The Artsakh Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the shelling of Stepanakert and Shushi.
“Despite additional agreements reached on October 30 in Geneva, with the mediation of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, that the parties will not deliberately bombard civilian objects, Azerbaijani armed forces continue to attack rocket and artillery on the settlements of the Republic of Artsakh. On the night of November 5 to 6 and throughout the day of November 6, especially the capital of Artsakh, Stepanakert, and the cultural center of the Republic of Shushi, were subjected to particularly intense shelling. One of the missiles launched by the Azerbaijani side across the capital fell on a residential building, resulting in the death of three civilians.
From the very first day of the armed attack on the Republic of Artsakh, from September 27, Azerbaijani side has been bombarding the settlements of the Republic of Artsakh from the long-term jet system of the Smerch fire.
The use of this type of weapon against the settlements of the Republic of Artsakh indicates the intentionality of the actions of the Azerbaijani side aimed at inflicting excessive losses among civilians and maximum damage to civilian objects in the Republic of Artsakh, which constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law and war crime.
Despite many attempts by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries to establish a truce, the Azerbaijani side of the fighting accompanied by all possible war crimes indicates the intention of the Baku authorities to deprive Artsakh of its civilians. Against this background, collective and individual sanctions against Azerbaijan's military-political leadership are the most effective way to force official Baku to comply with its obligations and hold it accountable for crimes committed.
Military aggression against the Republic of Artsakh is an integral part of the plan to exterminate the civilian population of Artsakh, which Azerbaijan has been trying to implement for the last 30 years. Intentional acts of violence, war crimes against civilians and Artsakh soldiers took place both during Azerbaijan's armed aggression against the Republic of Artsakh in 1991-1994 and April 2016 Azerbaijan uses its entire political arsenal in a relatively peaceful period to prevent the people of Artsakh from exercising their basic rights.
With massive and systematic violations of the rights of whole peoples, the threat of their extermination, the international community has created and developed practices to suppress crimes against humanity by international recognition of the right of these peoples to independence for salvation. The international recognition of the independence of the Republic of Artsakh is exactly such and relevant step that the international community will end Azerbaijan's criminal policy”, the statement reads.
