Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The recent sharp aggravation of tensions on the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops by the Armenian armed forces haven't been addressed properly by the international organizations.

Only the OSCE Minsk group, which is involved in the settlement process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, has voiced concern over the recent escalation of tensions- that is only thing this organization could do. Despite this body mediates on the negotiation process to bring peace to the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it achieved no breakthrough so far.

Armenia's provocative acts on the contact line put the peace on the South Caucasus in danger. By increasing tensions on the frontline, Armenia aims to provoke Azerbaijan into war and hamper the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which emerged in 1988 over Yerevan's territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani officials urged the international organization to take decisive measures against Armenia which has kept Azerbaijan's territories under occupation over the last 20 years.

Chairman of the Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of Azerbaijan and Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Political Affairs and Security, member of Bureau of the OSCE PA, MP Azay Guliyev said the international organizations should impose sanctions against Armenia over the recent events on the frontline.

He told Trend news agency that one of the most important and urgent steps should be exposing Armenia's expansionist policy at an international level to show that the country is the greatest threat to the security in the region.

Guliev said the traditional statements of "concern" by some co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are completely unacceptable.

"The Minsk Group should finally understand how dangerous the recent steps taken by Armenia are. It should also condemn seriously Armenia's violation of the ceasefire agreement and numerous losses. We expect the same fair position from the Special Representative of the OSCE PA for the South Caucasus, Joao Soares," Guliyev said.

Armenia escalated tensions on the border areas from July 31 to August 1, when reconnaissance and sabotage groups tried to cross the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops through the territories of Aghdam and Terter regions. They also attacked the positions of Azerbaijani armed forces on the night of August 1-2.

Thirteen Azerbaijani servicemen were killed and several others injured during the clashes between two sides.

Despite what is said by Armenian sources, they suffered more losses. However, the Armenian leadership tries to keep the number of losses in secret to keep calm its public opinion.

The Armenian media say only five soldiers were killed and seven others injured which seems impossible from a logical point of view.

There is no doubt that the Armenian side has suffered greater loses, as it was the Armenian armed forces who attacked the positions of Azerbaijani Army.

Azerbaijani MP Musa Guliyev said Armenia's efforts to hide information about the loss during their sabotage on the frontline indicate an alarming number of losses.

However, he said, Armenia will not be able to keep the number of losses in secret for a long time. The country will be forced to reveal the true numbers soon, as the families of died soldiers will demand more details.

Guliyev further said there are several reasons behind Armenia's provocative acts: First, the tensions which are underway across the world. The second one is Armenia's intention to divert public attention from its economic crisis to defuse any possible uprising.

"Armenia possesses great threat to the peace process on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said.

Military expert, Eldar Sabiroglu told local media that the recent events on the frontline showed that the enemy does not seek a peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. He noted that terrorism and occupation policy are the foundations of Armenian government.

He further said the international organizations, in particular, the co-chair countries of OSCE Minsk Group are demonstrating tolerance over this issue.

Sabiroglu noted that the mediators have turned into some tourists who come to the region to visit South Caucasus. He said the OSCE has held hundreds of monitoring on the frontline to date that had no real impact on the settlement process.

The situation will not change as long as Armenia is not recognized as a state-occupier and condemned by international community, he said noting that the military and political support to the aggressor country must be stopped.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by U.S., Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.