Statement by Ambassador Armen Papikyan on Military Offensive of Azerbaijan on the North-Eastern Part of the State border of Armenia delivered at the 1275th OSCE PC Meeting

16 July, 2020

In recent days the Republic of Armenia has come under armed attack by Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani military offensive along the north-eastern part of the State border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and attacks on settlements and civilian infrastructure in Tavush Province in the north-east of Armenia, has compelled our delegation to raise this matter under the agenda item “Current issues under the title “Military offensive of Azerbaijan on north-eastern part of the State border of Armenia”.

Let me start by giving a chronology of the developments on the border.

On 12 July, at around 12.30 p.m. the servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces on a UAZ military vehicle crossed the Armenia’s State border in the direction of Tavush Province and drove towards the Armenian military position close to the village of Movses. After a warning from the Armenian side, the Azerbaijani soldiers left the vehicle and retreated to their positions. An hour and a quarter later, at around 1.45 p.m. the Azerbaijani military again attempted to take over the same outpost, now using 82 mm calibre mortars and combat groups. This attempt was repulsed by the Armenian armed forces.

That same evening, the Azerbaijani side resumed its shelling of the same position using 82 mm calibre mortars and tanks. The shelling of Armenian positions continued at intervals of 15 minutes throughout the following day.

On 13 July, the Azerbaijani army resumed its aggressive actions, using a wide range of offensive weaponry including heavy artillery, large-calibre mortars and tanks. Moreover, combat- and reconnaissance-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were also used. (As of today, the Armenian armed forces have shot down around 13 Azerbaijani UAVs, including a Hermes 900 UAV, which had been used to coordinate and direct artillery fire on the ground in real-time mode.)

On the same day, Azerbaijan started combining its attacks on military targets with assaults on settlements and civilian infrastructure in Tavush Province of Armenia. The villages of Chinary and Aygepar were shelled using 82 mm and 120 mm calibre mortars. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the civilian population.

The aggression and attacks on Armenian positions and territory continued on 14 July as well. The Azerbaijani military, infuriated by its lack of success on the battlefield, vented its frustration by targeting the Armenian town of Berd using combat UAVs and even Grad-type multiple-launch rocket systems. As a result, two production facilities – namely, a factory manufacturing personal protective equipment and a brandy distillery – were damaged, as was a gas pipeline. Later in the day, the Armenian village of Aygepar once again came under attack, resulting in damage to around a dozen residential buildings. Thanks to the professional work of the local authorities and emergency services, we have managed to avoid casualties among the civilian population.

All in all, as a result of the recent Azerbaijani offensive, 4 Armenian servicemen have been killed and around 11 have sustained injuries of various degrees. Two police officers were also wounded.

Deliberate targeting of the civilian population and infrastructure is not a new tactic employed by Azerbaijan. We have seen it being used for years – notably during the April War of 2016, when the Azerbaijani army’s actions amounted to gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. This policy is yet another manifestation of hatred, xenophobia and intolerance against the Armenian people, which is officially promoted at the highest level in Azerbaijan. Such actions and the stance of the Azerbaijani authorities should be condemned in no uncertain terms. The Azerbaijani political and military leadership must be held fully to account for what they have done and for what they are doing.

Despite an agreement on the cessation of hostilities, combat groups of the armed forces of Azerbaijan earlier this morning resumed military operations on the Armenian State border near the villages of Aygepar and Movses, using mortars and heavy artillery. After a proportionate response from the armed forces of Armenia, the Azerbaijani combat groups withdrew with losses. Having failed to make any gains on the battlefield, the Azerbaijani military units began shelling the aforementioned two villages, once again deliberately targeting the civilian population and infrastructure.

It should be stressed that this most recent aggression was a treacherous violation of an agreement on the cessation of hostilities that had been reached earlier. Moreover, it came after a statement made on 15 July in which the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office had welcomed the establishment of relative calm on the border.

As a result of their short-sighted policy, Azerbaijan’s military and political leaders have arrived at an impasse and are now resorting to perilous, ill-conceived steps, for which they will bear full responsibility – also before their own people.

