Armenia assembles terrorists in Nagorno-Karabakh - defense ministry

By Nazrin Gadimova

Armenia assembles foreign mercenaries and members of the international terrorist organizations in the Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Zakir Hasanov, Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister made a statement as part of a meeting with visiting Herbert Salber, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, in Baku.

“We are well aware of the fact that during the recent clashes Armenian Armed Forces were completely demoralized,” the minister said.

“Therefore, Armenia tries to gather mercenaries and members of terrorist organizations, from various hotspots of the world, as volunteers to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Yerevan is openly collaborating with terrorist organizations, raising it to the level of state policy. We are urging the international organizations to legitimately and fairly assess this issue.”

During the meeting, the sides discussed the recent incidents and escalation of combat operations along the Armenian-Azerbaijan line of contact, as well as current situation.

Hasanov once again emphasized that Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territories have been remaining under Armenian occupation more than twenty years and as a result of the Armenian aggressive policy one million Azerbaijanis still remain internally displaced people.

Khanlar Valiyev, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prosecutor-General, in turn, said that the representatives of the reigning Armenian leadership committed very serious crimes during the occupation of Azerbaijan territories.

He further informed the EU delegation on the facts and evidences regarding the atrocities committed by the Armenian armed units towards Azerbaijani civilians during the recent developments in Nagorno-Karabakh and impiety towards the corpses that remained in the battlefield.

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.