Why did Armenia shell Ganja?

Unfortunately, this week in the history of the Second Karabakh War was marked not only by new victories and successes of the Azerbaijani army, but also by new tragedies of peaceful cities of Azerbaijan.

On October 8 and 11, 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces launched another attack on the city of Ganja.

The Armenian side strenuously denied that the shelling of peaceful Azerbaijani cities remote from the front line was conducted from the territory of Armenia. In response, the Ministry of Defense posted a video and clearly demonstrated that missiles were fired at our cities and villages from Jermuk, Gafan, Berdsky district, etc. As of October 5, the statistics of civilian casualties amounted to 25 killed and 127 wounded. And this was only the beginning of the terrorist war declared by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Ganja was still waiting for three barbaric attacks, which should have shocked the world community, but for some reason they did not. Armenia openly tried to expand the combat zone, sending missiles even to the Absheron region, but did not hear anything harsher than "ai-ai-ai" in its address.

The statements of international organizations were streamlined and addressed more to both sides, so that, God forbid, they would not focus on the atrocities of the Armenians. The same Human Rights Watch, after conducting its investigation, although it pointed out to the Armenians that they had violated the laws of war, used prohibited means and so on, did not particularly condemn the aggressor. Instead, she tried to equalize the responsibility of the parties, accusing Azerbaijan of "putting civilians at unnecessary risk by deploying military targets in densely populated areas, including in Ganja, and not evacuating citizens."

In fact, there were no military positions in the residential areas of Ganja, Barda, Mingachevir, there were no guns and equipment. The enemy was well aware of this. The military aircraft based at the civilian International Airport, five kilometers from the nearest place where the shells hit, was a clear target, but not a single Armenian missile landed there. Ganja was not a frontline city, and there was no need to evacuate the population. The missiles targeted residential areas and civilian facilities with the expectation of significant destruction and panic. It is clear that it would be beneficial for the Armenian side and its patrons to raise a new wave of internally displaced persons, force hundreds of thousands of people to abandon their homes and flee inland. It would have caused chaos, crisis, problems similar to what the country went through in the early 90s. It would be easier for the enemy to "work" that way. However, the population showed resilience and courage. The citizens knew that unlike the First Karabakh War, today they have a strong state and a strong army behind them. People believed the President and the Azerbaijani soldier. Azerbaijan in 2020 was not at all the country that Armenians remembered in the early 90s. In the first war, the civilian population simply had no way out. He had no one to rely on. Baku could not protect its citizens from the advancing Armenian gangs, and the humanism of the invader could not be counted on. After the atrocities committed by the Armenians in Khojaly, this became clear definitively.

Yerevan was counting on the same effect in 2020, raining missiles on residential buildings and streets of peaceful cities of Azerbaijan. After each attack, briefings were held in Yerevan, at which everything was denied on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. Yerevan not only denied all the accusations, but also tried to blame the Azerbaijani side for the shelling of the territory of Armenia. To this day, tales are told in the neighboring country about some victims among the civilian population of the Republic of Armenia, some destroyed schools and kindergartens. However, the neighbors cannot show anything other than words. Because the Azerbaijani army did not attack civilian facilities on the territory of the occupier. Even when liberating its own territory from occupation, the Azerbaijani side acted very carefully, the positions and military facilities of the separatists were destroyed through targeted and well-calculated strikes. Unlike the Armenians, our army was not burning with bloodlust, and the strikes were aimed exclusively at legitimate targets. If the Armenians installed a heavy cannon in the residential quarter of Khankendi, it was their own wrong choice.

The Armenian side tried to wash away every criminal step with loud accusations against Azerbaijan, giving an outsider the impression that the missile strikes on peaceful cities were an act of revenge. This is a traditional trick of Yerevan - when you need to get out of harm's way and hide your own crimes, it reduces international law to zero by inventing "good reasons". It has always been so. The neighbors are acting according to the same scheme now. So, after the bombing of Ganja on October 17, Yerevan tried to extinguish the wave of indignation with a statement about a drone strike on military facilities in southern Armenia. They pretended that there was no difference between a military target and a peacefully sleeping city.

Or let's recall Yerevan's counter-accusations after the barbaric cluster bombardment of the city of Barda on October 28. As a result of the attack, 21 people were killed and 70 people were injured! Not knowing how to deflect the fire of criticism, the Armenian side declared - attention! - about the attack by Turkish F-16s on the maternity hospital in Khankendi, and even on the personal order of the President of Turkey... The fake was quickly exposed when photos of the so-called maternity hospital appeared in the media. Military experts analyzed the images at that time and came to the following conclusion: the Armenian air defense reacted to some kind of penetration into the airspace over Khankendi and fired an anti-aircraft guided missile at it. And it was above the hospital that the missile defense system ruptured, the debris of which collapsed on it, causing damage visible in the photo. If the building had been bombed, the damage would have been completely different.

By the way, Azerbaijan has never denied that, if necessary, it strikes legitimate military targets on the territory of Armenia. So, on October 14, the Ministry of Defense reported that the deployment of several operational and tactical missile systems with ballistic missiles at the launch site in the border zone with the Kalbajar district, which was still occupied at that time, was recorded. According to operational data, the missile systems were aimed at civilian facilities on the territory of Azerbaijan. It goes without saying that legitimate military targets have been neutralized. And this has saved dozens of lives of civilians in Azerbaijani towns and villages.

Who gave the orders to hit peaceful cities? On October 4, after the first shelling of Ganja, Araik Harutyunyan went on the air and proudly declared with a triumphant smile that it was he who gave the order. The war criminal was sitting in front of the camera, smiling, as if he was not confessing to a crime, but telling a joke. Now he is awaiting trial in the Baku pre-trial detention center and he is definitely not up to jokes. But now they are beginning to whisper in Armenian public that Araik is not to blame. They say that he conveyed "to freedom" that he did not give orders, but Nikol Pashinyan ordered him to bomb Ganja. This topic was raised last year in testimony to the Investigative Committee of Armenia in the case of defeat in the 44-day war by the notorious Samvel Babayan. Nothing new. The Azerbaijani side has never had any doubts that the actions of the separatists were directed from Yerevan, but this does not mean that the perpetrator of the terrorist attack against the civilian population of Azerbaijan can evade responsibility. There is a video that everyone has seen. Harutyunyan announced that he personally ordered the bombing of Ganja and explained this as a response to the shelling of Khankendi.

At the same time, "adviser" Araik Poghosyan reported on social networks about the destruction of the military airfield. It was a huge lie. Not only is there no military airfield in Ganja, but there is only a civilian International airport, but not a single car from the helicopter squadron based there received a scratch. This was also recorded by international experts. The outright deception was intended for Armenian citizens who were nervous about the lack of good news. Yerevan has compiled a list of military targets in Ganja and waved it in front of Baku's nose. According to Armenian media, this list included "an air Force air base, a helicopter squadron, a special purpose brigade of the internal troops, a combat control center, a radio engineering battalion, a fuel and lubricants base under the central control of the Ministry of Defense, a motorized rifle brigade, as well as an automotive plant of the Ministry of Defense Industry, an aviation repair plant, a factory for the repair of artillery guns."

How many of these targets did the brave iron Ashots manage to hit? Not a single one. But during the 44 days of the war, 93 civilians of Ganja, Barda and other cities of Azerbaijan were killed by Armenian missiles. Including 12 children...