Unsettledness of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be studied

/AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Turkish envoy has said amid the recent developments along the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, the issue related to the unsettledness of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict need to be studied as well.

Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ismail Alper Coshkun told journalists on November 17 that the latest incident in the contact of line of the troops once again proved that the conflict should be resolved at the earliest time.

An Armenian MI-24 helicopter flying 1,700 meters northeast of the Kengerli village of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam region attacked the Azerbaijani army positions on November 12. The helicopter was shot down by the Azerbaijani side.

The three crew members on the board of MI-24 helicopter were revealed to be Armenian army's servicemen, who illegally joined the so-called "NKR army." Armenian government made all efforts to deny this fact that the dead crew belonged to its army, but a quick research about the identity of the deceased soldiers revealed that they were Armenian servicemen.

“It is possible to consider the issues connected with the events. But the main question is why the Azerbaijani lands are still under occupation. It should also be studied. It is clear that Turkey will always support Azerbaijan,” Coshkun said.

Baku blamed the Armenian authorities for their aggressive policy, calling the helicopter incident the next proof of Armenia's unconstructive stance on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which emerged in 1998 over Armenia’s territorial claims against neighbor Azerbaijan.

Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. Long-standing efforts by U.S, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing, almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.

The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.