Statement on the 7th Anniversary of the April Four-Day War Unleashed by Azerbaijan
On the night of 1-2 April 2016, in flagrant violation of the 1994 agreement on complete cessation of fire and military hostilities, the Azerbaijani armed forces launched a full-scale offensive against the Republic of Artsakh, using their entire offensive arsenal, including tanks and armoured vehicles, heavy artillery and military aviation.
The Azerbaijani military not only attacked the forward positions of the Artsakh Defence Army, but also targeted the border settlements, causing destruction, killing and seriously injuring innocent civilians, including women and children. During the April war, the Azerbaijani armed forces also committed atrocities and war crimes such as brutal murder of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians, beheadings and desecration of the bodies of the killed. The perpetrators of these brutal crimes later received state awards from the senior leadership of Azerbaijan, and their crimes were glorified in the Azerbaijani society and presented as exemplary behaviour.
The April aggression once again revealed Azerbaijan’s far-reaching goals of disrupting the peace process and resolving the conflict by force. Moreover, the impunity of Azerbaijan’s criminal actions and the international community’s tolerance for non-implementation of its obligations, in fact, prepared a fertile ground and created an opportunity for new provocations and aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh.
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As a result, just four years later, on 27 September 2020, with the active support of Turkey and the involvement of international terrorist groups, Azerbaijan unleashed a new large-scale war against Artsakh, occupying and ethnically cleansing a significant part of the territory of the Republic of Artsakh. Even today, in an environment of complete impunity and indifference, Azerbaijan continues its aggressive and terrorist policy towards the people of Artsakh, keeping the 120,000 people of Artsakh under illegal blockade for about 4 months, regularly violating the cease-fire regime established on 9 November 2020 with the mediation of the Russian Federation, targeting both the personnel of the Artsakh Defence Army and the civilian population, occupying new territories and strategic heights, disrupting the work of the infrastructures that provide the basic living conditions of the people of Artsakh.
The ongoing illegal actions of Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh demonstrate that the authorities of this country do not intend to comply with their international obligations and are pursuing a consistent policy of ethnic cleansing and occupation of Artsakh.
Once again, we call on the international community, and first of all, the United Nations Security Council, to take immediate and effective measures to prevent the policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide carried out by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh and, before reaching a comprehensive settlement of the conflict, introduce mechanisms and guarantees to ensure normal life activity in Artsakh. In this context, we emphasise the importance of the international recognition of the right to self-determination realised by the people of Artsakh, which is a necessary prerequisite for ensuring their rights, security and peaceful development.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh
