TODAY.AZ / Politics

Azerbaijan blames Armenia for using Lachin road for provocations

25 November 2022 [12:13] - TODAY.AZ

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry commented on the new facts of the discovery of landmines of Armenian production in the territory of Azerbaijan and the ongoing mine threat, Azernews reports.

According to the information from the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, 350 anti-personnel mines of the PMN-E type, produced in Armenia in 2021, were found in the northern direction of the Saribaba height, which were installed by Armenian armed formations that have not yet withdrawn from the territory of Azerbaijan. It should be noted that since August 2022, 1,119 mines have been discovered and neutralized in the Kalbajar and Lachin directions of the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and 1,609 mines, manufactured in Armenia, in 2021 (a total of 2,728) in the territory of the Karabakh economic region.

At the invitation of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry, the commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces temporarily deployed on the territory of Azerbaijan, Maj-Gen Andrey Volkov, the head of the Turkish contingent of the joint Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center, Maj-Gen Fatih Akpinar, and the head of the Russian contingent, Rear Admiral Oleg Semenov, inspected the mined area on 23 November. On 24 November, this territory was visited by military attachés of foreign states and foreign journalists accredited in Azerbaijan.

The above once again indicates that Armenia, contrary to paragraph 4 of the Trilateral Statement of 10 November 2020, did not completely withdraw its forces from the territory of Azerbaijan, and also, grossly violating paragraph 6 of the Statement and transporting mines, abused the Lachin road for illegal military activities, committing provocations against Azerbaijan.

The continuation of military provocations by Armenia against Azerbaijan, the incomplete withdrawal of its forces from the territory of the country, as well as the continued deliberate laying of mines in our territories are the main threats to the large-scale reconstruction and construction work carried out in the post-conflict period, the civilian population in these territories, the return and peaceful living in homelands of former internally displaced persons.

Recall that since the end of the Patriotic War of 2020 until today, 268 of our citizens have suffered from mines, of which 45 people, including 3 journalists, have died. Of the 45 dead, 35 are civilians.

All these once again demonstrate that Armenia is hindering the normalization process and efforts to establish peace in the region. This activity of Armenia is a war crime, a serious violation of international humanitarian law and the obligations assumed by Armenia within the framework of the tripartite statement,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/228469.html

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