EAFJD, ANC of Belgium Condemn Baku’s Aggression

The following statement was released by the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy and the Armenian National Committee of Belgium in reaction to Azerbaijan’s recent aggression against the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh).

The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) and the Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Belgium strongly condemn the vicious Azerbaijani armed aggression of the last days, along the entire border of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic and parts of the Republic of Armenia, by using air force, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery. In repelling the attacks, the Armenian side has lost an unreported number of soldiers. Civilians, including the elderly and schoolchildren, have also become victims.

Azerbaijan continues to derail the negotiation process by undermining the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] Minsk Group—the only internationally mandated platform to try to solve the conflict. In September 2015 in New York, the [Minsk Group] co-chairs called on the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to accept an OSCE mechanism to investigate ceasefire violations. They stated, “Without such a mechanism, the sides will continue to blame each other for initiating deadly attacks on the Line of Contact and on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Armenia has agreed to discuss the details of the mechanism, and we urge Azerbaijan to do the same.”

Of course, as is the norm with Baku, those calls for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict through peaceful negotiations were ignored. On the contrary, Azerbaijan reacted with the heaviest attacks since the ceasefire agreement in 1994.

If the international community had called the aggressor ‎Azerbaijan to restraint, no lives would have been lost today. Responsible bodies should stop expressing concern; they must point their finger at Azerbaijan and stop Azerbaijani President [Ilham] Aliyev’s dangerous adventurism.

Kaspar Karampetian, president of the European Armenian Federation, said, “First of all, we express our condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives—soldiers and civilians—and hope for the quick recovery of the injured. For a few days now, we have been closely monitoring the very dangerous developments on the borders of Nagorno-Karabagh and Armenia, and already have taken the necessary steps to mobilize our chapters in Europe in engaging with the representatives in their countries and the international bodies into forcing Azerbaijan to get back to the negotiating table. Turkey is responsible as well in stepping up the aggression against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh.”

“Azerbaijan is constantly lying, as is the case with today’s calls of ‘unilaterally calling a ceasefire,’ while they are the aggressor, and keep shelling villages and civilians. We welcome President of Armenia Serge Sarkisian’s call for a mutual defense agreement between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh. We fully support this initiative and pledge our total solidarity to those who guarantee the borders and security of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh,” said Karampetian.

Armenian National Committee of Belgium
European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy