Category: 2017

Interfax - Russia & CIS Military Newswire
 Monday 6:36 PM MSK


Aliyev views exacerbation of tensions in Karabakh as reason for
speeding up settlement talks (Part 2)

 BAKU. June 19



The latest incidents on the contact line between the conflicting
parties in Nagorno-Karabakh prove the need to accelerate settlement
negotiations, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

"Azerbaijan is committed to observing the ceasefire. However, Armenia
carried out a military provocation on the contact line prior to your
visit to the region. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces gave an adequate
response, the outcome of which is known," Aliyev said at a meeting
with the OSCE Minsk Group's co-chairs from Russia, France, and the
United States in Baku on Monday.

Certain tensions persist on the contact line lately, Aliyev said. "It
is an important factor for accelerating the negotiating process," he
said.

He accused Yerevan of provocations on the frontline. "The Armenian
side had carried out another military provocation against Azerbaijan,
which led to the death of an Azerbaijani serviceman, following your
visit to Armenia and the occupied Azerbaijani territories and prior to
your visit to Azerbaijan," the president said.

The Armenian side always resorts to such provocations prior to holding
any important event or the OSCE co-chairs' visit, he said.

These actions of Yerevan are aimed at blaming Baku for violating the
ceasefire, Aliyev said. "They accuse us of anything, including
ceasefire violations. But one only has to look at the chronology to
see when the Armenian Armed Forces had killed an Azerbaijani
serviceman, and when Azerbaijan gave an adequate response to it.
Therefore, responsibility for the latest ceasefire violation on the
frontline rests with the Armenian leadership, and the Armenian Armed
Forces are accountable for any consequences," Aliyev said.

The recent events proved that Armenia is trying to interfere with
activities of the OSCE Minsk Group's co-chairs, he said. "Armenia is
trying to shift focus only to the security issues and is using the
events happening as a reason to accuse Azerbaijan of breaching the
ceasefire. It is entirely unjust stance," he said.

Russian co-chair Igor Popov, for his part, expressed the negotiating
process mediators' concern over serious ceasefire violations in the
Karabakh settlement zone. "We will report this situation in the
statement adopted following the visit," he said.

U.S. co-chair Richard Hogland and French co-chair Stefan Visconti, as
well as Personal Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej
Kasprzyk, also expressed their views on the negotiation process.

"At the meeting, the parties expressed their views on the emerging
situation and prospects of the Karabakh settlement," the Azerbaijani
presidential website said.

Tensions on the contact line in Karabakh have exacerbated over the
past week. Conflicting parties reported causalities among servicemen.