Azerbaijan's latest attack on Armenia's sovereign territory claimed the lives of 105 people, dozens were wounded, dozens are missing, and serious material damage was inflicted on civilian settlements and infrastructure, Armenia's permanent representative to the UN, Mher Margaryan, said at a UN Security Council meeting. At least 7 prisoners of war have been captured by Azerbaijan, and according to video reports there may be more. Armenia calls for the release and repatriation of all Armenian POWs, as the opposite would be a violation of IHL.
The scale of the destruction is so big that according to the preliminary data only about 200 houses were damaged, 60 of them were totally destroyed. A number of densely populated settlements in Armenia, including Goris, Jermuk, Vardenis, Kapan and Sotk have come under heavy fire for several days in a row. According to the latest reports, at least 2,756 people were displaced in Gegharkunik, Syunik, Vayots Dzor, among them 370 children and 55 people with disabilities as a result of the offensive.
The shelling of the Jermuk resort, which is absolutely not a military target, is a war crime in the same way as the strikes on the Kechut reservoir, with potentially catastrophic consequences for people and the environment. This is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention and IHL.
Journalists, both local and foreign, who have covered these events, have also been targeted.
Over the last year Armenia has repeatedly drawn the attention of the Security Council to Azerbaijan's illegal practice of seizing territory by force. In letters dated 14 May, 29 July and 16 November 2021, Armenia warned the members of the Security Council that Azerbaijan was continuously violating the norms and principles of international law as well as the terms of the tripartite ceasefire statement of 9 November 2020. The latest strikes confirm that, in the absence of proper accountability measures, the policy of aggression is likely to continue, and its scale and scope will even increase. Over the past two days, Azerbaijan has occupied more than 10 square kilometers of sovereign Armenian territory. This strike followed the attacks of May and November 2021, when Azerbaijan occupied about 45 square kilometers of sovereign territory of our country. This act of aggression took place in the context of peace negotiations taking place in different arenas and facilitated by different players. Armenia is participating in all of those processes in good faith towards the stabilization of the situation in the South Caucasus. Armenia is openly making efforts to work with the region and has already stated its readiness to start negotiations towards a peace agreement. This aggression is Azerbaijan's response to the mediation efforts of the international community.
Azerbaijan will justify its predatory behaviour, but let us make no mistake: no armed attack was initiated by Armenia. It is clear for Armenia that these blame games have been Azerbaijan's best friends for years. It is for this reason that Azerbaijan so vehemently objects to any ideas of establishing verification mechanisms under international control for detecting cease-fire violations, Margaryan noted.
