Saudi Arabia voices support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
By Ayya Lmahamad
Saudi Arabia has reiterated support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity amid ongoing clashes near Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region during the phone conversation between Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Faisal bin Ferhan Al Saud and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on October 11.
During the conversation, Bayramov briefed his counterpart on the latest tension in the region, in particular the purposeful targeting of Azerbaijani civilians and infrastructure by Armenia.
He underlined that after the humanitarian ceasefire was established, the Armenian armed forces fired rockets at Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest city, far from the frontline, killing 9 civilians, injuring 34 other including minors.
The minister stressed that Armenia's deliberate firing on civilians, homes, civilian objects and medical personnel as part of its aggressive policy against Azerbaijan, once again demonstrates the country's disregard for fundamental norms and principles of international and humanitarian law, including Geneva Conventions.
Moreover, Bayramov emphasized the need to implement the UN Security Council resolutions in order to ensure peace and security in the region.
In turn, Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister expressed his concerns over the tense situation in the region and noted the importance of resolving the conflict through political dialogue.
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.
Forty one civilians have been killed and 205 others have been injured since the outbreak of large-scale hostilities on September 27, after Armenia launched another attack along the line of contact. As a result of the shelling of civilian infrastructure facilities by the occupying country's armed forces, 1,165 houses and 57 multi-apartment residential buildings, as well as 146 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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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad
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