BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 16
Trend:
Member of the party ‘Long live Italy!’ Senator Mauro Mario Marino issued a media appeal condemning the recent missile attack on Ganja city and its civilian population by the Armenian Armed Forces that violated the humanitarian ceasefire, Trend reports.
Marino pointed out that Azerbaijan accepted the calls of the world community in connection with the humanitarian ceasefire despite being subjected to military attack, but violation of the ceasefire by Armenia testifies to the fact that this country is an aggressor which doesn’t respect international law.
The senator stressed that the Italian government must resolutely condemn this attack as a war crime, demand from Armenia to stop shelling civilians and, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, immediately and unconditionally withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
A few days ago, Fadli Zon, Chairman of the Committee on Inter-parliamentary Cooperation of the House of Representatives of the Indonesian Parliament, also made an appeal in support of Azerbaijan. The appeal expresses support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, condemns the provocations and military aggression of the Armenian Armed Forces.
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 fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.
Following almost two weeks of intensive military confrontations, Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Russia's mediation, have agreed on a temporary ceasefire for humanitarian purposes, for exchange of prisoners of war as well as bodies of the dead.
After declaration of the ceasefire, 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. As a result, 10 civilians were killed, 35 injured, as well as more than 10 multi-storey buildings and over 100 different objects were damaged.
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.