Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

This military provocation by Armenia is aimed at the deliberate worsening of the situation on the ground and demonstrates Armenia’s intention to enlarge the zone of hostilities, Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has said.

Bayramov made the remark during phone conversations with Deputy Secretary of State of the U.S. Stephen Biegun and Foreign Ministers of France Jean Yves Le Drian and Finland Pekka Haavisto on October 5.

The minister briefed his counterparts on Armenia's deliberate shelling the Azerbaijani civilians and civilian objects.

He stressed that as a result of the purposeful targeting by Armenian armed forces the Azerbaijani cities located far from the frontline, including Ganja, the second largest city of Azerbaijan, industrial city Mingachevir, as well as Khizi and Absheron region, there are a large number of casualties among the civilian population and destruction of civilian infrastructures.

Moreover, the minister emphasized that Armenia is violating international humanitarian law, stressing that full responsibility for the deterioration of the situation in the region lies on the leadership of Armenia.

Additionally, he highlighted the importance of obeying the norms and principles of international and humanitarian law, and implementing the demands of the resolutions of the UN Security Council for immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, for ensuring peace in the region.

In turn, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and Foreign Ministers of France and Finland expressed serious concern over the increased tension in the region and the widening of the geography of hostilities. Deputy Secretary of State and French Foreign Minister underlined the importance of continuing dialogue via the OSCE Minsk Group co chairs. French Foreign Minister stressed that the targeting of civilians and the expansion of the geography of military operations is unacceptable.

Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale operation in the front-line zone on September 27 at 6 am, shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani army from large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibres.

On October 4, Armenia launched missile attack on Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest populated city, killing one civilian and injuring dozens. There were also attacks on Mingachevir city that has a hydroelectric power station as well as on Khizi and Abheron region on the same day.

Twenty seven civilians have been killed and 141 others have been injured since the outbreak of large-scale hostilities on September 27, after Armenia launched another attack along the line of contact. Among the civilians are three children. As a result of the shelling of civilian infrastructure facilities by the occupying country's armed forces, 376 houses, as well as 63 civilian facilities were severely damaged.

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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