the mediators.

The sides further exchanged views on the current state and prospects of negotiations over the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

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 one 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.

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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