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Artillery strikes against civilians in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict could constitute war crimes, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet said on November 2. He also reiterated a call on Azerbaijan and Armenia to stop attacks on cities, schools and hospitals in the disputed mountain enclave. .
Separately, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian called for an international investigation into the presence of “foreign mercenaries” in Nagorno-Karabakh after ethnic Armenian forces said they had captured two Syrian fighters. Azerbaijan has denied the presence of foreign fighters and its close ally Turkey has denied deploying them after recruiting them in Syrian conflict zones.
Fierce battles continue along the front lines of a conflict believed to have claimed the lives of several thousand soldiers and many civilians. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is controlled by ethnic Armenians.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said that indiscriminate attacks on populated areas in and around the conflict zone contravene international humanitarian law. She said in a statement cited by Reuters that repeated calls to Armenia and Azerbaijan to avoid loss of civilian life and damage to civilian infrastructure had been neglected. Three declared ceasefires, arranged by Russia, France and the United States in turn, have been quickly broken with each side blaming the other.
“Instead, houses have been destroyed, streets reduced to rubble, and people have been forced to flee or seek safety in basements,” Bachelet said. “These attacks must stop and those responsible for carrying them out or ordering them must be held accountable.”
Just hours after agreeing in Geneva in October to refrain from deliberately targeting civilians, Azerbaijan and the ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh were once again accused of bombing residential areas.
130,000 displaced
Referring to data from both sides of the conflict, Bachelet said that around 40,000 Azerbaijanis had been temporarily displaced by the war, while some 90,000 ethnic Armenians had fled Nagorno-Karabakh and were currently in Armenia. The self-proclaimed republic has a population of around 150,000.
International rights groups have also accused both sides of using banned cluster munitions.
The Artsakh Defense Army, as ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh refer to their armed forces, informed Yerevan that they captured two Syrian fighters over the weekend, one from the Syrian province of Idlib, where the forces are stationed. Turkish, and the other from Hama.
Pashinian said that the involvement of “foreign mercenaries” was “a threat not only to the security of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, but also to international security and this issue should become a topic of international investigation.”
Both Russia and Iran have expressed concern over reports of the deployment of mercenary fighters in the conflict.
Baku has accused Yerevan of bringing in Syrian Kurdish fighters to defend Nagorno-Karabakh, which it denies.
Turkey “proud”
Ahval reported on November 2 that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated the following, Turkey was proud of Azerbaijan’s military achievements against Armenian forces in the fight for the enclave. He cited the Turkish state news service Anadolu Agency as relaying his comments.
“You have shown the power of the Turks to the whole world,” he reportedly told Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. “We are very proud. Hopefully, we will return our old lands through these successful operations. “
Yerevan has accused Baku of allowing Ankara to direct its foreign policy with regard to Nagorno-Karabakh, claiming that the fighting will not end unless Turkey agrees.
The Associated Press published a report on Nov. 2 on the baptism of Armenian recruits before heading to war. Reuters published a report on exiled Azerbaijani soccer champions Qarabag FC, known as “The Barcelona of the Caucasus”, dreaming of a post-war homecoming.
On November 1, thousands marched in West Los Angeles to show their support for Armenia and ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. There were calls for the United States to become much more involved in resolving the conflict and declaring a hunger strike.
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