Azerbaijan says Armenia violates truce in Nagorno Karabakh

The Armenian armed units over the past 24 hours "violated the truce regime ten times at various parts of the front, where they among others used high-caliber guns," Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.


The ministry said "the positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were under fire from the opposing positions, located near and at heights in Nagorno Karabakh and neighboring areas," which are controlled by the Armenians.


The situation along the line of engagement in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone deteriorated dramatically overnight to April 2 when fierce clashes began. The parties to the conflict accused each other of violating the truce.


On April 5, Azerbaijan's Chief of Staff Nadjmeddin Sadykov and his Armenian counterpart Yury Khachaturov met in Moscow with Russia's mediation. At the talks the sides came to an agreement on cessation of hostilities at the line of engagement between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces. On the same day, the two countries' defense ministries announced that the ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh would start at 12am local time. Since then, the parties to the conflict have been accusing each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.


On May 16, presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Vienna. Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev agreed to "make steps to monitor observance of agreements on ceasefire and introduce a mechanism on investigating incidents."


On July 1, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held a telephone conversation with the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, calling on them to advance the peace process in Nagorno-Karabakh. In particular, he emphasized the importance of fulfilling their agreements, reached in St. Petersburg on June 20, the press service of the U.S. Department of State reported.

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