At least three people, including an Armenian soldier, have been killed in a fresh wave of clashes over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan as the two sides continue to blame each other for the violations a shaky ceasefire. Azerbaijan has said that 31 of its soldiers died, and several civilians also have been killed. An undeclared war between Armenia and Azerbaijan that began in the late 1980s was eventually brought to a halt by a Russian-brokered cease-fire in 1994, and the OSCE Minsk Group has been trying since then to resolve the underlying ethnic and territorial dispute between the two sides.
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Armenia that bears responsibility as an occupying country has always been and will further be a party to the negotiation process, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
The Armenian Diocese of Canada offers prayers for those who have lost their lives during this recent aggression by Azerbaijan, and for the safety of the peaceful Armenian population of Artsakh who remain vulnerable to the aggressor’s attacks.
“Azerbaijan strictly observes the cease-fire and we hope that Armenia will do the same”, Aliyev said.
“Civilian targets (in Azerbaijan) were also shelled by the Armenian forces”. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said April 4 that a “cease-fire would only be possible if the militaries of both sides return to the positions” they held prior to the outbreak of hostilities.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the International Committee of the Red Cross were involved in coordinating the arrangement, both sides said.
“The judgment stated that “the Republic of Armenia, through its military presence and the provision of military equipment and expertise, has been significantly involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from an early date; Armenia’s military support has been and remains a crucial factor in the occupation of territories and control over them”.
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Energy-rich Azerbaijan, whose military spending exceeds Armenia’s entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened to take back the breakaway region by force.
