MFA: Armenia’s smear campaign aimed at undermining Azerbaijan’s just position
By Ayya Lmahamad
Armenian is actively circulating fake news and carries smear campaign against Azerbaijan in order to undermine Baku's fair position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that is based on the internatinal law.
The ministry made the remarks in a statement issued on November 5.
The ministry said that in blatant violation of international and humanitarian law, Armenia commits armed aggression against Azerbaijan during almost 30 years, and occupies 20 percent of internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan, accompanied by the ethnic cleansing of close to 1 million Azerbaijanis from their homes. In addition, misappropriation of private and public property in the occupied territories, the pillage of historical and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan in these territories, illegal exploitation, looting and plundering of natural resources and economic potential of the seized lands, illegal settlement of ethnic Armenians into these areas and illegal infrastructure changes was reiterated in the statement.
Moreover, the ministry underlined that Armenia took consistent steps to consolidate the results of the occupation of territories of Azerbaijan aiming at their annexation, having exploited the political settlement process, as well as Azerbaijan’s commitment to this process for almost 30 years.
Likewise, it was stated that Armenia, being against the political settlement and having undertaken a chain of provocative statements and actions undermining the process, resorted a large-scale aggression against Azerbaijan starting from September 27, by shelling Azerbaijan’s military position and densely populated residential areas. It was noted that Azerbaijan Armed Forces were compelled to launch a counter-offensive operations.
In this regard, the ministry restated the following:
- The Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan act on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan within the limits of self-defense to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and ensure the safety and security of its citizens;
- The counter-offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan continues to be conducted exclusively within the limits of international humanitarian law and all the obligations under international humanitarian law are strictly followed in close cooperation with the International Committee of Red Cross;
- The Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan do not fight against the civilians, including the citizens of Azerbaijan of Armenian origin, and do not target civilians and civilian infrastructure in the occupied territories;
- The Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan do not possess and consequently do not use any prohibited weapon or ammunition.
Furthermore, the statement emphasizes that Armenia has occupied Azerbaijan’s territories and rejecting to withdrawal from these territories in violations of demands of the international community, four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council in 1993 (822, 853, 874 and 884).
In addition, it was underlined that Armenia deliberately target large civilian settlements of Azerbaijan, including those located far from the conflict zone, like Ganja, Tartar and Barda with heavy artillery and missiles, including ballistic and cluster munitions. As a result of such terroristic actions 92 civilians, among them 11 children and 27 women were killed, 404 civilians, including children, women and elderly were seriously wounded. Moreover, civilian infrastructure, including medical and educational facilities, critical public infrastructure and private property were inflicted serious damage.
“Three consequent announcements of humanitarian ceasefire did not stop Armenia from committing terrorist attacks on civilians,” the ministry stressed.
Moreover, the ministry underlined that the facts testifying these reckless attacks of Armenia on civilians and civilian infrastructure have been presented to the international community, through the representatives of diplomatic corps accredited in Azerbaijan and international institutions and structures, such as the International Committee of Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International as well as foreign media representatives.
“We recall that according to public statements of high-level Armenian officials, since the outbreak of hostilities the majority of Armenians residing in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan have already left these territories for Armenia. The Azerbaijani side repeatedly appealed to those remaining in the area to stay away from military installations and refrain from taking a part in the military hostilities, since this would undermine their status as civilians and turn them into combatants,” the statement stresses.
Furthermore, it was noted that Armenia widely uses mercenaries and foreign terrorist fighters in its military operations against Azerbaijan armed forces, which have been extensively documented, including by different international media resources.
“Armenia in an open attempt to cover-up its above-mentioned wrongdoings constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity brazenly accuses Azerbaijan of the same with a view to diverting the attention of the international community, and to that end carries out a massive campaign of fake news. Professional analysis of video and photo materials presented by Armenia to substantiate its claims proves that all these are nothing more than pre-fabricated falsifications,” the statement reads.
“The Azerbaijani side once again resolutely rejects these groundless accusations of Armenia and renews its appeals to the international community to be vigilant against Armenia’s deliberate actions to cover-up its crimes through a smear campaign against Azerbaijan,” the ministry emphasized.
Additionally, the statement stressed that position of Azerbaijan regarding Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict has always been consistent and based on international law and related resolutions of the UN Security Council.
“Azerbaijan has always been stating its readiness for negotiations for their implementation within the OSCE Minsk Group format,” the statement reads.
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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad
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