Armenian Military: A Force Of Chaos In Caucasus And Europe – OpEd

On September 27, 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack against the key positions of Azerbaijani Armed Forces, located on the front line; many large-caliber weapons, missiles and mortars were used against the civilian and residential communities in the City of Tartar – Azerbaijan.

The first day of clashes had terrible consequences among the Armenian separatist fighters, with sixteen soldiers dead and more than one hundred wounded in the fighting. According to officials in Baku an Azerbaijani family of five members were slaughtered from a shelling launched by Armenian separatists.

The indiscriminate shelling of Armenian Armed Forces, during the first week of combat, against Azerbaijani territory, illustrates once again Yerevan’s repeated violations of the rules of war and the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Armenian Forces have openly attacked the regional hospital, schools and launched missiles against the most populated areas of Tartar (Tǝrtǝr) District; even white phosphorus weapons are used in the past.  

Immediately, Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated several territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as secured elevated plateaus and high valleys that are of strategic importance. Some of the districts liberated from occupation are the city of Jabrayil and the nine villages of Jabrayil District, the city of Terter (Tartar) and the district villages of Sahlaabad, Gazyan, Gapanli, Gaynag, Askipara, Gusanli.

Furthermore, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces have liberated the villages of the Agdam region: Ayag Garvand, Imamgulubeyli, Garadaghly, Tezekand;  Gandmadzhanli region, Gagandaldinli Tapgaragoyunlu of Goranboy region. At the present, the villages of Guzanli, Alibeyli and Ayag Garvand of the Agdam region are under the full control of Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

In the meantime the Armenian Armed Forces are suffering from a high desertion rate and are experiencing the lowest levels of morale ever; military confrontations continued on September 29th – October 4th, between the Armenian Forces and Azerbaijani Infantry and Artillery Forces; inflicting significant damages to the Armenian troops.  Over two hundred Armenian tanks, armored vehicles, 50 artillery installations, ten air defense systems and over 40 rocket launch systems were destroyed by the Azerbaijani well trained forces.   

The deliberate shelling of the Energy Station and campus in Mingachevir (Azerbaijan’s fourth largest city) on October 4, is another attack against critical civilian infrastructure of Azerbaijan, ruthlessly committed by Armenian Armed Forces and shows Yerevan’s refusal to abide by the rules of engagement and is openly violating the International Humanitarian Law. 

On October 3, Armenians presented fake radio communications recording, purportedly showing an exchange of communications between the Turkish and Azerbaijani Armed Forces. According to the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, Colonel Vagif Dargahli:  “the audio recordings of alleged conversations of Azerbaijani and Turkish servicemen on the radio during the hostilities, disseminated in the Armenian media, are a fake product of the special services of this country. The audio recording has nothing to do with military operations.”

Colonel Vagif Dargahli stated on September 28, 2020, that: “there are many mercenaries from Syria and the Middle East among Armenia’s losses. Since they [mercenaries] are not officially registered in Armenia, the enemy easily conceals these losses.”

Just like in previous battles, the Armenian military-political leadership, carefully conceals and hides the military information and does not disclose, nor reveal the combat losses in public.  Due to a large number of losses, after a while the Armenian Government will be forced to admit these human losses indicating them as defeats that occurred in other various conditions.

As the fighting continues, on October 4, the Armenian armed forces have launched over a dozen of shells – missiles to Azerbaijan’s Khizi (Xızı) region and Absheron region. In an interview for Trend News Agency, Hikmat Hajiyev, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, noted that: “Missile attacks were launched and orchestrated by Armenia against Azerbaijani civilian centers and civil infrastructure:

1. Ganja: 4+ BM-30 Smerch missiles with cluster ammunition. 2nd biggest city of Azerbaijan.

2. Against Khizi and Absheron regions: two 300 km midrange missiles were launched.

3. Mingachevir: 2 missiles against the Water reservoir and Electrical Energy Plant.”  

On October 4, Trend News Agency informed that the Armenian armed forces are inflicting rocket strikes against the civilian population of the Terter city and Horadiz city in the Fizuli region; the attacks were launched from the territory of Khankendi.  Meanwhile the Azerbaijan Army is taking appropriate measures to contain the damages and retaliate with adequate gallantry and offensive measures.

On October 3, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan liberated the following territories and villages: Talish of the Tartar district; Mehdili, Chakhirli, Ashaghi Maralyan, Shaybay and Guyjag villages of Jabrayil District and Ashaghi Abdurrahmanli village of Fuzuli district.  

After only a week of intensive fighting, the Armenian population living in the occupied city of Khankendi in Azerbaijan are fleeing their homes to Yerevan and to other Armenian cities.  According to Defense.az there is only a small number of Armenian citizens staying in the city and it is in total darkness due to lack of electricity.

As the President of Azerbaijan and Commander in Chief, Mr. Ilham Aliyev has rightfully stated in his address to the nation: “Azerbaijan has been fighting to restore its territorial integrity for a week now. On the battlefield, our soldiers and officers show heroism, inflict crushing blows on the enemy, put the enemy in its place, drive the enemy out of our lands at the cost of their lives. This glorious mission will find its worthy place in history. Today we are writing a new history of our people and state, a glorious history. We are restoring historical justice today because the land of Karabakh is our ancient historical land.” 

Currently, thousands of ethnic Armenians from Syria, Lebanon, Russia, Georgia, Greece, United Arab Emirates, and other countries have already been deployed or are in the process of deployment to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. 

The war continues and Armenian leadership has lost any sense of logic, while the Government of Azerbaijan is committed and determined to recover every inch of its sovereign territory; the armed forces of Azerbaijan are only a few days away from rising the Azerbaijani flag in the city centers of Khankendi and Shusha and in other recently liberated cities.  The nation of Azerbaijan has lived, produced, heavily worked, and built their homes in these lands of Dağlıq Qarabağ for many centuries. But in the last three decades, Armenian executioners have occupied their lands, destroyed all their historical, religious, and cultural sites.