Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan has urged the UN Security Council to take decisive measures toward putting an end to the impunity given to Armenia as it continues to occupy Azerbaijani territories.

Azerbaijan’s Permanent Mission to the UN recently outlined this demand in a letter to the UN Secretary General, the Foreign Ministry reported on October 13.

The mission protested against the incident that occurred on September 1, 2015 when the Armenian Armed Forces fired at civilians taking part in a wedding ceremony in Terter region’s Gapanli village from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories. As a result, three civilians, including a small child were injured.

The letter was made public as an official document of the General Assembly and Security Council of the UN.

The Armenian military’s shelling of Azerbaijani civilians is assessed in the letter as a gross violation of the international humanitarian law and a military crime by Armenia.

The note went on to state that this was not the first time the Armenian side fired at civilians – some incidents were even reported to have resulted in the loss of life – and it shows Armenia’s inhumane attitude towards prisoners of war and hostages.

"Such crimes are not accidental and create the basis of Armenia’s policy of racial and ethnic discrimination, hatred and occupation of territories,” read the letter. "Regular violations of the ceasefire, armed attacks on civilians, show that Armenia is not interested in resolving the conflict through peaceful means. Armenia’s true purpose is to continue the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and maintain the status quo by all means."

The Armenian Armed Forces frequently wound villagers in their homes or on their farms. Due to the frequent ceasefire violations committed by the Armenian military, the residents of Azerbaijani villages located near the frontline have gone through great difficulties, and the constant shelling of their homes has impaired their daily lives.

The residents of these villages earn their livelihoods from farming, however, ceasefire violations make it impossible for them to work on their lands, take their cattle for grazing, as well as to use water from rivers originating in Armenia.

The Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire regime with Azerbaijan over 160-170 times in recent days using 60 mm and 82 mm caliber rocket-propelled grenades and large-caliber machine guns.

This occupant country remains unpunished for the crimes that it committed against the Azerbaijani people.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Since the war, the Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Armenia continues the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal of armed forces.

Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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