“Armenia tries to maintain status quo in Karabakh conflict via provocations, sabotage”

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 7 By Seba Aghayeva – Trend: Yerevan tries to maintain the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by systematically committing provocations and sabotage, said Italian Senator Maria Rizzotti. Addressing a Senate meeting, Rizzotti pointed out the crimes Armenian armed forces commit against Azerbaijani civilians, and condemned the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, the Italian Embassy in Baku told Trend July 7. The Armenian armed forces, ignoring the calls of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to change the status quo via substantive talks on the conflict, killed a two-year-old girl and her grandmother, the senator said. Noting that Armenia systematically and deliberately attacks civilians of Azerbaijan, Rizzotti assessed these actions as a gross violation of all norms and principles of international law and international conventions. Armenia ignores all UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict and Yerevan’s latest provocation is aimed at maintaining the status quo, she said, adding that the presence of the Armenian armed forces on Azerbaijani territories is the main obstacle to resolving the conflict. On July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled the Alkhanly village of Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district. As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on. 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.