Azerbaijani MFA strongly condemns Armenia's attempts to mislead int'l community with baseless claims

"We strongly condemn Armenia's attempts to mislead the international community and hide its responsibility by spreading baseless claims," the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Azerbaijan said, commenting on the statement of the Armenian Foreign Affairs Ministry regarding war crimes, Report informs.

"The statement of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Armenia dated October 2, 2022, claiming that war crimes were committed by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, is an example of the hypocrisy of a country that has pursued an aggressive policy for decades, trampled on the fundamental rights of nearly a million people, and committed numerous war crimes against military and civilian persons. Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan takes its international obligations seriously and its relevant state institutions investigate claims related to alleged crimes committed during military operations.

Thus, on September 17, 2022, the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan declared that comprehensive investigations were launched to determine whether the videos spread on social networks were genuine, as well as the time and place where the images in the videos were taken, the identity of the military personnel depicted in them, and to find the objective truth.

We remind that since the First Karabakh War, the Armenian Armed Forces committed unprecedented massacres not only against Azerbaijani military personnel, but also against civilians. In one night only on February 26, 1992, 613 civilians were brutally murdered in the city of Khojaly, and to date, no information has been given about the fate of nearly 4,000 Azerbaijanis. In October 2020, crimes against humanity were committed by targeting the civilian population of Ganja, Barda, and Mingachevir in Azerbaijan.

The mine threat caused by Armenia is a serious hazard to people's lives in the region today. From November 2020 until now, up to 250 people, mostly civilians, have been victims of landmines. The fact that the mines discovered in Azerbaijan's territories were produced in Armenia in 2021 proves that Armenia continues its war crimes against Azerbaijanis by not handing over mine maps to Azerbaijan yet, on the other hand, by burying new mines," the Azerbaijani ministry said.

The ministry notes that the Government of Armenia has not taken any practical measures to prevent the war crimes committed or bring the relevant persons to justice for the committed crimes.

"We demand that Armenia comply with its international obligations and those responsible for numerous war crimes be held accountable before the law," the ministry added.