Azeri-Press news agency (APA), Azerbaijan
October 5, 2017 Thursday
Azerbaijan says Armenia's actions contradict basic principles of Christianity
Armenia's actions aimed at looting the property and exploiting natural
resources in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, wiping out and
misappropriating material and cultural values belonging to the
Azerbaijani people and its unsuccessful attempt to change the
demographic situation constitute a flagrant violation of international
humanitarian law, including the obligations undertaken by Armenia
under the Geneva conventions, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, told APA on Thursday.
'The misappropriation by Armenia of the historical Albanian-Christian
heritage and temples in Azerbaijan's occupied lands and the
construction of a church in the occupied Jabrayil district, where
Armenians never lived, are nothing but an attempt to give a religious
color to the conflict and impede the resolution of the conflict
through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the basis
of the proposals put forward,' Hajiyev said. 'It's upsetting that
Armenian clerics is showing a particular zeal in this provocative
process that is in contrast with religious values.'
Hajiyev stressed that such attempts made by Armenia and its church run
contrary not only to international humanitarian law but also to the
basic principles of Christianity and the teachings of the Gospels that
encourage peace, respect for others' property, and avoidance of taking
people's lives and other acts of aggression.
'This particular provocation from Armenia will be brought up
accordingly at international organizations,' he added.
Armenians have recently held the opening of church (Virgin Mary) in
the occupied Azerbaijani district of Jabrayil.
The construction of the church has been funded by Gregory Movsesian.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the
Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in
1988.
A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war,
Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani
territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts
(Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan),
and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally
displaced people.
The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and
Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.
Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the
OSCEMinsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE
after the Budapest summit held in December 1994) Ministerial Council
in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group's members include Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey,
Belarus, Finland and Sweden.
Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution,
comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began
operating in 1996.
Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which
were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted
by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations
require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from
Nagorno-Karabakh.