Azerbaijan has always supported peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Ogtay Asadov, Azerbaijan’s Parliamentary Chairman, made the remark as part of the plenary session of the Parliament on April 15.

However, during the recent developments on the contact line of the troops, Azerbaijani Armed Forces proved that they are able to resolve the conflict in a military way as well, he stressed.

“We have not waged a war, but only responded to the provocation of Armenia,” Asadov said. “This is an important moment to force Armenia to the peace. Now, the negotiations are underway and I would like to believe that this issue will be resolved.”

Earlier, Hikmet Hajiyev, Spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, said Azerbaijan has always been in favor of substantive negotiations towards a comprehensive agreement in the conflict resolution process.

He made the remark commenting on statement issued by James Warlick, the OSCE Minsk Group’s U.S. Co-chair.

By continuing provocative actions leading to escalation of tension, Armenia avoids the substantive negotiations and tries to maintain the existing status quo by any means, Hajiyev believes.

“Today, everyone understands that exactly Armenia’s leadership prevents safeguarding peace, stability and prosperity,” he stressed.

Earlier, Warlick told local media that the mediators and co-chairing countries called on the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to take measures to comply with the ceasefire and immediately start negotiations on a peace agreement.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that the country stands for the peaceful solution of the long lasting conflict. To prevent Armenian provocations launched on the contact line of troops on April 2, Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Immediately after the escalation on the frontline, the OSCE Minsk Group, the sole negotiator to the conflict, has expressed concern over the situation. Through the mediation of the Russia, the parties to the conflict reached the ceasefire agreement, but ignoring all the commitments, Armenian armed units have continued to breach the fragile truce.

As a result of Armenia’s aggressive actions, six Azerbaijani civilians were killed, including two children under 16 years, and 26 residents were wounded. Moreover, massive shelling caused great damage to public and private property, as well as civil infrastructure.

Elmira Suleymanova, Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Commissioner, believes that Armenia has grossly violated the Geneva Conventions and its obligations to other international documents while committing these military crimes.

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. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

AzerNews