Azerbaijan Will Not Pull Troops Unless Armenia Fulfills Demands

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has demanded that Armenia set a timetable for withdrawing from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories of Azerbaijan. He said Azerbaijan would not stop military action until Armenia did what he said.

In his speech, Aliyev said the Azerbaijani troops were in attack mode in the past week. They are determined to reclaim land that Armenia has controlled since the 1990s.

"Azerbaijan has one condition, namely the liberation of its territory. Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijan's territory. We have to go back and we will come back," Aliyev said, quoted by Reuters.

“The conditions are as follows: let them (Armenia) withdraw their troops and the confrontation will be stopped. But this should not only be in words, but in deeds, "he added.

Aliyev said the international community had failed for three decades to uphold UN resolutions or pressure Armenia to restore Azerbaijan. The content and tone of Aliyev's message made it clear that Azerbaijan would not accept calls for an immediate ceasefire, as pushed by Russia, the United States (US) and the European Union.

On Twitter, Aliyev also said his troops had captured Jabrail City and several villages. If so, it will be a significant advance on the southern edge of Nagorno-Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh leader Arayik Harutyunyan said his forces would target military units located in major cities of Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile Armenian Defense Ministry official Artsrun Hovhannisyan said: "I don't think that there is a risk for Yerevan (the capital of Armenia), but we are at war anyway."

Worst since the 1990s

The clashes are the worst since the 1990s, when about 30,000 people died and spread beyond the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. These events have raised international concerns about stability in the South Caucasus, where pipelines bring Azerbaijan's oil and gas to world markets.

The conflict is threatened with dragging other regional powers because Azerbaijan is supported by Turkey, while Armenia has a defense pact with Russia. Meanwhile, hundreds of people have died in a week as a result of fighting between Azerbaijanis and ethnic Armenian troops, including more than 40 civilians.

Azerbaijan previously accused Armenian troops of firing rockets at the city of Ganja, killing one civilian and injuring 32 others. Azerbaijan also said Armenia had launched a missile attack on the industrial city of Mingachevir.

Azerbaijan threatens to retaliate by destroying military targets in Armenia. The Armenian Ministry of Defense denied Azerbaijan's claims.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for an immediate ceasefire in conversation with the Armenian Foreign Minister. Lavrov said Russia was ready to help find a solution to the conflict through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Azerbaijan, however, said it had lost patience with the OSCE's failure to resolve the conflict.