EAFJD & ANC Belgium Condemn Azerbaijani Aggression against Armenians

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 Nagorno Karabakh Republic and parts of the 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 elderly and schoolchildren have also been victims.

Azerbaijan continues to derail the negotiation process by undermining the OSCE Minsk Group - the only internationally mandated platform to try to solve the conflict. The Co-Chairs in September 2015 in New York, had called on to the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to accept an OSCE mechanism to investigate ceasefire violations. They had stated “Without such a mechanism, the sides will continue to blame each, other for initiating deadly attacks on the Line of Contact and 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 conflict of Nagorno Karabakh through peaceful negotiations were ignored. On the contrary, Azerbaijan reacted by 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 finger-point ‎Azerbaijan & stop Azerbaijani president 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 are closely monitoring the very dangerous developments on the borders of Nagorno Karabakh 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 co-responsible, as well, in stepping up the aggression against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh”.

“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 Serzh Sargsyan’s call for a mutual defense agreement between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. We fully support this initiative and pledge our total solidarity to those who guarantee the borders and security of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh”, concluded Karampetian. Armenian National Committee of Belgium European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy