Details added: first version posted on 16:07
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug.28
Trend:
The sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armenian armed forces attempted to commit a provocation in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Goranboy district on August 23, Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Trend on August 28.
As a result of the decisive actions of the units of the Azerbaijani armed forces, the provocation was prevented and the group's commander, First Lieutenant Gurgen Alaverdyan of Armenian Armed Forces was detained.
According to the ministry, the detainee admitted that he, together with a group of Armenian military servicemen, intended to attack the positions of the Azerbaijani army to inflict damage to the personnel and military infrastructure of Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
As the ministry said, the reconnaissance and sabotage actions of the group commanded by Gurgen Alaverdyan during the intensification of intelligence operations of the Armenian armed forces in various areas of the line of contact, including the widespread use of unmanned aerial vehicles, indicate that the military-political leadership of Armenia is conducting another military provocation on the line of contact.
The ministry noted that the actions also should be perceived as intentional aggravation of the military situation.
“The groundless and absurd accusations against Azerbaijan, voiced by Armenia in a state of hysteria and panic, after the uncovering of this malicious plan, is an attempt to divert the attention of the international community and the Armenian society from its unsuccessful policy of military escapade,” the ministry said.
“We categorically reject statements of Armenian side with groundless accusations against Azerbaijan about the violation of international humanitarian law and Armenophobia. Concernig the detained Gurgen Alaverdyan, the Azerbaijani side acted under the requirements of international humanitarian law,” pointed out the ministry.
“In this regard, it is worth recalling that Armenia, which accuses Azerbaijan with claims of violation of international humanitarian law, is a country that for about 30 years has been continuing aggressive policy towards Azerbaijan, accompanied by military actions and crimes against humanity, including genocide and ethnic cleansing,” the ministry also noted.
“As a result of Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan, 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 50,000 became disabled, about a million civilians were forcibly expelled from their native lands, 5,364 people disappeared, were taken prisoner, hostage, and were subjected to torture and abuse. The fate of nearly 4,000 of them is still unknown,” reminded the ministry.
“Currently Armenia is holding our compatriots - civilians Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, who were tortured and illegally deprived of their freedom, as hostages,” the ministry said.
As the ministry stressed, the leadership of Armenia, which in the context of the detention of an officer of the armed forces of this country recalls humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, shouldn’t forget that it has stubbornly opposed Azerbaijan’s initiative to exchange prisoners and hostages on the principle of "all for all", supported by the international community, including the co-chairing countries the OSCE Minsk Group.
“It should be noted that Armenia, putting forward ridiculous claims against Azerbaijan, which does not put fundamental human values and fundamental principles of international humanitarian law into anything, didn’t hesitate to use the bodies of the dead as objects of political and material gain,” the ministry further said.
“Being a country that applied a "pricing table" to the bodies of the dead per their professions or military ranks, has long lost the moral right to speak about humanism, tolerance and universal values,” the ministry stated.
"The accusations against Azerbaijan in the context of humanism and humanitarian law voiced by the current leadership of Armenia, which openly refused to apologize for the grave war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Azerbaijan and its civilian population by the previous military-political leadership of Armenia, are blatant hypocrisy,” pointed out the ministry.
“Armenia, accusing Azerbaijan of undermining a favorable environment for peace, is making an unsuccessful attempt to avoid responsibility for the military provocation on the state border in the direction of Tovuz [district] on July 12-16 this year,” the ministry added.
“It also unsuccessfully attempts to use the situation that arose after it, through provocative statements by the leadership of this country, increasing tensions on the line of contact and undermining attempts to settle the conflict,” the ministry said.
“The international community understands that the military-political leadership of Armenia bears direct responsibility for the purposeful escalation of the conflict in the direction of Tovuz and that the country's attempt to make use of the situation over Gurgen Alaverdyan is doomed to fail,” the ministry also added.
“The Azerbaijani side once again resolutely rejects the groundless accusations of Armenia against our country regarding violation of humanitarian law and "Armenophobia", calling on the international community to take effective steps to keep Armenia from trying to escalate an already difficult situation in the region," concluded the ministry.