Nagorno-Karabakh’s Azerbaijani Community: Armenia pursues policy of annexation
By Akbar Mammadov
Head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Azerbaijani Community Tural Ganjaliyev has said that Armenia continues its illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and pursues the policy of annexation.
Ganjaliyev made the remarks at the online meeting of the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy on September 8.
Ganjaliyev noted Armenia’s cross-border military aggression in July that killed 12 Azerbaijani servicemen and a civilian, adding that Azerbaijan responded to this aggression by using its right of self-defence.
He also spoke about the damage caused to the civilian population and infrastructure in the border area as a result of the Armenian attack, saying that this constituted a gross violation of international humanitarian law.
Furthermore, Ganjaliyev pointed out that Armenia has not given up its policy of occupation, its territorial claims against its neigbhours and pursues a policy of annexation at the state level. He emphasized that all this is confirmed by Armenian Defense Minister Dmitry Tonoyan statement "a new war for new territories” made several months ago.
Stressing that Armenia is not interested in resolving the conflict and violates the peace negotiations, the Azerbaijani MP exposed Armenia’s attempts to cover up its acts of aggression in the eyes of the international community.
Ganjaliyev also noted that UN resolutions and documents of other international organizations demanding the withdrawal of the Armenian troops from occupied territories have not been implemented yet.
Tural Ganjaliyev is a Member of the Azerbaijani Parliament for the occupied Khankendi city of Azerbaijan.
The cross-border fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan started on July 12 with Armenia's firing artillery at Azerbaijan's positions in the direction of Tovuz region. Azerbaijani army lost 12 servicemen as a result of Armenian attacks. One civilian was killed as a result of artillery fire by the Armenian armed forces.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97
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