FM Nalbandian: Azerbaijani Leadership Bears Full Responsibility for the Consequences of its Provocations

CHISINA — As long as Azerbaijan doesn’t fulfill its obligations assumed under the 1994-1995 trilateral ceasefire agreements, refuses to implement the agreements reached at the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits, in particular, concerning the installation of investigative mechanism for ceasefire violations which can serve also as a preventive mechanism, the leadership of Azerbaijan bears the entire responsibility for the consequences of its provocations, Edward Nalbandian – Foreign Minister of Armenia, said at the press conference in Chisinau following the informal ministerial meeting of the Eastern Partnership.

“The Azerbaijani representatives, again by abusing this platform, deliver provocative statements instead of talking about the topic of the agenda, the cooperation within the Eastern Partnership. Security in our region remains under danger due to Azerbaijan’s constant threats of use of force in the context of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. In April 2016 Azerbaijan unleashed a large-scale aggression against Artsakh which was accompanied by gross violations of international humanitarian law, atrocities committed against civilians, including children, women and elderly people, tortures of the victims’ bodies, beheadings in DAESH style”, the Armenian FM said.

FM Nalbandian announced that on July 4 the Azerbaijani leadership again, as many times before, used its own people as a human shield to bombard Nagorno Karabkah with heavy artillery, including TR-107 multiple rocket launchers. In response, the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army had to take countermeasures against the Azerbaijani aggressive actions.