Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

Presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev has said the Azerbaijani armed forces suppress provocations by Armenian troops in all directions of the frontline.

Addressing the press briefing in Baku on November 3, Hajiyev stressed that the international community's support to Azerbaijan in restoring its territorial integrity is a result of Azerbaijan's long-term activities in the foreign policy sphere.

He stressed that President Ilham Aliyev continues consistent steps to restore Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

"Armenians are still committing military provocations, but the Azerbaijani army suppresses provocations in all directions of the front," he said.

Hajiyev added that through its steps Armenia tries to involve other countries in the war.

He said that the talks with Armenia can be effective if the latter takes a constructive position, which, unfortunately, Armenia fails to do.

"By its actions, Armenia is trying to provoke other countries to participate in the war. This is a blow to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group," he noted.

Armenia using banned weapons

The presidential aide stressed that Armenia continues to fire at Azerbaijani civilians.

"Armenian troops use the strongest banned weapons while firing. They choose to wage an asymmetric war, that is a war by terrorist means. This is a method used by many countries. In case of defeat, the country resorts to an asymmetric and hybrid war," he added.

Hajiyev said that on the one hand, Armenia talks about a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, on the other hand, it resorts to provocations that damage the talks.

He described as a blow to the negotiations Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan's statements that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has no peaceful solution, the war will continue until the last soldier, and that Armenia won’t return to Azerbaijan its territories.

Hajiyev also spoke about the use of phosphorus by Armenia.

The use of white phosphorus runs counter to the international convention which Armenia has also joined. Therefore it is obliged not to use such weapons, he said.

Although white phosphorus is not considered to be a chemical weapon, it is poisonous to humans, stressed Hajiyev.

Child exploitation during the war

The presidential aide noted that Armenia used children during the ongoing hostilities, which is a gross violation of international conventions.

“During the hostilities, Armenia resorted to a number of war crimes. One of them is the involvement of children, exploitation of child labour," he said.

Hajiyev noted that Armenia had committed similar crimes against Azerbaijani children.

"Azerbaijani children were killed by Armenians in Khojaly. More than 50 schools were destroyed and damaged in the front-line zones. In one of the occupied districts of Azerbaijan, Armenia and the so-called "regime" use a kindergarten as military headquarters,” Hajiyev added.

Hajiyev recalled that 11 children were killed as a result of missile attacks by Armenian troops in Ganja, Barda and other cities.

Foreign mercenaries

The presidential aide said that Azerbaijan has reliable information that Armenian armed forces involve mercenaries from Lebanon, Syria, EU, and other countries, including Canada, into their ranks.

He once again confirmed the presence of mercenaries in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories and said that they are used against the Azerbaijani troops.

“Although most of them are ethnic Armenians, there are also people of other nationalities among them,” he noted.

Hajiyev added that terrorist organizations openly, via the Internet, attract various mercenaries from foreign countries to Armenia and they are paid for their services.

He added that Azerbaijan needs no mercenaries and that the Azerbaijani armed forces independently carry out all the set tasks.

Fake propaganda

The presidential aide said that Armenia claims that the Azerbaijani troopa allegedly fired at the Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque in Shusha.

He said that Armenia was trying to spread misinformation this way.

“There is no religious conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Azerbaijani armed forces do not fire at civilian facilities. The Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque is a historical monument of Azerbaijan, it is extremely important for us. The disseminated information is another provocation of Armenia,” added Hajiyev.

Information war

Hajiyev stressed that Armenia also unleashed an information war against Azerbaijan. In response to this, Azerbaijani President Aliyev gave interviews to over 24 influential foreign media structures from September 27 to November 2.

He stressed that some interviews lasted an hour or two hours, and thus, President Aliyev delivered Azerbaijan’s truths to the international community.

"During the interviews, President Ilham Aliyev was asked provocative questions. Despite this, he answered all questions demonstrating respect for freedom of the press. However, media structures that objectively cover the fair struggle of Azerbaijan in the world are subjected to pressure and threatened with physical violence from the Armenian lobby," Hajiyev said.

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. Armenia has been targeting Azerbaijan’s densely populated areas and infrastructure projects.
Armenia launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities and regions - Ganja, Barda, Mingachevir, Khizi, Absheron, Tartar, Gabala, Kurdamir, Siyazan, Goranboy, Aghdam among others.

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.

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