Pakistan condemns attack by Armenian forces on Azerbaijan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan strongly condemned the attack by Armenian forces on the Tovuz district of Azerbaijan which resulted in several Azeri casualties.

The foreign office released a statement to extended condolences over the loss of lives to the bereaved families. It said the unresolved conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh poses a serious threat to regional peace and security with far-reaching consequences.

The statement said the recent provocative action is manifestation of Armenia’s attempt to distract the international community and hamper the ongoing negotiation process for peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Pakistan reaffirms its principled position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and reiterates its support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity Azerbaijan, it added.

Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Armenia due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and supports Azerbaijan in return for support over the Kashmir dispute.

At least four Azeri troops have been killed in two days of clashes involving tanks and artillery on Azerbaijan’s border with Armenia. The latest fighting was in Tavush an area north of Nagorno-Karabakh territory.

Azerbaijan’s military reported the four deaths but said it had destroyed an Armenian fortification and artillery. Armenia has not reported any deaths on its side in the clashes.

The two counties fought a bitter war in the 1990s when Armenia backed the majority ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

At an emergency meeting on Monday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said: “Armenia’s political and military leadership will bear the entire responsibility for the provocation.”

On 6 July, President Aliyev said peace talks with Armenia to settle the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict had stalled. He called recent talks between the countries’ foreign ministers “pointless”.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has long been trying to mediate a settlement of the conflict which dates back to the 1990s. The OSCE Minsk Group involving diplomats from France, Russia and the US is trying to build on a fragile ceasefire agreed in 1994.