Statement of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan in connection with the military provocation committed by the Armenian armed forces on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border in the direction of Tovuz

Starting on July 12, Armenia once again has violated the ceasefire in the direction of  Tovuz district along the state border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The constant shooting by using heavy weapon by the armed forces of Armenia on the positions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including the civilian settlements, leads to deaths and injuries among both military servicemen and civilians.

The Armenian military-political leadership, having occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory for up to 30 years and expelled more than a million civilians from their lands and homes, grossly violates all fundamental human rights and intends to expand the occupation at the expense of civilians living in Tovuz and surrounding areas and the families of the servicemen who died preventing their provocations at the border.

Armenia's attack on the positions of the armed forces and the shelling of civilians with heavy artillery is a provocation and is contrary to the norms of international law and peace negotiations.

They once again committed war crimes in violation of the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, which formed the basis of international humanitarian law, violated the substantive peace talks to resolve the conflict and provoked the involvement of third countries in the process.

With the current economic, social and psychological challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing provocative actions of the Armenian armed forces endanger the lives of civilians, especially the elderly, women and children living in border areas and conflict zones. The shelling of civilians with heavy weapons pose a greater risk to the population, threatening their peaceful life and causes serious damage to infrastructure and personal property.

The State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan calls upon the international community as well as international organizations to take necessary steps and appropriate measures to restore the rights and freedoms of our compatriots violated as a result of the Armenian aggression, and to give  a legal assessment to the crimes committed by Armenia, that does not fulfill UN Security Council Resolutions № 822, 853, 874 and 884, the resolutions of the UN General Assembly adopted in 2006 and 2008 on the situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN Security Council Resolution 2427 on measures to protect children in armed conflict, ignores the calls of the UN, WHO in connection with the pandemic.