YEREVAN, September 29. /TASS/. Armenia’s foreign ministry has called on the international community to exert pressure on the Azerbaijani authorities to make them strictly observe the ceasefire.
"On September 28, Azerbaijani troops, who are staying on Armenia’s sovereign territory illegally, violated the ceasefire again and opened fire from mortars and heavy weapons in the easterly direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, killing three Armenian soldiers. <…> We are calling on the international community to exert pressure on Azerbaijan’s military political leadership, take effective steps and use corresponding mechanisms to ensure strict observance of the ceasefire, withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the sovereign Armenian territory and prevention of new incidents," the ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.
According to the ministry, this provocation was geared to wreck a meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers, the organization of which is being discussed. "Azerbaijan’s action, which is the continuation of the large-scale aggression launched on September 13 demonstrates flagrant disregard to the recent calls by the international community and UN Security Council member states for observing the ceasefire," the ministry said.
"It confirms the Armenian side’s concerns about Azerbaijani intention to continue to use force and pursue its maximalist policy," it stressed.
The Armenian defense ministry said on September 13 that shortly after midnight Azerbaijani troops had opened intense fire from artillery systems, heavy machineguns, and firearms at the settlements of Goris, Sotk, and Jemruk. Armenia’s Security Council held an extraordinary meeting and decided to seek assistance from Russia by triggering provisions of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, as well as from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the United Nations Security Council. According to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, 105 Armenian soldiers were killed.