Nagorno Garabagh

Nagorno Garabagh

Former Armenian scout: Areas retaken by Azerbaijan are of great tactical, operative importance

25 May 2016 14:29 (UTC +04:00)

From tactical point of view, Azerbaijanis can kill tens of our soldiers, according to Vardanov.

“The 700-800ha area that’s being discussed is the neutral zone between the trenches. The area is thus important. One position is not of great strategic importance but is of immense tactical and operative importance, because the Azerbaijani side can now see observe our positions in the Talish village direction,” he stressed.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.