Esxpert says Azerbaijan gave fair response to occupation of its territories
Azerbaijan's response to the occupation of its legal territories
was fair and expected, says Thomas Goltz, journalist, professor at
the University of Montana.
"My position on Nagorno-Karabakh issue is well known," Goltz told
Trend April 6. "I support the concept of territorial integrity of
existing states. I have been waiting for an Azerbaijani response to
the Armenian occupation."
Goltz said that it is not important who triggered the most recent
incidents along the line of contact, the main point is that
Nagorno-Karabakh has been under occupation for more than 20 years,
and at a certain point push is going to come to shove.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a
result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was
followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented
four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed
forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of
Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side,
which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade
launchers.
The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the
Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack,
which led to liberation of several strategic heights and
settlements.
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