FM assesess Armenia’s military exercises in Karabakh as blow to peace process

Military exercises conducted by Armenian troops in the occupied Azerbaijani lands are a huge blow to the peace process.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made the remark while talking to reporters in Baku on September 29.

Mammadyarov noted that the Azerbaijani side has already informed the OSCE Minsk Group cochairs, engaged in mediation for peaceful settlement of the NagornoKarabakh conflict, about the incident and demanded them to contact the Armenian side and prevent such provocations.

“If we talk about the restoration of peace and demand the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories, Armenia’s conducting military exercises in the occupied Agdam is a provocation,” the minister said, adding that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will visit the region in October.

Mammadyarov noted that the MG co-chairs think that the work on the conflict’s resolution must be continued and they are going to visit the region in the second half of October.

The co-chairs plan to visit Azerbaijan and Armenia and perhaps, then they will determine which suggestions will be made for a possible meeting of the two countries’ presidents, the minister added.

Mammadyarov noted that he had discussed this issue with Russian Foreign Minister.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan twice since the April escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh, first in Vienna in May, and the second time in St. Petersburg in June along with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Nagorno-Karabakh talks held in St. Petersburg between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents and mediated by the Russian president were deemed “useful” and “important” by observers, while Baku called it “constructive.”

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, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the NagornoKarabakh and surrounding districts.