I should now like to recall the political and military build-up that took place before the offensive and that clearly attests to the latter’s premeditated nature.

The escalation of the situation on the ground was preceded by attacks and allegations levelled against the agreed mediation format, that is, of the OSCE Minsk Group by President Ilham Aliyev. Moreover, the Azerbaijani President – who is notorious for making constant territorial claims towards Armenian (notably the capital city of Yerevan and the Zangezur region in southern Armenia) and lamenting that “modern Armenia is built on Azerbaijani lands”, and so on and so forth – has reverted, in his public statements and speeches in recent months, to warmongering and bellicose rhetoric, assuring his country’s population of Azerbaijan’s ability to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict militarily. This rhetoric was criticized by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, who in their statement of 30 June, issued following meetings held with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers via videoconference on 29 and 30 June, expressed their concern about the “recent provocative statements” and “inflammatory rhetoric”.

In addition to engaging in such inflammatory rhetoric at the highest political and military level, Azerbaijan recently conducted a large-scale military exercise without prior notification and in clear violation of the Vienna Document. Moreover, it is symptomatic that Azerbaijan is not among the almost 180 countries supporting the United Nations Secretary-General’s appeal for a global ceasefire amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our delegation has constantly drawn the Permanent Council’s attention to the anti-Armenian hate propaganda promoted by the Azerbaijani leadership. This propaganda is, in our view, a tool used to consolidate the society against an “external enemy” and divert its attention from the country’s domestic problems, such as the dictatorial nature of the authorities, endemic corruption and an abysmal human rights record that features violations of almost all the fundamental rights and freedoms.

Anti-Armenian hatred and sentiment in that country has reached a dangerously high level, where even a slight manipulation by the Azerbaijani politico-military leadership can cause it to spill over into military flare up or even large-scale aggression either on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border or along the Line of Contact.

We strongly believe that such deliberate and consistent actions by the Azerbaijani authorities, which among others have the effect of undermining the ceasefire regime established by the trilateral ceasefire agreements of May 1994 and February 1995, are aimed to create favourable conditions on the ground for resorting to large-scale hostilities. The events of the past few days have once again proved that our assessment of the situation is, unfortunately, correct.

As always, Azerbaijan is trying to cover up its large-scale military offensive against borders and sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia by putting forward false allegations against Armenia. I will make use of this opportunity to resolutely reject those allegations, especially those claiming that civilians have been targeted by Armenia's armed forces. The Armenian military has never deliberately targeted or fired at any Azerbaijani settlement. At the same time, we have ample evidence that Azerbaijani artillery units were positioned either within, or in close proximity to, civilian settlements, making those settlements highly vulnerable. More specifically, satellite imagery is available that shows artillery batteries in the village of Dondar Quşçu, in the Tovuz region, which is located some 10 km from the front line. As already mentioned, this deplorable tactic is not something new. It was already used by the Azerbaijani military during the April War of 2016, and serves as further evidence of the total disregard of that country’s political and military leadership for the safety and security of their own population, let alone the peoples of Armenia and Artsakh.

It has long been the tradition in Azerbaijan to blame Armenia for all its failures and inability to deliver on its own commitments. It is obvious that Armenia has no reasons whatsoever for wishing to escalate the situation. However, that is not so with the Azerbaijani authorities, which back in April 2016 already tried to divert the attention of their country’s society from domestic problems by unleashing a military attack against Nagorno-Karabakh at the cost of many human losses. In repeating the same pattern today, the Azerbaijani authorities are seeking to deflect public anger over the dire socio-economic situation, and to gain imaginary advantages in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Such a policy did not yield any results in 2016, nor will it do so today. On the contrary, it threatens to undo the modest achievements of the past two years towards building trust among societies and preparing populations for peace.

All these military actions were accompanied by a surge in information warfare and cyberattacks. The Internet and social networks were flooded by disinformation and downright fake news, intended above all to spread panic among the population of Armenia. It goes without saying that these attempts failed – on the one hand, because of Armenian citizens’ high level of trust in their government and, on the other, because of timely public information updates provided by the Armenian authorities.

