Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Every day since the announcement of the ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan back in 1994, Armenian militaries violated the ceasefire. Ignored for over 20 years, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict once again occupied the agenda of world with the eruption of hostilities.

The clashes that burst out following Armenia’s intense firing of the Azerbaijani positions on April 2 show that it’s high time to come to definite decision and solve the conflict.

Yerevan, which has pursued an aggressive and occupation policy for over two decades, tries to tarnish Baku’s image by provoking war and repeatedly violating the ceasefire and firing on civilians.

The international institutions one after the other make statements supporting the just position of Azerbaijan, and calling for withdrawal of the occupier troops from the Azerbaijani lands.

Pedro Agramunt, who serves as the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, has called for "the withdrawal of all Armenian armed troops from occupied Azerbaijani territories in compliance with the UN Security Council resolutions."

“I am extremely worried at the reports of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and deeply saddened at the loss of life yesterday,” he said. “I call on both sides to honor the ceasefire and swiftly resume negotiations towards a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."

Recalling that both Armenia and Azerbaijan committed themselves, when joining the Council of Europe in 2001, to use only peaceful means for settling their conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Agramunt urged both governments to refrain from using violence and welcomed the news of a unilateral cease-fire announced by the Azerbaijani authorities.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has also urged Armenia to immediately liberate occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

"I am very concerned about the exacerbation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict", Iyad bin Amin Madani, the Secretary General of the OIC said, Turkish media reported.

However, despite Azerbaijan's decision on unilateral suspension of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories occupied by Armenia, Armenian Armed Forces have resumed shelling of Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact.

Spokesman for Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry Vagif Dargahli told Trend on April 4 that on the night of April 4, the situation on the contact line deteriorated again.

“Despite the fact that on April 4 morning the situation somewhat stabilized, the enemy renewed shelling of our positions using heavy artillery again, including the settlements in Azerbaijan’s Aghdere, Khojavand, Aghdam and Terter districts. Azerbaijani armed forces returned the fire at the enemy," he noted.

On the night of April 2, all frontier positions of Azerbaijan were exposed to heavy fire from large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. In addition, Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled.

The counter-attack was made following provocations of the Armenian armed forces at night of April 2, which resulted in deaths and injuries of civilians.

Six Armenian tanks, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures have been destroyed and more than 100 servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were wounded and killed during the shootouts.

Twelve servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces heroically died, one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down and one tank damaged by a mine.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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