10/19/2020

Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United States of America

Washington, D.C.

PRESS-RELEASE

ARMENIA VIOLATES ANOTHER HUMANITARIAN CEASEFIRE

• Both Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire from October 18, 2020. However, the Armenian forces immediately launched mortar and artillery attacks at the town of Jabrayil and the villages of Jabrayil region along the river Araz.[1] These attacks by Armenia undermined the second humanitarian ceasefire following the pattern of Armenian violations of the truce reached with the Russian mediation on October 10, 2020. Clearly, Armenia’s objective is not to cease fire and to save lives but rather to continue its illegal military presence on the Azerbaijani territory and to involve third parties directly into the conflict.
• Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated its readiness to resume substantive negotiations immediately, based on the basic principles, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. Unfortunately, the Armenian side avoids the peace talks insisting on certain preconditions and continues to undermine the established negotiation format.
• Armenia attempts to expand the scope of the conflict and destabilize the whole region by involving neighboring countries into the conflict. For this reason, Armenia fired multiple ballistic missiles from its territory across international border into Azerbaijani civilian centers calculated to provoke retaliation. After hitting Ganja, Mingachevir and even in the vicinity of the capital city of Baku, on October 15, Armenian forces launched operational-tactical missile from the occupied Gubadli on Ordubad district of the Autonomous Nakhchivan Republic.[2] On October 16, civilian settlements in Ganja and Mingachevir were hit for the third time during the last two weeks killing 13 civilians, including children.[3] Such deliberate attacks on civilians constitute a gross violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.
• Over the last few weeks, Armenia has significantly intensified imports of weapons and ammunition, including through flights many of which are conducted under the disguise of humanitarian cargo planes. Moreover, there is strong evidence that Armenia is actively recruiting foreign fighters and deploying mercenaries to the conflict area, mostly from the Middle East and CIS countries. During the last several days, four flights have been conducted from Suleymaniyah by Boeing-757 and Airbus-320 aircrafts carrying at least 1,200 mercenaries from Iraq only. There have been flights to Armenia from Cabo Verde, an island in the Atlantic, as well. In most cases, the Government of Armenia and Diaspora organizations organize special campaigns, including fund raising and ticket sales and define assembly points for the mercenaries. Azerbaijan has repeatedly raised the issue of arms transfers to Armenia with Russia.
• Leaders of Azerbaijan’s 20 Christian communities appealed to U.S. Congress rejecting Armenia’s propaganda efforts to cast the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is a religious confrontation. Instead, they emphasized that there has never been any faith-based persecution and all religious communities live in peace and security in Azerbaijan. Similar statements have been made by the country’s Jewish communities.
• Azerbaijan sees Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh region as fellow citizens within its diverse, multi-faith and multi-ethnic society. As President Aliyev stated[4] Azerbaijan will provide every condition for peaceful coexistence of Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh similarly to thousands of Armenians who currently live in other parts of Azerbaijan in peace and harmony.

For further information:

Phone: (202) 337-3500

E-mail: s_valiyeva@azembassy.us

[1] https://mfa.gov.az/en/news/6976/view

[2] https://mod.gov.az/en/news/armenian-armed-forces-launched-a-missile-attack-on-the-territory-of-the-ordubad-region-33003.html

[3] https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/diplomacy/armenian-army-launches-missile-attack-on-azerbaijans-ganja-mingachevir

[4] https://en.president.az/articles/42869