Azernews.Az

Azerbaijani President`s Assistant for Public and Political Affairs, Ali Hasanov has commented on the escalation of tension on the line of contact between Azerbaijan and Armenia as he was interviewed by Turkish TRT World television channel.

Hasanov said that the United Nations adopted four resolutions demanding an unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

Every time Armenia feels pressed “they provoke us and then blame us for it”, he said.

Hasanov, commenting on Azerbaijan`s retaliatory action, stressed that Armenians needed to see that they can no longer get away with these provocations.

“Therefore we responded with a response five times stronger than their assault.

Our expectations from Minsk Group and the United Nations for that matter is that as we heeded their calls and respected their decisions they have to put pressure on Armenia to implement the decisions. It is only because Armenia has not been held accountable and has not been pressured that they perpetuated the status-quo for more than 20 years and even more than a million of our citizens are refugees,” he said.

Hasanov further added that Azerbaijan possesses the ability to recapture those lands in a short time. “But for the sake of humanity we are going with the international community to achieve it through peaceful means. But if they do not see this Azerbaijan will reclaim its lands in its own way, and it will.”

The situation on the frontline aggravated on April 2 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijan’s positions.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

The hostilities renewed in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on April 4, as the Armenian side continued to shell the Azerbaijani positions although the Azerbaijani side announced unilateral ceasefire on April 3.

The Azerbaijani Army destroyed about 370 enemy soldiers since the start of the hostilities, according to the defense ministry.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to cease operations on the line of contact starting from 12.00, April 5.

The Azerbaijani armed units are now carrying out fortification work in the retaken areas, Defense Ministry reported.