Turks protest against occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia

11 April 2016 10:20 (UTC+04:00)

1 501

Protests against the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan took place in the Turkish province of Igdir located on the border with Armenia, the Turkish newspaper 'Gursesgazetesi' reported April 11.

The protests involved more than 3,000 people.

The protesters condemned Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan and demanded its immediate withdrawal from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

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.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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.

---