Burak Bir
15 October 2020•Update: 15 October 2020
ANKARA
As Armenia continues to attack Azerbaijani civilians amid an ongoing conflict in Upper Karabakh, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Thursday that Yerevan's war crimes must be stopped.
"We won't hesitate disclosing Armenia's war crimes and crimes against humanity to the whole world," the ministry said on Twitter, referring to Armenian attack on civilians during a funeral in western Azerbaijan in which three people were killed and as many injured.
He also shared photos of the graveyard, which were taken after the shelling in Terter city.
"Armenia, which deliberately targets residential areas using cluster and phosphorus bombs, now hits innocent people visiting a graveyard. Armenia’s atrocities must be stopped!"
Earlier in the day, the Turkish Foreign Ministry also condemned the attack, saying Armenia continues to disregard the humanitarian cease-fire with Azerbaijan effective since Oct. 10.
"With this latest attack, Armenia once again demonstrated to the whole world its total disrespect for humanitarian values and laws," it said.
Upper Karabakh conflict
Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.
Recent clashes between the two countries erupted on Sept. 27, and since then Armenia has continued attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces.
The number of Azerbaijani civilians killed in fighting has reached 43, 218 people are injured, 1,592 houses and 290 civilian facilities have been destroyed, and 79 apartment blocks have become uninhabitable, according to the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office.
Turkey has supported Baku's right to self-defense, and demanded the withdrawal of Armenia's occupying forces.
Multiple UN resolutions, as well as international organizations, also demand the withdrawal of the invading forces.
The OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia, and the US – was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail.