Azerbaijani hackers tried to disrupt the free flow of information by launching cyberattacks against the official website of the Armenian Government and against the websites of Armenian media outlets, especially those which have a high level of credibility and are active in the area of investigative journalism.

All the aforementioned actions by Azerbaijan in the political, military, diplomatic and cyberspace spheres clearly demonstrate that this recent escalation on the north-eastern part of the State border between Armenia and Azerbaijan was a carefully orchestrated and premeditated operation.

Mr. Chairperson,

Dear colleagues,

The events of recent days have also been remarkable in terms of the unequivocal and swift reaction of the international community, at the level of States and international organizations alike. In this regard, I wish to express through you, Mr. Chairperson, our appreciation to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for his balanced statement. We would also like to thank all our partners and friends who made it abundantly clear that military adventurism is not acceptable and will never be tolerated. This stance has brought home to the Azerbaijani leadership that its way of “solving” issues is not in line with international norms, principles and laws. Nor is it in line with Azerbaijan’s own commitments and obligations.

Against the background of almost universal calls to cease armed hostilities and restore the ceasefire, we have, however, heard some discordant voices, coming from certain OSCE participating States, which we consider as a direct encouragement and giving carte blanche to Azerbaijan. In the current volatile situation, such behaviour is absolutely irresponsible and unacceptable. I am referring in particular to the statements made by Turkey and the Turkish delegation just a few minutes ago.

On 12 July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey – a country that, as I wish to stress here, is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group – issued a statement in which the Turkish authorities not only expressed their unconditional support to Azerbaijan, in fact justifying Azerbaijan’s use of force on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, but also disseminated utterly false and misleading information. Moreover, on 14 July, the Turkish Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs and later President Erdoğan himself expressed their support and readiness to assist Azerbaijan in any way and manner.

Turkey’s provocative attitude and its groundless accusations against Armenia attest to the fact that this country has not been acting as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, but, rather, as a party involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This fact makes it even more impossible for Turkey to play any role in the issues related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, within international, and particularly the OSCE framework.

The aforementioned statements by the Turkish authorities did not come as a surprise to us, since we have never been under any illusions or had any doubts as to their position and allegiances. Turkey is well known for its unfriendly attitude towards Armenia. However, the recent statements should be viewed and assessed against the background of the wider context of the current Turkish leadership’s neo-Ottoman geopolitical and military policies. For several years now, Turkey has been pursuing a policy of “bringing back the Ottoman Empire” – if not territorially, then at least by transforming the regions of Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus into zones of its exclusive political and military influence. All the destabilizing military engagements and foreign policy moves by Turkey in recent years attest to this. The most recent example is the statement made by President Erdoğan as he announced the reconversion of the Byzantine-era temple of Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque, in which he linked that decision to a revival of Islam from Central Asia to Europe. We believe these policies and approaches of Turkey should raise serious concerns.

Mr. Chairperson,

After the large-scale aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh in 2016 there was a consensus and agreement that we need to take additional steps and introduce new tools that would help to considerably reduce the risk of resumption of military hostilities. I am referring here to the agreements reached previously on enhancing the monitoring capacity of the Office of PRCiO and establishing an OSCE investigative mechanisms on ceasefire violations.

We believe that the recent military offensive against Armenia and subsequent developments could have been avoided if these investigative mechanisms had been introduced in time. The suspension, due to the COVID-19 pandemia, of monitoring activities by the Office of the PRCiO - the only international presence on the ground – made the situation even worse.

We firmly believe that this recent escalation proves the absolute necessity of taking the steps that I have mentioned, which, hopefully, will help put an end to the endless “blame game” of who, when and how violated the ceasefire.

I truly hope that participating States will support the introduction of an international system of reliable ceasefire monitoring and back all other initiatives aimed at creating an environment conducive to peace, building trust between the peoples, and preparing populations of all sides of the conflict for peace.

Thank you.

MFA RA
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