Azerbaijan, NATO Discuss Recent Violence in Nagorno-Karabakh - Ministry

A military delegation from Azerbaijan held a meeting with NATO representatives in Brussels on Tuesday and presented its version of the recent fighting in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the country's defense ministry said.

BAKU (Sputnik) — According to the statement, NATO representatives were also informed about responsive measures and necessary security actions taken by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in different directions of the front line in order to prevent "destructive" Armenian actions and protect civilians.

"Head of the Military Cooperation Department of MOD Maj. Gen. Huseyn Mahmudov briefed NATO representatives, in detail, on provocative and destructive actions taken by Armenian units against Azerbaijani citizens and settlements along the front line in the first days of April," the ministry said.

The meeting in general was devoted to discussions of "Partnership Goals within the framework of 2016 Planning and Review Process." According to the ministry, the sides also discussed regional security issues, defense sector reforms, and prospects of cooperation in the area of military interoperability with NATO.

On April 2, tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani breakaway region with a predominantly Armenian population, escalated. Baku and Yerevan accused each other of provoking the hostilities, however, the sides succeeded in reaching a ceasefire agreement on April 5, which has been followed by near-daily reports of truce violations.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been engaged in a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988, when the autonomous region left the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and proclaimed independence after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The secession triggered a war that lasted until a Russia-brokered ceasefire was signed in 1994.