4 yıl önce

Temporary Armenia–Azerbaijan ceasefire comes into effect

The agreement to temporary humanitarian ceasefire comes hours after Armenia attacked Azerbaijan's Ganja, killing at least 13 civilians, including children, and injuring dozens others.

Reuters

A man collects belongings from the ruins of his damaged home at a blast site hit by a rocket during the fighting over Karabakh region, in the city of Ganja, Azerbaijan October 17, 2020.

A new temporary humanitarian cease-fire reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia has entered into force as of midnight Sunday local time (2000 GMT).

“The Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia have agreed to a humanitarian truce as of October 18th, 00h00 local time [2000 GMT],” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement earlier on Saturday.

“This decision was taken following the statement of the Presidents of the French Republic, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, representing the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group of 1 October 2020, the Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group of 5 October, and in line with Moscow Statement of 10 October 2020,” it added.

On October 10, Baku and Yerevan agreed to a cease-fire starting on midday to allow an exchange of prisoners and the recovery of dead bodies in Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized Azerbaijani territory under Armenia's occupation.

The new agreement was announced by the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers following phone calls between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his counterparts.

Lavrov strongly urged the countries to abide by the Moscow deal.

Turkey won't stay silent over Armenia's atrocities

Turkey's defence ministry said on Saturday that Turkey would not stay silent in front of Armenia’s attacks on civilians in Azerbaijan.

“This tiny baby was killed in his sleep by the Armenian Army, using a ballistic missile,” the ministry said on Twitter, attaching a picture of an infant killed in Ganja.

“Our language, religion and countries may be different, but this photo is enough to burn all our hearts!” it added.

“Maybe you see this photo for the first time, but Azerbaijanis have been living with the same photo for 30 years,” it also said, sharing two other pictures of infants killed, one back in 1992 in Kholajy, the other one fresh in Ganja.

The ministry noted that Armenia has continued to murder babies for 30 years, as it did in Khojaly.

"If there are humans who can see this view and keep silent, then keep! We won't be quiet!" it said.

Armenia’s attacks on Ganja

At least 13 civilians were killed, including four women and three minors, and nearly 50 others injured, when Armenian missiles struck Ganja early on Saturday.

Some 20 women and five minors were also among the injured, while two children are still missing, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan said.

More than 20 houses were also destroyed in the attack.

It was Armenia’s second deadly assault on Ganja in less than a week, an area far from the front line with a population of half a million.

Along with Ganja, a hydroelectric power plant in Mingachevir was also targeted by the Armenian army at around 1 a.m. local time Saturday (2100GMT Friday), but its missiles were neutralised by Azerbaijan’s air defence.

Since new clashes erupted between the two countries on September 27, Armenia has continued its attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces.

As of midday Saturday, Armenia has killed at least 60 Azerbaijani civilians and injured 270 more, according to Azerbaijani officials.

The number of houses damaged in Armenian attacks has reached 1,704, along with 90 residential buildings and 327 civil facilities, according to Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General's Office.

SOURCE: AA