Torture claims, vandalism – war in Karabakh, Nov 6

JAMnews

Review of the latest events in Karabakh, November 6, 2020

Information from Yerevan

• “Over the past few days, Azerbaijani diversion groups have been unsuccessfully trying to break through to Shushi”, the Armenian Defense Ministry claims.

• Some sections of the Berdzor (Lachin)-Shushi road are still closed to the civilian population; there is an operation to clear out Azerbaijani diversion forces. The Armenian has side confirmed at least one dead and one wounded.

• The Armenian Defense Ministry denies information that several dozen journalists cannot get out of Karabakh; it is reported that everyone can safely return to Armenia – there is no danger on the roads.

• The Azerbaijani military continues shelling residential areas of Stepanakert, including with the use of cluster munitions. Three civilians have been killed.

• The bodies of some of the 29 Armenian servicemen that Azerbaijan handed over to the Armenian side were dismembered, said Rafael Vardanyan, head of the criminalistics department of the Armenian Investigative Committee.

The matter concerns the bodies of 29 Armenian soldiers, which were transferred on October 29 with the assistance of Russia and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The results of a forensic medical examination are expected, which will confirm whether the Armenian servicemen were tortured and injured when they were still alive.

Information from Baku

• The Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington called on Azerbaijanis living in the United States to beware of ‘provocations’ by representatives of the Armenian diaspora.

• Aide to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev showed footage from a mosque in the village of Mamar, Gubadli region.

“The mosque is completely destroyed. Along with vandalism, a religious and cultural monument of the 18th century was turned into a pigsty by Armenia as a sign of desecration during the occupation of the village,” reads his Twitter post.

• Residents of Azerbaijan Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, arrested in Karabakh in 2014 and held in Shusha prison, were taken to Armenia, the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan confirmed.

• Armenian soldiers are shelling the villages of Gazyan, Qaynag, Qapanli and Husanli in the Terter region of Azerbaijan, the Defense Ministry said.

Statements by representatives of Azerbaijan and Armenia and third countries

• Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov spoke at an online meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of Government about Yerevan’s attempts to involve the CSTO countries in the Karabakh conflict. The CSTO is the Collective Security Treaty Organization, created and led by Russia. Apart from Armenia, it includes Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

• “Azerbaijan continues its aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh with direct military-political support from Turkey with the involvement of terrorists from Syria and Libya. […] They use torture, demonstrative executions, beheading of prisoners, and mockery of the bodies of those killed. Azerbaijan is becoming a springboard for the infiltration of terrorists and their ideology into the CIS space,” Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan said at an online meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of Government.

• Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin said confirmation had been received that Syrian militants are participating in hostilities in Karabakh. “We got this data from various sources and partners and partner services in the Middle East,” he noted.

Earlier, the Armenian Ministry of Defense published several videos of Syrians captured during the hostilities telling on what conditions they agreed to fight in Karabakh on the side of Azerbaijan.

• French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused Turkey of “pursuing an aggressive policy in the immediate vicinity of Europe, in particular in Libya, in the eastern Mediterranean, in Nagorno-Karabakh and in northern Iraq.”

The minister said that ‘there is complete solidarity in the European Union’ regarding the actions of the Turkish leadership.

Since September 27, the Azerbaijani and Armenian armies have been fighting in the zone of the Karabakh conflict with the use of armored vehicles, artillery and drones. Both sides accuse each other of shelling settlements. Thousands were killed among the military and civilians on both sides. An armistice was declared three times during this time – on October 10, 18 and 26, but each time it has been immediately violated. The parties accuse each other of non-compliance with the ceasefire.