BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
Trend:
Plenipotentiary Representative for the Western Region of the Caucasian Muslims Office (CMO) Haji Tahir Abbasov, Priest Bartholomew (Denis) Sotnikov of the Alexander Nevsky Church of the Baku and Azerbaijan Dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church and Deputy Chairman of the Jewish Religious Community of Ganja Anar Mammadov circulated an appeal strongly condemning a missile attack of the Armenian armed forces on Azerbaijan's second-largest city - Ganja, located far from the front zone, which grossly violated the humanitarian ceasefire.
“Starting from October 4, 2020, Ganja has faced a missile strike from Armenia. As a result, 11 civilians have been killed and over 70 wounded to date. Some 10 residential buildings were destroyed, hundreds of objects were seriously damaged. During the missile attack on Ganja, three children lost both parents. Along with historical, cultural sites of local and countrywide significance, as well as educational institutions, religious buildings were seriously damaged in Ganja,” said the appeal.
“Thus, the damage was also caused to the Russian Orthodox Church of Alexander Nevsky, built-in 1887, to the Imamzade religious and architectural complex of the 14th century. Tolerant and multinational Azerbaijan is the common homeland of all peoples living here. People who have tied their fate and life with this land, who have lived here from time immemorial, representatives of various nationalities, professing different religions - they are all Azerbaijani people,” the appeal noted.
“The military-political leadership of Armenia has repeatedly tried to sow seeds of discord among the peoples living in our country, to violate the unity and equality between them, but failed to achieve this. Their provocations, war crimes against civilians, further strengthen the bonds of unity and brotherhood between us. We strongly condemn the aggressive actions of the Armenian leadership, the use of weapons of destruction against the civilian population, and call on international structures to abandon the policy of double standards, to put pressure on the aggressor country Armenia,” the appeal said.
On October 11, 2020, at about 2:00 (GMT+4) Armenian armed forces fired missiles at multi-apartment residential buildings in the central part of Ganja, the second largest city of Azerbaijan, located outside the frontline zone.
According to the latest data, 9 civilians, including 4 women, were killed as a result of missiles fired at apartment buildings in the central part of Ganja.
The Armenian Armed Forces, flagrantly violating norms and principles of international law, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocols to it, as well as the requirements of the humanitarian ceasefire declared on October 10th, continue to deliberately target the civilian population of Azerbaijan, and intensively bombard densely populated settlements.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.
Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.