Armenia’s Foreign Ministry issued the following statement following today’s Azerbaijan’s attack against Artsakh.

On September 19, Azerbaijan unleashed another large-scale aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, aiming to complete its policy of ethnic cleansing.

Guided by the feeling of impunity, Azerbaijan has openly assumed responsibility for the aggression. The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has announced that it is starting "anti-terrorist measures" in Nagorno-Karabakh, in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops, about which, according to the official statement of the Azerbaijani side, the command of the Russian peacekeeping troops, as well as the Russian-Turkish monitoring center, have been informed.

We strongly condemn Azerbaijan's aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and the mass crime that took place exactly three years ago, in 2020. It is the continuation of the large-scale use of force unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in September. Civilian settlements, the city of Stepanakert, other cities and villages are subjected to shelling by Azerbaijan under the empty pretext of "destruction of military objects".

The Armenian side has repeatedly warned that the continuous aggressive actions of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh, the unconcealed belligerent rhetoric, the absolutely false and reprehensible propaganda of calling the population of Nagorno-Karabakh "terrorists" pursues one goal: to subject the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing through the use of force, to deprive the population of Nagorno-Karabakh of a free and from the right to live and create with dignity. The illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, and the complete blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh from December 2020 are pursuing the same goal.

Among other things, the attack was preceded by the dissemination of false information by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan about mine laying and sabotage operations, which indicates the planning of the attack and the provision of the information field. We declare once again that the armed forces and military equipment of the Republic of Armenia are not stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh, all the news about minelaying and sabotage operations are false and fabricated.

We issue a call to international partners, members of the UN Security Council with the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, and the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh, based on the tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020, to take clear and unequivocal steps to end Azerbaijan's aggression.