YEREVAN. July 22 (Interfax-AVN) - Azerbaijan is preparing for a war with Armenia, Samvel Babayan, former defense minister of the self- proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, told journalists on Wednesday.
"I see that Azerbaijan is getting ready for a war. We need to be ready for it," Babayan said.
"A situation where Azerbaijan is purchasing a larger amount of military hardware and its counterintelligence agents are studying the Armenian language means that they are preparing for a war," he said.
"Azerbaijan has no obligations that could stop it from starting a war. Azerbaijan will be defeated, should hostilities be resumed. It is absolutely clear," the former minister said.
The authorities in Baku lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven neighboring districts during a bloody conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the 1990s. As a result of the conflict, up to one million Azeri people had to leave their homes. The UN Security Council adopted resolutions denouncing the occupation of the Azeri territories and ordering Armenia's armed forces to leave the region.
The OSCE Minsk Group, which includes representative of the U.S., Russia and France, has been working to help Armenia and Azerbaijan find a solution to the conflict.
A ceasefire agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia came into force in May 1994. The OSCE has been regularly monitoring the parties' contact lines.