BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 1. The Western Azerbaijan Community has appealed to the international community following the injury of four Azerbaijani servicemen as a result of shelling of the Azerbaijani army's positions in the Kalbajar district by the Armenian armed forces from the direction of Zod village of the Goycha region on September 1, 2023, Trend reports.
The Western Azerbaijan Community has vehemently condemned this provocation by Armenia and called upon the Armenian government to immediately cease these hostile actions.
"Commitment to this reprehensible provocation by Armenia from the Goycha region increases the sensitivity of the issue for the Western Azerbaijan Community. The Goycha region, including Zod village, was an area where Azerbaijanis used to live compactly," the appeal said. "The Armenian government, like other regions in Armenia, subjected the Azerbaijani population of the Goycha region to ethnic cleansing, destroying their mosques, cemeteries, and cultural monuments."
"The Zod Pass, where Armenia is conducting the sabotages, is the very place where a substantial number of Azerbaijani civilians perished while fleeing Armenia's persecution and violence during the harsh winter months," the appeal noted. "Despite numerous calls from our community for peace and reconciliation, the Armenian government refuses to permit Azerbaijanis to return to their homeland."
"The Western Azerbaijan Community urges the international community to exert pressure on Armenia to halt its military provocations and enable the ethnically cleansed Azerbaijanis to return peacefully to their homes in safety and with dignity," the appeal added.
On the morning of September 1, the Armenian armed forces stationed in the Zod direction of the Basarkechar region of Armenia, using combat drones, launched an attack on the positions of the Azerbaijani army in Azerbaijan's Kalbajar district.
As a result of shelling by units of the Armenian armed forces from positions in the Zod direction of the Basarkechar region, Azerbaijani army serviceman Mahammad Taghiyev was wounded. Consequently, three more servicemen of the Azerbaijan Army were wounded.
In response to the provocation, four servicemen of the Armenian armed forces were killed and one was wounded.