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Armenian Defense Ministry refutes Baku’s claims on shelling of Ganja

Armenian Defense Ministry Spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said that the Azerbaijani side keeps shelling Stepanakert, Gadrut, Martuni and other settlements of Artsakh

YEREVAN, October 11. /TASS/. Azerbaijan’s claims that the Defense Army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic shelled Ganja, in western Azerbaijan, have nothing to do with reality, Armenian Defense Ministry Spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said on Sunday.

"Although the Artsakh Defense Army (unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic - TASS) is observing the Moscow deal on ceasefire for humanitarian reasons and is not conducting fire, the Azerbaijani side keeps shelling Stepanakert, Gadrut, Martuni and other settlements of Artsakh. The Azerbaijani side’s statements on the shelling by the Defense Army of Ganja are an absolute lie and have nothing to do with reality," Stepanyan wrote on her Facebook page.

At the talks, brokered by Russia and held in Moscow on October 9, Azerbaijan and Armenia had agreed a ceasefire. It came into effect at 12.00 local time on Saturday, October 10 for humanitarian reasons, for the exchange of detainees and recovery of the bodies of those killed in fighting. Shortly after noon the sides traded blame for violating the ceasefire agreement.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians.

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States.

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