UN regrets worsening situation on Azerbaijani-Armenian contact line

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 8 / Trend M. Aliyev / The UN has expressed regret over the worsening situation on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops. "Soldiers have been killed for 20 years," UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan Fikret Akcura said. "Refugees and internally displaced people have problems." Akcura expressed hope that the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and Azerbaijan's membership in the UN Security Council will give an opportunity to accelerate the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan has intensified its efforts in this direction thanks to the membership in the UN Security Council, he said. Azerbaijan's Permanent Representative to the UN Agshin Mehdiyev sent a letter to the secretary general discussing the aggravation of the situation on the contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops. Recently, the ceasefire has intensively been violated on the front line. At 06:30 on June 5 Armenian sabotage group's efforts to enter Azerbaijani Armed Forces' positions in Ashagi Eskipara village in the Gazakh region failed and it retreated by suffering losses. As a result of the fight, 4 soldiers of Azerbaijani Armed Forces were killed. Another Azerbaijani soldier was killed as a result of fire opened from nameless heights in Gazakh region. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. - are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az