After Azerbaijani forces invaded the Parukh village in Artsakh’s Askeran region, the foreign ministry there urged the international community to not remain indifferent toward Azerbaijan’s aggression and its “recent terrorist campaign,” warning that inaction will have severe global consequences.
Azerbaijan’s latest incursion into Armenian territory comes after its forces began the incessant shelling of the Khramort village in Askeran in late February, followed by the deliberate blockade of Artsakh’s natural gas supplies.
Official Stepanakert said that Azerbaijan’s actions “are the logical continuation of the recent terrorist campaign initiated by the Azerbaijani authorities, which manifests itself in the exertion of psychological pressure on the civilian population, periodic violations of the ceasefire regime, disruption of the operation of the only gas pipeline flowing to Artsakh Artsakh, resulting in a dire humanitarian situation” in the republic.
“All these actions carried out by Azerbaijan are nothing but a state-orchestrated policy of ethnic cleansing aimed at the complete eviction of Armenians from Artsakh,” said the Artsakh foreign ministry.
“Azerbaijan’s geopolitical goals are apparent: to intimidate the people of Artsakh, to strike at the Russian peacekeeping mission, to make the Trans-Caucasus a stage for pan-Turkism and extremism for the implementation of far-reaching aspirations in the future,” added the foreign ministry.
“The international community and specialized international organizations should assess Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy in the strictest terms. Indifference and inaction will have the most severe consequences for the entire civilized world,” added foreign ministry.
“The people of Artsakh continue to stand firmly on their land. They will never give up their homeland and will never retreat to the vileness and insidious tricks of the enemy,” the statement said.
Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu had a phone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Zakir Hasanov to discuss “ways for stabilizing the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh,” said a readout of the call released by Russia’s defense ministry.
“The sides also exchanged views on the course of the peacekeeping operation and the humanitarian situation in the area of its implementation,” added the Russian ministry’s statement.
