Armenian troops’ shooting at Azerbaijani civilians shows inadmissibility of status quo

He noted that Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemns this attack and regards it as another provocation by Armenia.

“It is very easy to spot a combine harvester, working in the field, because of its size and appearance,” Hajiyev said. “However, it is obvious that the goal of the Armenian Armed Forces is to attack these civilian objects.”

The spokesman added that Armenia deliberately targets civilians, including young children, and civilian facilities, and this is of systematic nature.

“This latest incident once again shows that the status quo, based on the continuation of the illegal presence of the Armenian Armed Forces in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, is inadmissible and continues to be a serious threat to regional peace and security,” Hajiyev said.

He added that to change the status quo, Armenia must withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the NagornoKarabakh and surrounding regions.