BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 20. The responsibility for the current situation lies with Armenia and the separatist troops in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh, veteran and honorary employee of the security agencies of Azerbaijan, retired Colonel Azer Garayev told Trend.
"After the second Karabakh war, Armenia continued to grossly violate the provisions of the statement of November 10 and did not fulfill its obligations. Azerbaijan offered Armenia peace, and Armenia continued its provocations," said Garayev.
He noted that it is impossible to ignore the reasons that prompted Azerbaijan to carry out anti-terrorist measures. After the end of the war, Azerbaijan began the restoration of the territories liberated from occupation. The country is taking all steps to ensure the dignified return of the former internally displaced persons to their native lands, but Armenia and the formations of its army in Karabakh continue to pose a threat to our citizens. The separatists, having held the so-called "presidential elections", have exhausted Azerbaijan's patience.
"After the Second Karabakh War, dozens of our citizens became victims of mines, the last case was the death of six of our citizens as a result of an explosion at a mine planted by Armenian sabotage groups. This is a terrorist act against Azerbaijani citizens. According to all international rules, Azerbaijan could carry out anti-terrorist activities on its territory. Unfortunately, the Armenian side left Azerbaijan no choice. Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that the Armenian separatist troops in Karabakh should be disarmed. However, this did not happen, but instead, these groups resorted to another provocation against Azerbaijan, and six more of our citizens became martyrs. All this made it necessary to launch anti-terrorist measures," Garayev said.
He said that the Azerbaijani army carried out anti-terrorist measures with high professionalism and precision.
"The professional Azerbaijani army was aimed only at legitimate military facilities. According to the footage published by the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, it is clear that Azerbaijan did not open fire on civilians, civilian vehicles, or civilian objects. The Armenian side tried to place its military vehicles and firepower where civilians were. Armenia knew that Azerbaijan would not shoot at civilians and tried to abuse it," Garayev said.
He noted that the anti-terrorist measures, which lasted one day, achieved their goal.
"The armed units of the Armenian army surrendered and raised the white flag. An agreement has been reached on the cessation of local anti-terrorist activities under the conditions determined by Azerbaijan, namely: formations of the Armenian armed forces, Armenian separatist troops located in the Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, lay down their weapons, leave combat positions and military posts, and completely disarm the military; the formations of the Armenian armed forces leave the territory of Azerbaijan, the Armenian illegal armed formations are disbanded; all ammunition and heavy equipment are handed over; the implementation of the above processes is ensured in coordination with the Russian peacekeeping contingent. This is another historic victory for the Azerbaijani army. Azerbaijan did what it wanted and forced Armenia to accept its conditions. Our country has once again proved that Azerbaijan is the party dictating the conditions," Garayev said.
He also spoke about the war crimes of the armed formations of the Armenian army.
"As during the second Karabakh war, this time the Armenians also shelled the houses of civilians. The shelling of the city of Shusha testifies to their real intentions. Unfortunately, as a result of this shelling, one civilian was killed. The shelling of the cultural capital of Azerbaijan is an indicator of their savagery and barbarism. Armenia shows hatred towards Azerbaijanis, our historical cities and monuments, whatever we do," Garayev said.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist measures carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Taking into account the appeal of the representatives of the Armenian residents of Karabakh, received through the Russian peacekeeping contingent, an agreement was reached on the suspension of anti-terrorist activities of local nature on September 20, 2023, at 13:00 (GMT+4) under the following conditions:
The Armenian armed forces formations and Armenian illegal armed formations located in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region shall lay down their weapons, leave their combat positions and military posts, and fully disarm. The units of the armed forces of Armenia shall leave the territory of Azerbaijan, and the Armenian illegal armed formations shall be disbanded.
In parallel, all weapons and heavy equipment are surrendered.
The implementation of the above-mentioned processes is ensured in coordination with the Russian peacekeeping contingent.