AZERBAIJAN PREPARING FOR WAR WITH ARMENIA – EX-MINISTER OF NAGORNO- KARABAKH

Interfax
July 22 2009
Russia

Azerbaijan is preparing for a war with Armenia, Samvel Babayan, former
defense minister of the self- proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh,
told journalists on Wednesday.

"I see that Azerbaijan is getting ready for a war. We need to be
ready for it," Babayan said.

"A situation where Azerbaijan is purchasing a larger amount of military
hardware and its counterintelligence agents are studying the Armenian
language means that they are preparing for a war," he said.

"Azerbaijan has no obligations that could stop it from starting a
war. Azerbaijan will be defeated, should hostilities be resumed. It
is absolutely clear," the former minister said.

The authorities in Baku lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven
neighboring districts during a bloody conflict between Azerbaijan and
Armenia in the 1990s. As a result of the conflict, up to one million
Azeri people had to leave their homes. The UN Security Council adopted
resolutions denouncing the occupation of the Azeri territories and
ordering Armenia’s armed forces to leave the region.

The OSCE Minsk Group, which includes representative of the U.S.,
Russia and France, has been working to help Armenia and Azerbaijan
find a solution to the conflict.

A ceasefire agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia came into force
in May 1994. The OSCE has been regularly monitoring the parties’
contact lines.