Each and every action taken by Azerbaijan to restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty, including the latest 24-hour counter-terrorism measures, was in line with norms and principles of international law. Azerbaijan has always been committed to the protection of civilians and civilian objects within its conducted actions, the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Aykhan Hajizada, said while responding to a local media question regarding the comments by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on the regional situation, Report informs.
According to him, despite the fact that during almost 30 years of Armenia’s military occupation Azerbaijanis, facing massacres and mass atrocities were deprived of all their rights, Azerbaijan has always been committed to safeguarding the rights of all the ethnic minorities in its territory, including of Armenians: “This has been vocally expressed by Azerbaijan’s leadership on numerous occasions.”
“Unfortunately, no one also called to uphold the rights of around a million Azerbaijani refugees and displaced people, including ensuring their rights to return in safety and dignity. While Azerbaijan both after the 44-day war and following the anti-terrorism measures provides assistance to find the whereabouts of missing persons, we do not see the same attention and scrupulosity with regard to almost 4000 missing Azerbaijanis.
“We hope the calls of the High Commissioner to conduct transparent investigations to ensure accountability and redress for the victims will be taken seriously by the international community, who ignored calls of Azerbaijan for almost 30 years to punish perpetrators of the genocide in Khojaly, other massacres, and crimes against humanity.
