Azerbaijan threatening to unleash fresh war: Armenian president

Press TV, Iran
Oct 6 2012

Azerbaijan threatening to unleash fresh war: Armenian president

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan says Azerbaijan is threatening to
wage a fresh war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory.

Sargsyan said on Friday that Azerbaijan is preparing to resume
fighting by accumulating a “horrendous quantity” of arms.

The Armenian leader reiterated his call for a negotiated settlement to
the territorial dispute.

“Now 18 years after the signing of this ceasefire agreement,
Azerbaijan threatens us with a new war,” Sargsyan noted.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are ex-Soviet neighbors that have been engaged
in a long-standing conflict over the mountainous territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh, where they fought a war in the 1990s.

“When I say that there is hatred towards Armenians, a general
xenophobia in Azerbaijan; when I say there is a dangerous accumulation
of armaments in Azerbaijan; when I say Azerbaijan is getting prepared
for resuming military hostilities and settling the conflict by
military means, that doesn’t mean at all that there is no need to
continue with negotiations,” Sargsyan said.

The Armenian president called for “concrete steps” by the
international community in view of a settlement.

He accused Azerbaijan of violating a European treaty setting limits on
holdings of weaponry, noting that inspectors have stayed put on
Azerbaijan’s stockpiling of arms.

Sargsyan, who will seek reelection next year, said he was confident he
would see a solution to the long-running dispute.

“At least I hope that I will never see Nagorno-Karabakh incorporated
in the Azerbaijani framework again and that in itself is a huge
success,” he said.

KA/AZ

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress