Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday that a number of settlements in Jabrayil district on the line of contact in Karabakh are under the control of the Azerbaijani army.
"The armed forces of Azerbaijan have freed Soltanli, Amirvarli, Mashanli, Hasanli, Alikeykhanli, Gumlag, Hajili, Goyerchinveysalli, Niyazgullar, Kechel Mammadli, Shahvelli, Haji Ismayilli, Isaqli villages of Jabrayil district from occupation," the head of state wrote on Twitter.
Aliyev stated that Armenia grossly violated the humanitarian truce regime. "After 00:02 on October 18, Armenian armed forces, having grossly violated the agreed temporary ceasefire, fired heavy artillery at settlements and combat positions of Azerbaijan," the head of state wrote.
Yerevan and Baku decided to declare a ceasefire from 00:00 on 18 October (23:00 Moscow time on 17 October). Nevertheless, already on Sunday night, the sides accused each other of the ceasefire violation.
Fighting on the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh began on September 27. Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of unleashing military operations, in Karabakh, they report about artillery shelling of peaceful settlements of the unrecognized republic, including its capital Stepanakert. Armenia has declared martial law and - for the first time - general mobilization, arguing that Ankara actively supports Baku. Azerbaijan has introduced partial mobilization and martial law in some places.
On October 9 the heads of the foreign ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia arrived in Moscow at the invitation of the Russian president and together with their Russian counterpart they had been negotiating for more than 10 hours. As a result, Yerevan and Baku agreed to ceasefire in Karabakh from midday of October 10, to exchange prisoners and bodies as well as to agree upon specific details of truce in addition. However, on the same day, the sides began accusing each other of truce violations.
The conflict in Karabakh began in 1988 when the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan SSR. During the armed confrontation in 1992-1994, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts. Since 1992, negotiations on peaceful settlement of the conflict have been conducted within the OSCE Minsk Group led by three co-chairs - Russia, the USA and France. Azerbaijan insists on preserving its territorial integrity, Armenia protects the interests of the unrecognized republic, as Nagorno-Karabakh is not a party to the negotiations.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Ilham Aliyev / Twitter
Based on materials from RIA Novosti