‘Necessary international legal steps to be taken on crimes of Armenians’, Hikmet Hajiyev

Baku, April 13, AZERTAC "Finally, the official Yerevan realized the existence of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law," spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev said when he commented the accusations of the Armenian side on violation of the Geneva Conventions requirements. According to him, Armenia has violated international humanitarian law, and the official Baku intends to inform the international community about this. "Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan, the policy of bloody ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories, genocide in Khojaly, torture of Azerbaijani captives and hostages, murder and burial in mass graves and other similar war crimes against humanity has been documented and presented to international organizations," Hajiyev said in his statement. Shooting civilians along the contact line of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, killing and wounding civilians continue. Since the early morning on April 2 Armenia intensified military activity on the front line, committed acts that are equal to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Thus, the deliberate systematic and targeted bombardment, including from heavy artillery pieces were subjected many settlements of Azerbaijan. As a result of the shelling 32 settlements, six civilians were killed, including two children under 16 years, and 26 residents were wounded. Great damage was caused to public and private property, civil infrastructure, 232 houses, 99 poles for power transmission lines, three electrical substations, water mains and gas pipelines length in kilometers were seriously damaged or destroyed. Missiles bombed schools, hospitals and other social infrastructure - schools, hospitals, and mosques. The assessment of the damage caused to civilians and to objects continues. To evade responsibility for these deeds the Armenian side spreads staged photos and videos with scenes of the dead and misinformation. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated the continuation of the work on informing the international community of Armenia and the state, and the personal responsibility of members of the military and political leadership of Armenia for their crimes, and take the necessary international legal steps, reads the statement.