BAKU. July 5 (Interfax) - The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry sees the civilian casualties in the Karabakh conflict zone as a breach of international conventions, ministry spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev said.
"The intentional attacks of the Armenian army on the territory of compact residence of the civilian population have been systematic; they breach international conventions," Hajiyev said.
The latest events is another proof that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs shall follow the international norms, principles, decisions and resolutions of international organizations and "demand that Armenia immediately pull back forces from the occupied Azerbaijani lands and that the status quo be immediately changed," he said.
"Azerbaijani has repeatedly said that the illegal presence of the Armenian army on the occupied Azerbaijani lands is the primary cause of the escalating tensions in the conflict zone and the main impediment to the political settlement of the Karabakh conflict," Hajiyev said.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office has opened a criminal case in connection with the civilian casualties inflicted by Armenian mortar and grenade launcher fire.
The Defense Army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) said earlier it had suppressed a firing position of the Azerbaijani army in the Alxanli village.