BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 20
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
Nagorno Karabakh suffered from Armenian occupation for nearly 3 decades, said MP for Diyarbakır Mehmet Mehdi Eker during the 11th sitting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Spring Session 2021, Trend reports.
He said that as a result of Armenian occupation nearly 1 billion Azerbaijanis were forced to leave their homes. During the period of this occupation, Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage, infrastructure, and ecology were severely damaged.
He added that Armenian army did not refrain from attacking the civilians [during the Second Karabakh war in 2020], even after the humanitarian truce was agreed upon. Consequently, around 100 Azerbaijanis were killed and more than 400 were injured in Nagorno Karabakh as well as in such Azerbaijani cities like Ganja and Barda, which were far from the frontline during the Second Karabakh war.
"Moreover, during the attacks on civilians Armenian Armed Forces dropped cluster bombs on Azerbaijan, which were banned by international convention, ratified by more than 100 counties. Thousands of houses, public buildings were destroyed in the process. According to the humanitarian law all these acts are considered to be war crimes," he noted.
Eker also expressed hope that the international community will express its regret, protest and approach these facts, referring to international humanitarian law, without any denial of the Armenian aggression.
Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.
A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was introduced on Nov. 10, 2020.
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