The recent incidents testify that Armenia is not interested in finding a peaceful solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict on the basis of international law – Permanent Mission

On September 1, the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia fired the weeding party in the Qapanly village of the Tartar region of Azerbaijan, as a result of which 3 civilians- 2 women and 1 child- were seriously wounded. Unfortunately, this overt breach of the norms of the International Humanitarian Law on protection of civilians during armed conflicts is not an isolated case, but represents yet another example of Armenia’s deliberate, wide-ranging and systematic policy, said the statement made by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the OSCE regarding 1067th 10 September 2015 meeting of the Permanent Council.

According to the statement, numerous documents adopted by international organizations, in particular resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the United Nations Security Council and UN General Assembly Resolution 48/114 dated 20 December 1993 condemned attacks against civilians in the Republic of Azerbaijan and bombardment of civilian populated areas, and expressed grave concern over forceful displacement of hundred thousands of civilians.

Moreover, resolution 1416 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe specifically notes that large-scale expulsion of the Azerbaijani civilian population and creation of mono-ethnic territories resemble terrible concept of ethnic cleansing, said the statement.

The Permanent Mission said that systematic and deliberate violations of the ceasefire by Armenia, including targeting of civilians residing in the vicinity of the Line of Confrontation, as well as other provocative steps, such as organization of so-called “independence celebrations” by the senior leadership of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and holding illegal “local elections” therein testifies that Armenia is not interested in finding a peaceful solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict on the basis of international law, rather it misuses the patience of the international community to prolong the status-quo created through illegal use of force and occupation of international recognized territories of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani side reiterates that responsibility for increase of tension in the conflict zone lies exclusively on the Republic of Armenia and reliance on the status-quo has no chance of producing outcome desired by Armenia, said the Permanent Mission.

In light of the above-mentioned, we renew our call on the Chairmanship, the cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group and all OSCE participating States to persuade
Armenia to refrain from actions that could further deteriorate the already difficult situation on the ground and instead, engage constructively and in good faith in the negotiations with a view to finding peaceful solution to the conflict, the Permanent Mission completed.

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