Any threat to shell Stepanakert and other settlements of Artsakh inadmissible – MFA

The President of the Republic of Artsakh has stated very clearly about the inadmissibility of threats to shell Stepanakert and other settlements of Artsakh, which the Azerbaijani side regularly voices, including at the highest level, the Artsakh Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The comments come after the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry attempted to distort the remarks of the President of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunian, taking them out of the general context.

“The military-political leadership of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated its readiness to strike any targets in Artsakh. In particular, once Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan instructed the rocket and artillery forces to “prepare for delivering devastating strikes” on Stepanakert and other towns of Artsakh. It is noteworthy that the official representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry justified such threats by the fact that allegedլը “there is no civilian population in Artsakh, but only the military and the field,” the Foreign Ministry said.

“Seeking to conceal its aggressive policy, based on intimidation and terror, Azerbaijan, through the falsification of facts and deliberate misinformation of the international community, tries to attribute its own steps and motives of actions to the Armenian sides. It is Baku and not Yerevan or Stepanakert that regularly threatens to destroy strategic civilian infrastructure and the settlements in Armenia and Artsakh. By the official statements on its readiness to launch missile strikes on the Metsamor nuclear power plant in Armenia , on Yerevan and Stepanakert, to shoot down civilian planes flying to Artsakh, as well as by a whole range of crimes committed against humanity and war crimes, Azerbaijan demonstrates that it does not hesitate to use terrorist methods as its state policy,” the statement continued.

The Ministry said “the Republic of Artsakh is ready to resolutely suppress any attempts by the Azerbaijani armed forces to attack the civilian population.”

“The military airfield of the city of Gandzak (Ganja) or any other military location, which the Azerbaijani side tries to use for attacking the settlements of Artsakh, will become a legitimate target for the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh. The statement of the President of the Republic of Artsakh is a warning about the futility of the attempts to get political dividends through threats and terror. The Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict has no military solution. The attempts to unleash another war will have disastrous consequences for the entire region,” the Ministry concluded.