Azernews.Az

By Sabina Mammadli

Those responsible for attacks on civilians should be held accountable and justice should be brought to the victims, Pakistani Ambassador to Azerbaijan Bilal Hayee said.

The envoy made the remarks at the event in Ganja, dedicated to the second anniversary of the Armenian missile strikes on the city.

“We are here today to express solidarity with the people and the government of Azerbaijan on the second anniversary of the missile attack on Ganja city, which killed many civilians and damaged infrastructure. I also visited Ganja in 2020, right after the attack. We saw the damaged infrastructure and even the belongings of the people whose homes were destroyed there,” he said.

The ambassador noted that attacks on civilians, even during wars, shall never happen, noting that Pakistan has always stood by Azerbaijan and will stand for the integrity of the country.

Hayee added that international law is on the side of Azerbaijan and Pakistan will continue to support Azerbaijan bilaterally, and in the international arena, as well as support the establishment of peace.

“Armenia can benefit from the immense opportunities that already emerge with the regional and economic integration. So, we hope that in coming months and years Armenia will reciprocate the justice of Azerbaijan to normalize relations, to sign the peace treaty and delimitate borders, which will bring prosperity to the region,” he noted.

Similarly, Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Seyyed Abbas Mousavi stressed that Iran condemns the terrorist acts committed against civilians.

"At the same time, Iran strongly condemns the terrorist attacks against diplomats and embassies," the ambassador added.

During the event, First Deputy Prosecutor-General of Azerbaijan Elchin Mammadov informed that the country’s Prosecutor-General's Office has opened 87 criminal cases on the cases of the aggressive war waged by the Armenian Armed Forces and the crimes committed during the Second Karabakh War.

He noted that 39 of these criminal cases are related to premeditated murder and harm to the health of the civilian population, the willful destruction of property, 26 - to the premeditated murder and harm to the health of civilians as a result of the explosion of mines and other explosive devices, 8 - to the illegal involvement of individual armed formations and mercenaries in the Karabakh region and participation in hostilities against Azerbaijan, 4 are related to illegal appeals directed against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, 3 are related to the destruction of infrastructure facilities with heavy artillery shells and ballistic missiles, and 3 others - to the destruction of historical monuments and culture in the occupied territories and cases of environmental crimes.

Speaking at the event, Head of the Communication Policy Section of the Presidential Administration Javid Musayev emphasized that Armenia attempted to falsify the reality by spreading disinformation during the second Karabakh war.

"The ambassadors to Azerbaijan along with the assistant of the Azerbaijani president and the prosecutor general visited the scene of the tragedy the day after the missile strikes on Ganja. Hundreds of foreign media representatives and bloggers arrived in Ganja through the Foreign Ministry," Musayev noted.

Musayev stressed that President Ilham Aliyev was interviewed by roughly 30 foreign media outlets during the 44-day war, and nearly 140 tweets were posted on the head of state's Twitter account, out of which, 44 contained the latest updates from the front. He added that shortly after the war, the president held a four-hour briefing with around 50 representatives of foreign media. This means that, unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan spread reliable information, the official noted.

Furthermore, Musayev stated that the Armenian leadership is responsible for the missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities, killing 100 and injuring nearly 500 civilians, to which Azerbaijan responded on the battlefield.

"Armenia has been spreading disinformation against Azerbaijan since the first days of the war. Azerbaijan waged the information war as well to reveal the truth to the international press," Musayev said.

He urged foreign diplomats visiting Ganja to share the implications of missile strikes on the city in their own countries.

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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl

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