Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Resigns Amidst the Reinitiated Conflict with Armenia

Azerbaijan's foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov has stepped down after harsh criticism by the president over his attitude on the recent clashes with Armenia, reports Russian news outlet TASS.

According to the reports, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had relentlessly condemned his foreign minister during a cabinet of ministers meeting on Wednesday.

“I could not find him, he was not at his office,” Aliyev said to his cabinet and further accused Mammadyarov that he was irresponsible.

Azerbaijan and Armenia declare that the other was responsible of shelling military positions and villages on Thursday, infringing a day of ceasefire between the two former Soviet states.

The Defense Ministries of both countries have accused the other of firing projectiles and shells and encroaching each other’s territory.

International concern is amplified regarding the conflict because of the danger to stability in the region, which serves as a corridor for oil and gas pipelines bringing natural goods from the Caspian Sea to the European markets.