A year ago, on this day, September 13, the Azerbaijani armed
forces launched a military aggression unprecedented on its scale against the
sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. This Azerbaijani aggression was
preceded by the invasion and occupation of the sovereign territory of the Republic
of Armenia in May and November 2021. As a consequence of these actions
Azerbaijan has occupied 150 sq km of sovereign territory of the Republic of
Armenia. The RA Foreign Ministry made a statement on this.
“The actions of the Azerbaijani side were accompanied by the
targeting of settlements, civilian and environmental infrastructures, the use
of weapons of large caliber and drones. The mutilation of bodies of Armenian
servicemen, including women, in the territories fallen under the control of
Azerbaijan, the shocking video recordings of which are available, and which
have been criticized by international institutions and human rights
organizations, constitute war crimes and should also be subject to a clear
international legal investigation and universal assessment.
Guided by a sense of impunity, Azerbaijan continues to
endanger peace and stability in the South Caucasus. These days, numerous videos
are spreading on social networks, indicating that Azerbaijan is accumulating
troops and military equipment of large caliber both along the state border with
Armenia and along the line of contact with Nagorno-Karabakh, near the area of
responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. The cases of Azerbaijan
targeting the positions of the armed forces of Armenia and violations of the
ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan have increased significantly.
The Republic of Armenia highly appreciates the statements
and actions of those partners who a year ago clearly stated the fact of
violation of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia and the
inadmissibility of the use of force by Azerbaijan, which was also a clear
message to prevent such behaviour in the future.
The armed forces of Azerbaijan must withdraw from the
sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. At the same time, being
interested in establishing stability and peace in the region, Armenia reaffirms
its proposal to carry out a mirror distancing of troops from the inter-state
border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, based on the 1975 maps of the GS of the
USSR.
We expect that the actors interested in peace and security
in the region and organizations with respective mandate will undertake all the
efforts and use all the mechanisms at their disposal to prevent attempts of new
destabilization and illegal use of force in our region,” reads the statement.
