BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 17. Azerbaijani diaspora organizations operating in foreign countries issued a statement on the second anniversary of Armenia's missile attacks on Ganja, Barda, Tartar, Naftalan and other Azerbaijani cities during the Second Karabakh War that began on September 27, 2020, Trend reports citing State Committee on Work with Diaspora of Azerbaijan.
The statement was addressed to the heads of state and governments of various countries, MPs, international organizations and their local representatives.
"We, Azerbaijanis living in foreign countries, honor the memory of those killed in the missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities by the Armenian armed forces from September 27 through November 10, 2020. We condemn these crimes against humanity and peace and express regret that those accountable for these bloody crimes have not yet been brought to justice," the statement said.
"We should note that the territorial claims by Armenia and its military aggression against Azerbaijan, which broke out in 1988, ended with the First Karabakh War of 1992–1994. As a result, almost 1 million peaceful Azerbaijanis were forced to leave their homes, including 250,000 persons expelled from the territory of Armenia, tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis were killed, the Khojaly genocide, one of the bloodiest crimes of the 20th century, was committed, hundreds of cities, towns and villages of Azerbaijan were wiped out, and the occupied territories were mined," said the statement.
"Unfortunately, major powers and international organizations did not exert serious pressure on Armenia to stop the occupation of Azerbaijani lands. While the Republic of Azerbaijan adhered to the peace process and ceasefire agreement for almost 30 years and tried to resolve the conflict peacefully, Armenia refused to implement UN resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 on the immediate withdrawal from the occupied Azerbaijani territories," the statement said.
"The occupation of Azerbaijani lands ended with the Second Karabakh War which broke out on September 27, 2020 in response to Armenian provocations on the line of contact and lasted 44 days. The Azerbaijani state implemented the UN resolutions by military and political means by liberating the occupied territories," the statement explained.
"The occupation of Azerbaijani lands ended with the Second Karabakh War which broke out on September 27, 2020 in response to Armenian provocations on the line of contact and lasted 44 days. The Azerbaijani state implemented the UN resolutions by military and political means by liberating the occupied territories. In the course of the war, in gross violation of the norms and principles of international law, the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, the Armenian armed forces shelled Naftalan, Barda, Tartar, Mingachevir, located tens of kilometers from the conflict zone and the front line, the second largest city Azerbaijan, Ganja, as well as Yevlakh, Goranboy, Aghjabadi, Beylagan, Gabala, Absheron and Khizi Districts, targeting civil infrastructure: residential buildings, hospitals, medical centers, schools, kindergartens, administrative buildings of government agencies, agricultural lands, using various types of weapons including heavy artillery, ballistic missiles, phosphorus and cluster bombs, thus committing war crimes against humanity," the statement said.
"Consequently, from September 27 to November 10, 2020, as a result of Armenia’s military aggression, 93 civilians were killed, including 12 children and 27 women, 454 citizens were injured, residential buildings, historical, cultural and religious sites, vehicles, and civilian infrastructure were severely damaged. Since the main goal of the Armenian armed forces in organizing these attacks was to kill more people, areas of the cities and districts where the civilian population lived compactly were targeted, particularly at night. Despite all this, the military-political leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan, adhering to the norms of international law and the principles of humanism, did not target the civilian population and continued combat operations solely in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan." the statement informed.
"Unfortunately, despite repeated appeals to the world community and international organizations regarding the identification and punishment of those Armenians guilty of committing crimes against the civilian population during the Second Karabakh War, the actions against peace and humanity carried out by the military-political leadership of Armenia which participated in numerous war crimes in gross violation of the norms of international humanitarian law, have not yet received an international legal assessment. Although two years have passed since the perpetration of these crimes, international organizations have not taken any steps to investigate the indicated facts," said the statement.
"Azerbaijanis of the world once again bring these facts to the attention of the UN, the European Union, the Council of Europe and their institutions as well as other competent international and regional organizations, and firmly state that in order to prevent future similar criminal acts by Armenia, the international community should adequately respond to war crimes, and the perpetrators of these crimes should be brought to justice. We call for immediate legal measures to bring to justice those responsible for crimes against peace and humanity committed on ethnic grounds at various times," the statement informed.
It should be noted that both during the Second Karabakh War and the post-war period, Azerbaijan's diaspora organizations addressed statements to the heads of state and governments, MPs, international organizations and their local representatives regarding the provocations and war crimes of Armenia, including denial of providing landmine maps, Armenian military provocations of September 12-14, 2022, and the mass burial site found in Edilli. They expressed hope for the legal and political assessment of Armenia’s provocations and war crimes," added the statement.