Latvian MP: Azerbaijan conducts a liberation operation on its sovereign territory

"I am very concerned about the fighting that has started in Latvia's friendly country Azerbaijan. For several days, the Azerbaijani military, in response to another military adventure of the Armenian political leadership, has been conducting a counter-offensive liberation operation on its sovereign territory. It aimed at restoring sovereignty and internationally recognized territorial integrity and for the liberation of its territory occupied 30 years ago. Azerbaijan exercises the right to individual self-defense provided for in article 51 of the UN Charter clearing its territory from illegal foreign military presence."

Deputy of the Seimas of the Republic of Latvia, member of the Latvian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Romans Naudins told Report.

He stressed that in the early 1990s, Armenian military formations occupied the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven border administrative regions of independent Azerbaijan (accounting for 20 percent of the country's part), which are geographically larger than Nagorno-Karabakh itself.

"As a result of an ethnic cleansing policy by the Armenian military formations, almost a million Azerbaijanis were expelled from these areas. Later, they had to live in tent cities for many years. Moreover, in February 1992, Armenia committed a real bloody genocide in the small town of Khojaly in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where more than 600 Azerbaijani civilians, including women, the elderly, and children, were barbarously killed based on ethnicity in one day. Under international law, people who have become refugees and internally displaced persons have the right to return to their homes, return their property, and visit their loved ones' graves. Negotiations with Armenia on the return of these territories to Azerbaijan have been conducted since the beginning of the 1990s with the OSCE Minsk Group mediation specially created for this purpose, co-chaired by the United States, France, and Russia," Naudins added.

The MP recalled that in 1993 the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions calling for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying Armenian armed groups from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. "So far, the negotiations have been unsuccessful due to Armenia's dangerous position, which grossly violates the norms of international law and ignores the UN Security Council resolutions. To some extent, the international community must also take responsibility for the deterioration of the two countries' situations. The European Union has also been very passive in protecting the Republic of Azerbaijan's sovereignty and internationally recognized territorial integrity. The actions were insufficient and ineffective. I believe that the leading officials of the occupying country-Armenia - should have been sanctioned as long as they pursue a policy of illegal occupation of foreign lands. I think that sanctions should be applied to the leading officials of the occupying country - Armenia, as long as they pursue a policy of illegal occupation of foreign lands. It is the feeling of impunity arising from the inaction of the international community that prompted the Armenian leadership to take the latest military adventure, which is a logical continuation of their destructive and provocative policy.

For their part, European Union politicians should be decisive and prioritize the territorial integrity of sovereign states. The war between Azerbaijan and Armenia can be stopped even tomorrow. For this, Armenia must withdraw its occupation troops from the occupied territory and sit down at the negotiating table with Azerbaijan."