Envoy: Karabakh conflict continues to be very strategically dangerous to whole region

By  Trend

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict continues to be very strategically dangerous to whole region, said Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to the US Elin Suleymanov.

“It is an unresolved conflict and continues to be very strategically dangerous to the whole region. The status quo is not sustainable. We don’t have peacekeepers. The soldiers are facing each other, sometimes just 100 feet apart,” Suleymanov told Fox News, Trend reports.

He noted that the potential for major escalation is always there.

“Both sides have enough weapons, enough armor -- the conflict could arise at any time. There is a dangerous reality on the ground where things could really get out of hand. People today have lived with this stalemate conflict. People want to see peace; people want to intermarry,” added Suleymanov.

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.