SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT BAKU As Azerbaijan readies to go for Parliamentary elections, aggressive policies of neighbouring Armenia continues to mak provocations. Reports say that during last 24 hours (February 7-8) Armenian armed forces have carried out more than 22 times the ceasefire violations sparking regional tension. Armenian forces which have continued to occupy Azerbaijan territory for decades have often tried to provoke security threats to the region. Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on Feb. 8 condemned the Armenian action and called the move as a threat to peace at a time when Azerbaijan was about to go to polls and strength democratic process.. Tension in this part of the world has been witnessed ever since Armenian illegal occupation of Azerbaijan territory.The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made illegaliy made territorial claims against Azerbaijani territory and occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the NagornoKarabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The UN has called for a peaceful settlement and urged withdrawal of occupied forces. Dozens of international bodies have called the Armenian move as provocative. The two sides reached a ceasefire in1994 ceasefire followed by peace negotiations.
