Nagorno-Karabakh accuses Azerbaijan of trying to translate shootouts into real hostilities
07.09.2015,
14:00
In a last week statement the Nagorno-Karabakh defense ministry accused the authorities of Azerbaijan of attempts to translate the heightened tension on the line of contact into real hostilities.
YEREVAN, September 7. / ARKA /. In a last week statement the Nagorno-Karabakh defense ministry accused the authorities of Azerbaijan of attempts to translate the heightened tension on the line of contact into real hostilities.
"The increased number of provocative acts on part of Azerbaijani armed forces on the front lines, as well as the dynamics of quantitative and qualitative growth of weapons used during these provocations indicate that Azerbaijani military and political leaders have switched to the criminal tactics of translating the heightened tension on the line of contact into real hostilities,’ the statement said.
"Today Azerbaijan is not trying as before to portray its aggressive actions as a retaliation to the Armenian side’s steps, presenting regular shelling of the Armenian positions by guns, rocket launchers and arms of various calibers as the implementation of its plan to demonstrate its military potential," the statement said.
The defense ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic warned that such behavior of the military and political leadership of Azerbaijan is a direct road to unnecessary and irreversible losses, while the further developments may lead to unpredictable consequences.
"The military leadership of the Artsakh Republic (Artsakh is the Armenian name of Nagorno-Karabakh) informs both the ministry of defense of Azerbaijan and international organizations engaged in the efforts to help resolve the conflict peacefully, in particular, the OSCE Minsk Group that the entire responsibility for the further worsening of the situation on the contact line and its impact falls on the Azerbaijani side," the statement said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. –0-
"The increased number of provocative acts on part of Azerbaijani armed forces on the front lines, as well as the dynamics of quantitative and qualitative growth of weapons used during these provocations indicate that Azerbaijani military and political leaders have switched to the criminal tactics of translating the heightened tension on the line of contact into real hostilities,’ the statement said.
"Today Azerbaijan is not trying as before to portray its aggressive actions as a retaliation to the Armenian side’s steps, presenting regular shelling of the Armenian positions by guns, rocket launchers and arms of various calibers as the implementation of its plan to demonstrate its military potential," the statement said.
The defense ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic warned that such behavior of the military and political leadership of Azerbaijan is a direct road to unnecessary and irreversible losses, while the further developments may lead to unpredictable consequences.
"The military leadership of the Artsakh Republic (Artsakh is the Armenian name of Nagorno-Karabakh) informs both the ministry of defense of Azerbaijan and international organizations engaged in the efforts to help resolve the conflict peacefully, in particular, the OSCE Minsk Group that the entire responsibility for the further worsening of the situation on the contact line and its impact falls on the Azerbaijani side," the statement said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. –0-
