In her letter, Elmira Suleymanova raises objection to the EOI’s statement titled “The EOI condemns the violation of the human rights of civilians and attacks on civilian facilities” dated 11.04.2016,” dated 11.04.2016.

“As a matter of fact, there have never taken place such attacks on civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. As is known, Armenian armed forces constantly violate the ceasefire from their own territory and Azerbaijan’s occupied lands, mostly targeting civilians living in the cities and villages nearby. There are numerous facts to prove it. The abovementioned statement has not been expressed properly. In reference to your untrue statement, a number of Armenian information sites has released misinformation that “the EOI condemns Azerbaijan for attacks on civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh,” seeking to deceive the international community. Therefore, we call for the removal of the EOI’s statement dated 11.04.2016 and a refutation,” says the letter.

Elmira Suleymanova goes on to say that the untrue statement of a human rights defender of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, titled “The atrocities committed by Azerbaijani military forces against the civilian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the military servicemen of the Nagorno-Karabakh army,” has been placed on the EOI website.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.

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