Azernews.Az

By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has said that Armenia’s recent sabotage attempt on the line of contact shows that Yerevan is pursuing military adventure on the line of contact and seeks to aggravate the situation.

The ministry made the remarks while commenting on Armenian provocation in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Goranboy district at about 05:45 on August 23 when the commander of the Armenian sabotage group, Senior Lieutenant Gurgin Alberyan was taken prisoner.

“At a time when the Armenian armed forces are intensifying reconnaissance measures in various parts of the frontline, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, the reconnaissance and sabotage activities carried out under the leadership of Gurgen Aleverdyan show that the Armenian military-political leadership is pursuing another military adventure on the frontline,” the ministry said in a statement issued on August 28.

The ministry said that Azerbaijani has treated the captured Gurgen Alaverdiyan in line with the humanitarian law, adding that Armenia’s attempts to prove otherwise is aimed at diverting attention for Yerevan’s military provocations.

The ministry reminded Armenia’s cross-border aggression in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district last month that killed 12 Azerbaijani servicemen and a civilian.

“The world community understands that the Armenian military-political leadership clearly bears responsibility for the deliberate escalation of the situation in the direction of Tovuz. Armenia’s attempt to use the situation around the country's prisoner of war Gurgen Aleverdyan in order to divert the attention, is doomed to failure.”

Commenting on the Armenian FM’s claims that Azerbaijan violated humanitarian law with regards to Aleverdyan, the ministry reminded that Armenia has committed crimes against humanity against Azerbaijan including an act of military aggression accompanied by genocide and ethnic cleansing, for almost 30 years.

“As a result of the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 50,000 were disabled, about one million civilians were forcibly expelled from their homes, 5,364 went missing, taken prisoner and hostage and subjected to severe torture and humiliation by Armenia. The fate of about 4,000 of these people is still unknown.”

The foreign ministry also touched upon the two Azerbaijani civilians Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev who were taken hostage by the Armenian armed forces while trying to visit their homes in the occupied Kalbajar region on July 11, 2014.

“Currently, holding our compatriots, civilians Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev hostage, Armenia has tortured and illegally imprisoned them.”

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry also said that the Armenian authorities have repeatedly objected Azerbaijan's proposal to exchange prisoners and hostages from both sides with the principle of "all for all", supported by the international community, including the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

Armenia has made the bodies of those killed in the conflict the object of political and material gain, and has applied a "price list" to corpses in accordance with their profession or military rank, disregarding the most basic values of humanity and the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, the ministry added.

Furthermore, the ministry reminded that the Armenian authorities have refused to apologize for the grave war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Azerbaijan and its civilians by the previous military-political leadership.

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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

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