France-24 TV channel broadcasted reportage on the liberation of the Azerbaijani Kalbajar district from the Armenian occupation, QİA.AZ reports.
According to the reportage, Kalbajar is the second of three districts that Armenia must transfer to Azerbaijan based on the agreement reached with official Baku.
The TV channel’s crew in Azerbaijan informed about the entry of the Azerbaijani army into the Kalbajar district, which was under Armenian occupation, adding that for the first time in 27 years, the Azerbaijani army entered the district as according to the above agreement.
The reportage also reflected the comment of the head of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s press service Vagif Dargahli who noted that November 25 is a happy day for the entire Azerbaijani people and the Azerbaijani army and that the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the district was carried out in accordance with a trilateral statement signed by the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and the Prime Minister of Armenia.
“Today is the happiest day of my life because I hope to return to the land where I lived for 43 years. I believe that we will return there soon,” said Aslan Karimoglu, the displaced person from Kalbajar.
The reportage reminded that in 1993 the Armenian Armed Forces occupied the Kalbajar district of Azerbaijan, as a result of which tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis were forced to leave the district, and since then the district was kept under the occupation.
In 2020, the military confrontation between the occupying Armenian forces and Azerbaijan has intensified. Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan’s retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.
Further, the Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.
Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia’s PM, and the president of Russia.
A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were introduced at 00:00 hours (Moscow time) on 10 November 2020.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.