Tuesday, September 27 2022 20:23

ArmInfo.Two years ago, on September 27, Azerbaijan, blatantly neglecting the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, unleashed a large-scale war against Artsakh and  its people.

This is stated in the statement of the Ministry of  Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia in connection with the  second anniversary of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against  Artsakh.  As the press service of the Artsakh MFA reports, the  statements reads, in part:

"Today, we once again bow our heads and commemorate the fallen  warriors of the 44-day war, who fought to stop the existential threat  our compatriots were facing.

The war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh is a  criminal manifestation of Azerbaijan's state policy of ethnic  cleansing of Armenians of Artsakh, depriving them of the right to  live and create freely and safely in their historical homeland, and,  thus, resolving the Nagorno- Karabakh issue by force. This is  evidenced by the continuous warmongering, maximalist and Armenophonic  statements of the top leadership of Azerbaijan both before and during  the war, as well as in the post-war period.

Throughout the 44-day war, the Azerbaijani armed forces committed  gross violations of international humanitarian law and human rights,  war crimes and other mass atrocities, deliberately targeting the  peaceful population, civilian infrastructure and towns and villages,  as well as cultural monuments with the use of missile and air  strikes, including prohibited weapons.  The captured Armenian  servicemen and civilians were subjected to inhumane treatment, and  torture and, extrajudicial killings.

Numerous humanitarian issues still remain unaddressed. Azerbaijan  continues to hold Armenian prisoners of war and civilians as  hostages, and the fates of hundreds of missing and forcibly  disappeared persons resulting from the First and 44-day Karabakh wars  remain unclarified.  The consistent policy of destruction of Armenian  regional and historical-cultural heritage and distortion of their  identity in the territories fallen under the control of Azerbaijan  continues to the present day. The UN International Court of Justice  delivered its clear assessment to these crimes, finding that there is  an imminent risk of irreparable harm to the rights of the Armenians  under the "International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms  of Racial Discrimination". In this case, it is more than urgent to  ensure the unhindered access and activities of relevant international  humanitarian structures in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

Inspired by the inadequate response of the international community to  the unleashed aggression and the crimes committed against the people  of Nagorno-Karabakh, on May 24 and November 16, 2021, and on  September 13, 2022, the Azerbaijani armed forces resorted to  large-scale military aggression against the sovereign territory of  the Republic of Armenia.

The realities resulting from the use of force and mass violations of  human rights, as well as the continuous military aggressions carried  out by Azerbaijan against Armenia and Artsakh in the post-war period  undermine efforts towards establishing regional stability and  security.  Even today, with the use of force and the threat of use of  force, Azerbaijan attempts to realise its maximalist aspirations,  rejecting even the fact of the existence of Nagorno-Karabakh as a  territorial unit and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Republic of Armenia categorically rejects the approach of  resolving issues through the use of force and the threat of use of  force, and reiterates its commitment to the establishment of lasting  and comprehensive peace and stability in the region through peaceful  negotiations," the RA MFA concludes.