Actual News

Foreign diplomats eyewitness Armenian atrocities committed in Ganja

On October 12, heads of diplomatic corps, ambassadors, military attaches, and heads of representations of international organizations in Azerbaijan have arrived in the city of Ganja.

AZERTAC‘s correspondent, dispatched to the frontline, reports that the diplomats are accompanied by Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the First Vice-President Elchin Amirbayov and others.

The visit aims to acquaint the diplomats with the Armenian atrocities – crime scenes of Armenia’s reckless missile attacks against innocent civilians and energy infrastructure.

The foreign diplomats were informed that the aggressor Armenian armed forces continue to subject to heavy artillery fire Azerbaijani civilians, violating the norms and principles of international law, the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, as well as the agreement on humanitarian ceasefire which was signed on their persistent requests following the meeting in Moscow. It was noted that on October 11, 2020, at around 2 am midnight, the Armenian troops fired rockets on Ganja, the second largest city of Azerbaijan that is far beyond the battlefield, in rude violation of humanitarian ceasefire a result of which 9 civilians killed, 34 people including 6 kids and 16 women were injured.

The attacks on densely populated areas with “Tochka-U”, “Smerch”, “Scud” and other missiles is aimed at killing a large number of people. The missile attack to Ganja, the city located far from the line of contact, was launched from Vardenis region of Armenia.

The diplomats were also informed that these actions by Armenia contradict the agreement on humanitarian ceasefire reached in Moscow. Although Azerbaijan complied with the humanitarian truce, Armenia has committed acts of vandalism against the civilian population. It was emphasized that international organizations must exert political pressure on Armenia, which commits war crimes and targets civilians.

Azerbaijani, Russian, Armenian FMs make joint statement

he talks among the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan have wrapped up in Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced a joint statement based on the results of the talks.

The statement says: “In response to the appeal of Russian President Vladimir Putin and in accordance with the agreement of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the parties agreed to take the following steps:

1. A ceasefire is declared beginning on October 10, 2020, at 12.00 for humanitarian purposes, in order to exchange prisoners of war, other detainees and the corpses with the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and in line with its criteria;

2. Specific parameters of the ceasefire will be additionally agreed;

3. The Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, launch substantive negotiations for the soonest peaceful settlement of the conflict on the basis of the basic principles of the settlement;

4. The parties confirm the immutability of the negotiation format.