Regarding Armenia's ballistic missile attacks on civilian settlements in Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh War, Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said, "This is unconscionable and inconceivable. The whole world should see this. But unfortunately, we see a deafening silence in the face of this tragedy, despite the fact that the entire world should stand up against it."
Those attending the Meeting of the Ministers and High Officials in charge of Information and Media of the Cooperation Council of the Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) in Azerbaijan visited Ganja, where Armenia launched missile attacks that resulted in civilian casualties.
Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev, Kyrgyz Minister of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy Kairat Imanaliev, Director of Agency for Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of President of Uzbekistan Asadjon Khodjaev, Kazakh Vice Minister of Information and Social Development Askhat Oralov, and Hungarian State Secretary for Security Policy Peter Sztaray inspected the wreckages and laid carnations at the sites.
The Turkish delegation, headed by Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun, also joined the visit. Anadolu Agency (AA) Board Chairman and Director General Serdar Karagöz were also part of the delegation.
"It is a war crime and a crime against humanity to massacre people"
In his statement to the AA reporter, Director of Communications Altun recalled that ten civilians had lost their lives as a result of Armenia's attack in the building they were inspecting.
Noting that 26 civilians were killed in Ganja and over 100 Azerbaijani civilians lost their lives throughout the war, Altun reminded that approximately 500 civilians were injured.
Underlining that Armenia chose to attack the civilian settlements after failing on the ground and being forced to retreat from the lands it occupied, Altun continued his remarks as follows:
"It is a war crime and a crime against humanity to massacre people, including babies and children, in their sleep in the midst of civilian settlements. If there is a legal system in place, whoever committed these war crimes must be punished. Civilian massacres are unbelievable. They are unconscionable and inconceivable. The whole world should see this. But unfortunately, we see a deafening silence in the face of this incident, despite the fact that the entire world should stand up against it."
Pointing out that the international media, guided and steered by certain circles, attempted to put the blame on Azerbaijan, and even on Türkiye, just one day after the civilian massacres, Altun said,
"Because Azerbaijan tried to liberate the territory that Armenia had occupied, and Türkiye helped Azerbaijan. The civilian massacres cannot be justified. We took a firm stand in reaction to this incident. We cannot speak of the human kindness of those who remain silent in the face of crimes against humanity, particularly those who support those who commit such crimes. We will pursue those who committed this crime in the international arena with all our means. We will stand by Azerbaijan in its rightful cause."
"We will pursue this crime against humanity"
Underlining that the civilians were killed in the middle of their sleep in Ganja, Director of Communications Altun noted:
"What kind of a reaction would we see if something like this happened in a European city? In such a case, a different attitude would be put adopted. We do not accept this hypocrisy, this hostile attitude. Therefore, we say that we will pursue this crime against humanity. The entire world will be watching as those responsible for this crime are brought to justice. Otherwise, we cannot speak of global justice.
The struggle of Türkiye in this sense is the struggle for rights and justice. We will not ignore what had happened here. On the contrary, we will use all of our leverage we have on the ground as much as we can for this issue too, and we will strive for the reconstruction and development of the region."
Pointing out that Azerbaijan and Türkiye, thanks to the solidarity of the Turkic World, would show their strength to the world, Altun said, "Under no circumstances, we will allow such occupations to take place again. We will not allow this kind of terrorist attacks. We will pursue those who committed terrorist attacks, the perpetrators of war crimes, to wherever they would be, and we will do everything we can to have them punished."
