Italian municipal councils condemn Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan

16 December 2020 13:00 (UTC+04:00)

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By Vafa Ismayilova

Three municipial councils in Italy's Avellino, Catania and Isernia Provinces have officially condemned Armenia’s policy of aggression, ethnic cleansing and genocide against Azerbaijan and expressed solidarity with the Azerbaijani people, in particular, with family members of residents of Azerbaijan’s Ganja city, Barda and others regions, those killed and injured as a result of Armenia’s military aggression, Trend reported.

Under documents adoped by Italy’s Montoro Municipal Council of Avellino Province, Gravina Municipal Council of Catania Province, and Roccasicura Municipal Council of Isernia Province, as a result of the policy of aggression and ethnic cleansing carried out by Armenia against Azerbaijan, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts, was occupied.

In accordance with the 2015 decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the case "Chiragov and Others vs. Armenia", the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the adjacent Azerbaijani districts were occupied by Armenia, over a million Azerbaijanis living on those lands became refugees and internally displaced people, war crimes, as well as the Khojaly genocide, were committed against them.

The adopted documents confirm that despite Azerbaijan's efforts to achieve a successful outcome of the negotiations and to establish peace in the region by diplomatic means through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group for almost 30 years, talks were blocked as a result of Armenia's destructive policy, the Azerbaijani people faced big injustice, Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced people were unable to return to their houses, visit the graves of their family members.

Under the documents, Armenia purposefully increased the import of weapons and military equipment, intensively expanded the system of airstrikes to prepare for a new war. As a result, Armenia launched a new military aggression against Azerbaijan on September 27, deliberately targeting civilian facilities and civilians. The deliberate bombing of Ganja and Barda is also strongly condemned, as a result of which over 94 people were killed, over 407 civilians were injured.

The relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly, expressing support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan, recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh region as its integral part, the Armenian armed forces must be immediately withdrawn from all occupied Azerbaijani territories and the right of Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced people to return to their native lands must be ensured.

The declaration on ceasefire and cessation of hostilities signed on November 10 by the president of Azerbaijan, the prime minister of Armenia, and the president of the Russian Federation is aimed precisely at ending the conflict.

In line with the documents, Italy officially and invariably supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and in this context, a reference was made to the "Joint Declaration on Strengthening Multidimensional Strategic Partnership between Italy and Azerbaijan" signed during the state visit of the president of Azerbaijan to Italy in February this year.

Earlier, similar documents were adopted by the Italian City Council of Catania, the municipalities of Ottaviano and Liveri in Naples, the municipalities of Santa Maria a Vico, Dragoni, Galluccio, and Presenzano in Caserta province, and the municipalities of Sepino and San Giuliano del Sannio in Campobasso province, Municipal Council of Corbetta of the Italian city of Milan.

The Commission on Foreign Affairs of the Italian Chamber of Deputies adopted a resolution calling for the implementation of the points of the joint declaration signed by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia, and the prime minister of Armenia.

At a meeting with a delegation led by Italian Foreign and International Cooperation Minister of State Manlio Di Stefano in Baku on December 9, President Ilham Aliyev expressed Azerbaijan's determination to closely cooperate with Italy to rebuild newly-liberated territories that had remained under Armenian occupation for about three decades. He stressed that Azerbaijan intends to sign relevant contracts with Italian companies over the restoration of its lands.

Futhermore, the Italian parliamentary delegation was received by President Ilham Aliyev on December 7. During the meeting Aliyev said that friendly countries, including Italy, will be involved in the new infrastructure projects to reconstruct the territories liberated from Armenia's 30-year-old occupation. The president noted that he would like Italian companies to take an active part in the restoration and reconstruction work, adding that relevant proposals had already been made to Italy and preliminary contacts will be established in the coming days.