April 1, 2017 - 20:20 AMT
Baku's adventurism has damaged Karabakh peace process: Armenia

Azerbaijan’s adventurism has severely damaged the Nagorno Karabakh peace process, Armenia's foreign ministry said on Saturday, April 1.

Azerbaijan on April 2, 2016 unleashed a large-scale offensive against Karabakh which left hundreds killed and wounded on both sides. Top Armenian and Azerbaijan defense officials reached an agreement on the cessation of hostilities on April 5 in Moscow.

"During the four days of April 2016 Azerbaijan perpetrated the same type of aggressive actions and barbarism it carried out for about four years in early 1990s, when it was trying to deprive the people of Karabakh from their right to exercise their right to self-determination," a foreign ministry statement says.

"We pay tribute to the memory of all the heroes who fell repelling Azerbaijan's attack and gave their lives to prevent mass atrocities against the people of Karabakh."

While the international community was condemning the gross violations of International Humanitarian Law by the Azerbaijani armed forces, the statement says, Baku continued to hail barbarism.

"As a guarantor of Artsakh’s security, Armenia will ensure the safety of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. Together with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries we will continue the efforts aimed at an exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict," the ministry said.