Baku, October 11, AZERTAC

The NGOs of Azerbaijan have appealed to UN Secretary-General, PACE President, President of the OSCE PA, NATO Secretary-General, President of the NATO PA, President of the European Commission, President of the European Council, President of the European Parliament and heads of other international organizations regarding the killing of women and children as a result of the missile attack of Armenia on Ganja.

The appeal reads:

"As known, a trilateral meeting of the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and the Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan was held in Moscow on October 9, 2020 on the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin to declare a humanitarian ceasefire.

After a meeting that lasted about 11 hours, an agreement was reached consisting of following 4 points:

1. To declare a ceasefire for humanitarian purposes starting from 12 p.m. on October 10 for the exchange of the prisoners of war, other people detained and bodies of those killed, with the mediation and in accordance with the criteria of the International Committee of the Red Cross;

2. Further parameters of the ceasefire will be agreed upon additionally;

3. The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, on the basis of the fundamental principles of the settlement, are launching substantive negotiations with the aim of achieving early peaceful resolution;

4. The sides reiterate the inalterability of the format of the peace process.

However, unfortunately, the Armenian side, in violation of all the provisions of the agreement signed, in accordance with its hypocritical and aggressive nature, continues to subject the frontline regions and villages, as well as the cities of Azerbaijan situated far away from the conflict zone, to heavy artillery and missile fire, grossly violating the ceasefire agreement.

The most regrettable is that on October 11, at around 4 AM, the second largest city of Azerbaijan, Ganja, with a population of more than 500,000 people, located 80 km from the frontline, was shelled by the order of the political-military leadership of Armenia. As a result of this barbaric and atrocious attack of Armenia, 3 residential buildings were destroyed, more than 9 civilians, including 4 women, were killed and 34 were wounded, including 16 women and 6 children. This crime of Armenia is another act of genocide after Khojaly committed against peaceful and innocent Azerbaijanis. In total, 41 civilians were killed and 205 were injured by Armenia in the last 15 days.

Armenia's open attack on the civilian population of Azerbaijan after the ceasefire’s entering into force, as well as the killing and wounding of dozens of people is an unprecedented baseness and crime. In addition, Armenia's gross violation of all clauses of the Moscow Agreement signed on October 10, 2020, once again proved that the occupying country is not interested in a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the conflict, as it has been for the last 28 years.

On the other hand, Armenia's missile attack on Ganja also shows that the occupying country, as in previous years, still ignores the resolutions, statements and calls of the world community and international organizations, and continues to grossly violate all international conventions. The only reason for this is that Armenia has so far gone unpunished and no international sanctions have been imposed on the occupying country.

We, the NGOs of Azerbaijan, once again call on you to take serious steps against Armenia, which hypocritically violated the ceasefire and killed many innocent children and women, and stop the aggressor.

You, as the international organizations responsible for the protection of peace and security in the world, the protection of human rights and freedoms, the observance of the norms and principles of international law, the implementation of international conventions prohibiting the killing of civilians, cannot ignore the fact that Armenia is blatantly and grossly waging war against Armenia in front of the whole world. Your indifference to this aggression against Azerbaijan will be assessed as your open disrespect for human values, international law and international humanitarian law.

We hope that you will strongly condemn this crime against humanity committed by Armenia and take necessary measures to punish the aggressor."