It is so unfortunate that the world is going towards more deadly wars as both the parties, Azerbaijan and Armenia, didn’t respect the Moscow cease-fire agreement. The war is not a solution to any conflict but only the negotiations between conflicting parties can solve any problem. Azerbaijan and Armenia had agreed to a cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh after two weeks of heavy fighting that marked the worst outbreak of hostilities in the separatist region in a quarter-century (“Nagorno-Karabakh military death toll rises to 633,” Oct. 16, Gulf Today website).

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. According to the reports, more than 500,000 Azerbaijani residents who used to live in the territory and surrounding provinces were forcefully displaced by war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1990. After the year of 1990, Nagorno-Karabakh always remained a burning issue between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It is so sad that after the cease-fire agreement in Moscow between the countries the war is not stopped, the defence ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh region said on Friday it had recorded another 29 casualties among its military, pushing the military death toll to 633 since fighting with Azeri forces erupted on Sept.27.

The world’s powerful countries should play their honest role to stop the war first between Azerbaijan and Armenia, then there should be a peaceful and permanent solution of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory, which is already internationally recognised as an Azerbaijani territory.

Asif Sangi — By email