BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 17
Trend:
A telephone conversation took place between Turkey’s Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar and Azerbaijan’s Minister of Defense Zakir Hasanov, Trend reports.
During the phone talk, Hulusi Akar harshly condemned the attack on Ganja, as a result of which civilians were killed.
“Those who ordered to hit civilians with ballistic missiles are going to pay for it, and the history will not forgive those who remain silent in relation to this atrocity,” Akar said.
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.
Despite the ceasefire, the Armenian Armed Forces launched a missile attack on civilians in the central part of Ganja city on October 17, as a result of which 13 people died, more than 45 people were injured, and a great number of civilian infrastructure facilities and vehicles were heavily damaged.
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.
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, the 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.