CSTO: danger of new escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains
YEREVAN, November 3. /ARKA/. The danger of new escalation and confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains, CSTO Deputy Secretary General Valery Semerikov stated on Thursday at a meeting of the secretaries of CIS Security Councils, TASS reported.
According to him, this year's events and incidents in CSTO's area of responsibility showed the need to optimize the military bloc's mechanism of response to crisis situations.
He said at the instructions of the heads of CSTO member states, a package of documents on this issue has been prepared and is being agreed upon.
On September 13, Azerbaijan launched an unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Armenia. Using heavy artillery, multiple rocket launchers and combat UAVs, the Azerbaijani armed forces shelled 36 residential areas and communities, including towns of Goris, Jermuk, Vardenis, Kapan, Geghamasar deep within the sovereign territory of Armenia.
The Azerbaijani attack deliberately targeted civilian population and vital civilian infrastructures. According to official information, more than Armenian citizens, both military personnel and civilians were killed and went missing, 293 servicemen were wounded, 3 civilians and 20 servicemen were taken captives.
According to the statement adopted following the October 31 summit of Russian and Azerbaijani presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Russian Sochi, Armenia and Azerbaijan reaffirmed their commitment to strict observance of all the earlier reached agreements in the interests of comprehensive normalization of their relations, ensuring peace, stability, security and sustainable economic development of the South Caucasus.
The parties agreed to refrain from the use or threat of use of force, to discuss and solve all problems exclusively on the basis of mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders in accordance with the UN Charter and the Almaty Declaration of 1991, and also stressed the importance of active preparation for the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia.
The parties agreed to make additional efforts to urgently resolve outstanding tasks, including the humanitarian issues, and also noted the key contribution of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to ensuring security in its area of deployment and stressed the need for its efforts to stabilize the situation in the region. -0-
