Baku, Azerbaijan: Russian Community living in Azerbaijan has strongly condemned Armenian aggression
Hereunder is a statement issued by the Russian Community:
On July 12, the Armed Forces of Armenia had flagrantly violated the ceasefire regime, fired on the positions of the Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces in the direction of the Tovuz district along the state border between the two countries, using artillery mounts. As a result of this provocation, eleven Azerbaijani soldiers were killed, including high-ranking military personnel. Several soldiers were injured. The Armed Forces of Armenia repeatedly bombarded peaceful villages, as a result of which 76-year-old Aziz Azizov was killed. The Khanliglar village in the western part of the Gazakh region, which has a 29 km long border with Armenia, also came under fire. On July 14, Armenia, in violation of the 18th article of the Geneva Convention, attacked the Tovuz Central Hospital.
From the very beginning, it is important to note that the Tovuz district is located away from Nagorno-Karabakh and the 7 adjacent regions, which are under illegal Armenian occupation. The armed conflict, unleashed by the criminal leadership of Armenia, lasts on the territory of the independent and sovereign Republic of Azerbaijan for almost 30 years. In order to justify its occupation and to throw dust in the eyes of international structures, Armenia created an unrecognized separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result, the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from their lands, the Khojaly tragedy, the brutal killings of civilians, the barbaric destruction of the national wealth and historical monuments of Azerbaijan. Many representatives of ethnic groups, including the Russians suffered as a result of Armenian aggression. Someone became an internally displaced person, someone lost a loved one, someone went with everyone to defend the sovereignty of Azerbaijan, becoming a national hero, with posthumously awarded orders and medals.
Dozens of unsuccessful peace negotiations initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group (all co-chairs countries recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan), four UN Security Council resolutions on the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian Armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani lands still remain unfulfilled, which gives the right to Armenia to think about its impunity and continue to violate all international principles and norms.
We are, the ethnically Russian population of Azerbaijan, strongly condemn the aggressive actions of the Armenian leadership aimed at escalating the conflict and attempting to seize new territories of the sovereign state of Azerbaijan. The Russian Community of Azerbaijan convincingly calls on international organizations – the UN, OSCE and its Minsk Group, the European community, as well as a number of peacekeeping organizations to hold the Armenian leadership accountable for another attempt to destabilize the entire negotiation process by provoking the seizure of new territories of a sovereign state and finally listening to fair demands of the Azerbaijani people on the withdrawal of occupying Armenian Armed Forces from the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. If the international community does not react accordingly, this provocation will develop into a large-scale conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which will have serious consequences for all regional security.
For more than 25 years, Azerbaijan, its leadership has been trying to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully, on the basis of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders. However, as we see the Armenian leadership, regardless of who is in power, constantly violates the ceasefire, exposing our troops and even civilians in nearby villages to shelling. It is unacceptable! The patience of the Azerbaijani people is not unlimited.
Ethnically Russian citizens of the country fully support the position and actions of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in relation to the situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and in general to the process to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We are grateful to our Army, our brave military soldiers for their bravery and endurance! Regardless of the situation, the Russian population of Azerbaijan, as in the early 90s, is always ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Azerbaijani people, with our brothers and defend our homeland, defending the right to inviolability of the borders of Azerbaijan!
On behalf of ethnic Russian citizens of Azerbaijan
Republican Council of the Russian Community of Azerbaijan
July 16, 2020
