Recent events in the Caucasus are in the spotlight of the whole world. For 30 years, the policy of aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan has further exacerbated the situation in the region. In the ongoing negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, official Yerevan has always taken a non-constructive position and repeatedly tried to disrupt the peace talks.
In this regard, the conditions of the President of Azerbaijan based on international law have always been very simple and concrete: Armenia must withdraw from the occupied territories, Azerbaijan must restore its territorial integrity, Azerbaijanis must return to their native lands. The Armenian side, which refused to negotiate, violated the basic principles of the process, the Helsinki Final Act and UN Security Council resolutions, and the Armenian Prime Minister quelled the peace talks, saying “Karabakh belongs to Armenia.”
On September 27, the Armenian armed forces launched another military aggression against Azerbaijan, intensively firing on Azerbaijani settlements, civilians and military positions from various directions using large-calibre artillery and missiles. The Azerbaijani armed forces had to carry out counter-offensive and retaliatory measures in full compliance with the right to self-defense and international humanitarian law in order to prevent a new military aggression by Armenia and to ensure the security of the civilian population. The attitude of the international community to this war was ambiguous. Many international organizations and states have called on the parties to suspend military operations and start peace talks. At Armenia’s insistence, Russia took the initiative to ensure a humanitarian ceasefire, and a meeting with the foreign ministers of the three countries was held in Moscow on October 11.However, on the very first day of the ceasefire agreement, the Armenian armed forces fired a ballistic missile at night at Ganja, the second largest city in Azerbaijan, 80 kilometres from the war zone and without any military facilities. As a result of this terrorist act, civilians were killed, dozens of people were injured and hundreds of civilian objects were destroyed. The targeting of densely populated areas hundreds of kilometres away from the conflict zone shows that the enemy is still pursuing its nefarious plans by taking steps contrary to international law. In so doing, the enemy grossly violates the norms and principles of international law, in particular international humanitarian law and the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols.
The war crimes of the Armenian armed forces do not end there. Armed groups have repeatedly targeted power plants in Azerbaijan’s industrial city of Mingechaur, trying to sabotage energy and environmental security in the region. In July, an armed attack was carried out on a region far from the conflict zone to strike the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which transports Azerbaijani oil to Europe.
Today, Azerbaijan is fighting for justice for its territories, both on the military field and on the information front. Nevertheless, some states and international organizations are silent on the crimes committed, as well as the mass media, based on false, unsubstantiated information spread by Armenia, demonstrate a wrong position and thus support terrorism.
As a member of the Club of Rectors of European Universities, as an intellectual and scientist, I appeal to all international organizations, especially the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is responsible for the peaceful settlement of the conflict. I am confident that Italy is a member of the Minsk Group, as well as a responsible member of the European Union and can play a very important role in this direction as a strategic partner of Azerbaijan. Senator Stefano Lucidi and chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Association with Azerbaijan in the Italian Parliament, a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, strongly condemned the ceasefire violation by the Armenian armed forces, rocket attacks on Ganja and civilians. He emphasized that ensuring stability in the region is very important both for the security of the population and for the interests of Italy. All of these were met with great sympathy by our people.
I believe that international organizations will demonstrate a constructive position in the Armenian-Azerbaijani war. Speaking about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, first of all, it should be noted that the current fighting is taking place in the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan. According to four UN Security Council resolutions adopted in 1993, the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan must be demanded. Armenia’s policy of aggression against Azerbaijan must be stopped, terrorist acts against the civilian population must be halted.
