RIA Novosti, Russia
Jan 19 2007
Azerbaijan claims soldier killed in Nagorno-Karabakh
12:47 | 19/ 01/ 2007
BAKU/ YEREVAN, January 19 (RIA Novosti) – A soldier was killed when
Armenian separatists opened fire on Azeri positions in the breakaway
region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azeri Defense Ministry spokesman said
Friday.
The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies within Azerbaijan,
some 270 kilometers (170 miles) west of the capital Baku, first
erupted in 1988 when it declared its independence from Azerbaijan and
moved to join Armenia.
Over 30,000 people were killed on both sides in fighting between 1988
and 1994, and over 100 died following a 1994 ceasefire.
Ilgar Verdiyev said a 24-year-old warrant officer was killed January
17 in the Fizuli District in what he claims was a violation of a
ceasefire agreement by the Armenian side.
Nagorno-Karabakh remains under Armenian military control, and
tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia have persisted as a result.
The Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed republic in turn refuted
the allegations of the attack.
"There was no gunfire on that day, as far as I know, and generally
speaking, the Karabakh side is committed to the ceasefire agreement,"
said Senor Asratyan, the ministry’s press secretary.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov and his Armenian
counterpart, Vardan Oskaryan, are expected to meet in Moscow January
23 in another attempt to reach a compromise on the region’s status.
Residents of Nagorno-Karabakh overwhelmingly voted in a referendum on
the republic’s Constitution last month to reaffirm the predominantly
Armenian region’s independence from Azerbaijan.
More than 100 international observers and journalists from Russia,
France, the United States, Italy, Israel, Serbia and other countries
monitored the referendum.
The Azeri leadership, which is determined to restore its control over
the separatist region, dismissed the referendum as a farce.
The United States, the European Union and other international
organizations, including the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said no country will recognize the
referendum’s results.