Foreign

Foreign

Azerbaijan raises issue of 9 year old Fariz Badalov killed by Armenian forces at UN

24 March 2011 08:52 (UTC +04:00)

Washington. Isabel Levine â€“ APA. Azerbaijan raised the issue of 9 year old Azeri child killed by Armenian forces at UN, APAâ€™s Washington DC correspondent was informed by UN News Center.

The letter sent from the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan Ambassador Agshin Mehdiyev to the UN Secretary-General was distributed among organizationâ€™s member offices.

â€œOn 8 March 2011, as a result of the ceasefire violation by the armed forces of the Armenia, from a position situated in the occupied Shikhlar village of the Agdam district of the Azerbaijan, an Armenian sniper shot Fariz Badalov, a nine-year-old resident of the village of Orta Garvand in the same districtâ€, Ambassador Mehdiyev noted. â€œHe [Fariz] was wounded in the head but died before he reached hospital. We have repeatedly stated that the Armenian side regularly and deliberately violates the ceasefire by attacking and killing not only Azerbaijani soldiers but also civilians residing in the territories adjacent to the front lineâ€.

According to the Ambassador, over the last years, such violations have become more frequent and violent. â€œMy Government strongly protests against yet another hateful and dangerous provocation of the Republic of Armenia. By the intentional killing of an Azerbaijani child and the shameless denial of its responsibility for this odious crime, the Armenian side has demonstrated once again that it feels no remorse for the senseless loss of life of a nine-year-old boy, and that moral and ethical principles of humanity are alien to itâ€, he added.

Attacks against the civilians are also illustrative of the consistent disrespect by the Armenia of its obligations both under international law and within the ongoing conflict settlement process.

â€œIt is notable that the Azerbaijani child was shot dead three days after the meeting between the Presidents of the Armenia and Azerbaijan, held in Sochi on 5 March 2011, at the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation, to pursue the dialogue between the parties on the settlement of the conflict. The bloody action of the occupying Armenian armed forces against the defenselessâ€, says the letter.

The Ambassador also pointed out that, the child can in no way contribute to the establishment of confidence between the parties and is yet another solid piece of evidence of the Armeniaâ€™s unwillingness to settle the conflict by political means and in a constructive manner.

â€œIn their statement released on 9 March 2011, the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group strongly condemned any loss of life and expressed their deep concern over reports of ceasefire violations before and after the Sochi summit of 5 March. In this regard, they asked the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to carry out an immediate investigation. My Government expresses its hope for an objective and thorough investigation of the incident that caused the death of Fariz Badalov and for subsequent resolute measures aimed at bringing those responsible for this crime to justiceâ€.

Continuing his thought, Ambassador Mehdiyev mentioned, â€œI have also been instructed to call upon the States Members of the UN to condemn the Armenia for systematic violations of the ceasefire regime and deliberate attacks on Azerbaijani civilians. It is absolutely clear that, for the purposes of lasting peace, security and stability, the Armenia must, in the first place, cease its provocative and hostile policy, put a prompt end to its aggression and withdraw all its armed forces from all the occupied territories of the Azerbaijan, thus enabling Azerbaijani internally displaced persons to return to their homesâ€.