The Artsakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday refuted allegations made by Azerbaijan on May 17 that Artsakh military forces had used prohibited weapons, including white phosphorus shells, during the April 2-6 fighting along the Line of Contact.

In a May 20 press release, the Artsakh foreign ministry states that this is the latest instance of Azerbaijani disinformation targeting the international community, adding that Baku has even tried to involve foreign diplomats and military attaches accredited in Azerbaijan in its propaganda ploy

A passage of the press release reads:

“Back in 1992, the Azerbaijani side made similar accusations of the alleged use of chemical weapons, which were then denied by the UN special fact-finding mission. Based on the findings and conclusions of the UN experts set forth in the UN Security Council Document S/24344 dated July 24, 1992, the UN Secretary-General noted that "no evidence of the use of chemical weapons had been presented to the team".

The Artsakh foreign ministry charges Bakuwith making similar absurd and unconfirmed accusations, such as the use of nuclear weapons against Azerbaijan in 1993 and the disposal of nuclear wastes in the NKR (PACE document N 9444 dated May 7, 2002), transformation of Armenia and the NKR to a depot of bacteriological weapons (PACE document N9336 dated January 31, 2002), cultivation and production of drugs, etc. In doing so, Baku hascited nonexistent scientific journals, reports, organizations, and laboratories.

By resurrecting its old allegations, the Artsakh press release argues, Azerbaijan tries not only to justify its policy of use of force and denial of full and strict compliance with the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995, on which the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries insist, but also aims to distract the attention from the real war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani army against the military servicemen and civilian population of the NKR.

In conclusion, the Artsakh government urges the international community to treat the unfounded statements of the Azerbaijani side with utmost criticism. 

“For its part, the NKR is ready to host a special monitoring mission for an on-site study of all the facts and investigation of the circumstances of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan on April 2-5, 2016, as well as the violations of the norms of international humanitarian law committed during that period,” the press release ends.