Hundreds of Indonesian Muslims performed sholat zenajah (special prayers for deceased) for Azerbaijani fighters who died in the recent fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta
undreds of Indonesian Muslims performed sholat zenajah (special prayers for deceased) for Azerbaijani fighters who died in the recent fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta.
'Just after Friday prayers, hundreds of Indonesian Muslim brothers performed sholat zenajah for our martyrs. We express our gratitude to our Indonesian brothers who took part in it,' Azerbaijani Ambassador to Indonesia Tamerlan Karayev told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
In a sudden escalation of fighting recently over Muslim-majority Azerbaijan's territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, at least 13 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed by Armenian troops, in a clear violation of the decade long cease-fire between Azerbaijani and its neighbor Armenia, Ambassador Tamerlan said.
According to the Associated Press, five of Armenian soldiers were also killed in the fighting.
Armenian troops with the help of former Soviet Union troops seized 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and its adjacent areas during a war in 1992.
Both Indonesia and the United Nations recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an Azerbaijan territory. Indonesia, which fully supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, calls for a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Many people in Indonesia and the world expressed their concern over the rising tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
'People in Nagorno-Karabakh suffered a lot in the past. We worried about the escalation of fighting there,' Imas Choirunnisa Fujati, the national coordinator of the Justice for Khojaly campaign, told the Post. Khojaly is a small town in Nagorno-Karabakh where more than 600 people were massacred in 1992
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently urged both sides to "refrain from further violence and commit themselves to immediate de-escalation and continuing dialogue in the pursuit of a rapid and peaceful political solution," the AP reported quoting Ban's spokesman as saying.
"There can be no military solution to this conflict. Retaliation and further violence will only make it more difficult to bring about a peaceful settlement," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin took the initiative to cool down the tensions by inviting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to Sochi on Saturday for a two-day emergency talks.
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