BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 23
Trend:
The latest Armenian provocations, committed in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, were condemned by the deputies of the Latvian Saeima, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Latvia told Trend.
Condolences were expressed to the Azerbaijani people in an open letter in connection with the death of Azerbaijani servicemen as a result of artillery shelling by the Armenian armed forces. The letter was written on behalf of 15 members of the group for promoting cooperation between the Latvian Seim and the Parliament of Azerbaijan, and sent to the Azerbaijani-Latvian inter-parliamentary working group.
The parties also expressed serious concern about the military escalation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border and called on the sides to resume peace talks.
The members of the group highlighted the occupation by the Armenian armed forces of parts of the Azerbaijani territories and expressed their hope that Armenia will be active in their liberation, which will allow people to return to their historical lands.
Following continuous ceasefire violations of Armenia's armed forces, the country launched another military provocation against Azerbaijan on July 12. Grossly violating the ceasefire regime, Armenian armed forces opened fire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district.
As a result of the appropriate measures, the Armenian armed forces were silenced. The tensions continued on the border, July 12 night. During the night battles, by using artillery, mortars and tanks, the Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed a stronghold, army vehicles.
As a result of the shelling, many houses in the Tovuz district's border villages were damaged.
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, 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.