Today the chairwoman of the Council of the CIS Inter-parliamentary Assembly, chairwoman of the Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko, released a statement where the Assembly urged the parties of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to strengthen the peace process and respect the ceasefire.
"The Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of CIS Member States expresses strong concern in connection with the violation of the ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and information about deaths. The CIS IPA urges the parties to be restrained and take all possible steps to restore the ceasefire and settlement of the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region,'' RIA Novosti cites the text of the statement.
All the border posts of Azerbaijan on the night of April 2 were subjected to intense fire from large-caliber weapons, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and artillery units of the Armenian Armed Forces. In addition, a number of shots were fired at settlements near the frontline, densely populated by civilians.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts (20% of the Azerbaijan's territory) are still occupied by the Armenian armed forces.
In May 1994 the parties reached a ceasefire agreement during negotiations, which are still continuing under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group and the co-chairs of Russia, France and the US.
The UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions hasn't been carried out by Armenia yet.
