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Azerbaijan sends letter to UN Secretary General and General Assembly concerning military exercises carried out by Armenia in the occupied territories last month

28 December 2010 09:00 (UTC +04:00)

The December letter, signed by ChargÃ© dâ€™affaires a.i. Tofig Musayev, describes a recent violence by Armenian troops on Azerbaijanâ€™s occupied territories. The letter talks about a following incident.

â€œAccording to mass media reports, on 19 November 2010 an incident involving the use of firearms and resulting in casualties took place in one of the military units of the armed forces of Armenia deployed in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. It has been reported that four conscripts (Levon Esayan, Nerses Galoyan, Narek Saakyan and Never Sargsyan) were killed and four other conscripts (Sarkis Melkumyan, Khachik Aleksanyanm, Masis Grigoryan and Manvel Azroyan) were wounded as a result of non-combat violence and exchange of fire between Armenian militaries. Attempts by Yerevan to conceal the citizenship of the aforementioned servicemen and their attachment to the regular armed forces of Armenia have failed and yet another piece of evidence testifying to this countryâ€™s illegal military presence on the territory of Azerbaijan has become known. Thus, with reference to the Public Relations Department of the Investigation Unit of the Ministry of Defence of Armenia, mass media outlets reported that one of the wounded conscripts, Manvel Azroyan, has been accused of murder and other criminal offences and detained on remand. Most important is that the Investigation Unit of the Ministry of Defence of Armenia is carrying out the investigation for a crime committed in the occupied territory of Azerbaijan and the accused is facing charges under the Criminal Code of Armenia. In other words, the Investigation Unit of the Ministry of Defence of Armenia exercises its powers beyond the territory of Armenia and this countryâ€™s Criminal Code applies to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Furthermore, as has become known, Manvel Azroyan is a citizen and resident of Armenia (Armavir province, Nalbandian village); he has been drafted into the armed forces of Armenia and assigned to serve in the occupied territories of Azerbaijanâ€, the letter says.

The letter also reminded that, this is not the only example of bloody incidents between Armenian militaries serving in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. â€œWhatever the causes of open confrontation and hostilities within the armed forces of Armenia, which reportedly have even nationally or ethnically motivated reasons, they unambiguously testify to the illegal military presence of Armenia in, and its effective control of, the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Besides, these incidents are a yet another striking illustration of the complete collapse of Armeniaâ€™s annexationist policy and the obvious demoralization and disorganization of its armed forcesâ€.

Mr. Musayev also raised the issue of military exercises that took place by armed forces of Armenia in the occupied Aghdam and Khojavand districts of Azerbaijan during the mentioned period and mentioned unprecedented aggressive statement by President Serzh Sargsyan, who personally observed these exercises together with his Minister for Defence, Seyran Oganyan.

â€œThe President of Armenia, inter alia, said: â€œIf the time comes, we will not only do again what we did in 1992-94, but will go even further and solve the issue once and for all; the issue will be closed for good,â€ adding that â€œIf the time comes again, this time our blow will be final and deadlyâ€. These cynical and nostalgic words, glorifying the heinous crimes perpetrated in the course of aggression against Azerbaijan by the armed forces of Armenia and the official Yerevan-backed irregular armed bands, mercenaries and terrorist groups, are self-explanatory and illustrative as to the real intentions of Armenia and its unwillingness to settle the conflict through negotiations and in a constructive manner. It is notable that the President of Armenia delivered his speech in Azerbaijanâ€™s occupied district of Aghdam, the seizure of which was condemned and the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal from which was demanded by the Security Council in resolution 853â€.

The Azerbaijani side considers that, such a provocative warlike gesture of Armenia and bellicose rhetoric of its high-ranking officials obviously run counter to this countryâ€™s stated commitments both under international law and within the ongoing political process towards the resolution of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan:

â€œIt is essential to note in this regard that the aforementioned military exercises and hostile statements coincided with the expected more decisive efforts to reach a negotiated settlement of the conflict, including in the context of the OSCE Summit in Astana, Kazakhstanâ€.

According to the letter, it is absolutely clear that, for the purposes of durable and lasting peace, stability and cooperation, Armenia must cease its destructive policy of annexation and ethnic cleansing, renounce its attempts to discredit the peace process within the OSCE Minsk Group and negotiate in good faith in order to reach the international law-based settlement of the conflict, providing for the complete withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the restoration of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the return of the forcibly displaced population to their places of origin and the peaceful coexistence of Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region within the Republic of Azerbaijan.