Azerbaijan fights in its own territory, targeting only military targets
By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijani armed forces are fighting on their territory to restore the territorial integrity of the country, and striking only against legitimate military targets, Azerbaijani Presidential Aide Hikmat Hajiyev has said while commenting on the ongoing clashes near the country’s occupied-Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Commenting on the Amnesty International’s criticism of Baku due to ongoing military operations, Hajiyev said that the organization is showing double-standards by ignoring Armenia’s use of cluster bombs in Azerbaijan’s civilian areas.
Azerbaijani army does not target civilian population and facilities and does not use cluster munitions, the official said.
“Amnesty International pretends not to see missile attacks by Armenia on the civilian population of the Azerbaijan's second largest city Ganja, and Mingachevir, where there is largest reservoir and power plant, as well as other strategic objects,” Hajiyev said:
“Amnesty International once again showed that it is independent only on paper and, in fact, it is pro-Armenian organization that speaks unilaterally and biasedly from the position of double standards.”
Hajiyev noted that by calling itself a non-governmental organization, Amnesty International actually fulfills political orders and strikes at the philosophy of NGOs.
He further said that if Armenia is so concerned about the use of cluster munitions, first it should accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. However, Armenia is using cluster munitions against the Azerbaijan civilian population.
Twenty seven Azerbaijani 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.
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.
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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