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Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi in his statement on September 14, 2022, mentioned that the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia is not demarcated, therefore “it is difficult to talk about any violation of the border”.
However, contrary to the statement of the foreign minister of the CSTO member state, the military operations are not taking place on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan, but in the sovereign territory of Armenia, targeting Armenian settlements and cities.
Armenia appealed to the CSTO on the first day of Azerbaijan’s military aggression
It is already the second day, and the battles unleashed by Azerbaijan on the sovereign territory of Armenia have not stopped yet. Shortly after the attack of Azerbaijan on Armenia, a meeting of the Security Council was held under the leadership of RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during which a decision was made to officially appeal to Russia, the CSTO and the UN Security Council regarding the aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia.
Later, it became known that an extraordinary CSTO security meeting was held via video conference, during which the RA Prime Minister presented the situation and further steps of the CSTO were discussed.
The statement of the CSTO secretary in fact noted that the secretariat organized joint activities with the CSTO Joint Headquarters in the direction of activation of the CSTO mechanisms in order to regulate the situation.
However, today, on September 14, the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan announced that the issue of sending peacekeepers to Armenia is not yet on the agenda of the CSTO, and in order to receive objective information, a decision was made for the Secretary General of the CSTO to travel to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and have a complete picture of the situation on the ground, and then inform the leaders of the CSTO member states.
The military operations are taking place in the sovereign territory of Armenia
After the shelling of Armenian positions and settlements by Azerbaijan throughout the night of September 13, in the morning, Sevak Khachatryan, the head of the Sotki community in Armenia, made a post on his Facebook page, in which the buildings damaged and burned by shelling were clearly visible.
According to the mayor, the building of the community hall was damaged by shelling, and several houses were burned, roofs and windows of some houses were damaged.
According to the Google Earth satellite map, the Sotk settlement of Gegharkunik marz is located more than 8.5 km inwards from the Armenian border.
In other words, the claim that no border demarcation was made, therefore it is difficult to say in the territory of which country the battles are taking place, is a falsification.
A number of houses were also damaged by the Azerbaijani aggression in Sotk, as evidenced by the photos published by the former Former RA human rights defender Arman Tatoyan.
Apart from Sotk, Azerbaijan attacked several other Armenian settlements. One of the apartments in Verishen village of Syunik marz was damaged by the targeted attack of Azerbaijan. Two of the projectiles fell right next to the apartment.
As a result of Azerbaijani aggression and bombardment, 5 houses and cars were damaged in Verishen settlement.
Verishen settlement of Syunik province is located more than 9 km inwards from the state border of Armenia.
The ceremony hall of the village was damaged by the explosion of an Azerbaijani projectile in Karashen settlement of Tegh extended community of Syunik province. As a result of shelling, the windows of the ceremony hall were broken, the roof and walls of the hall were damaged.
Karashen settlement is more than 3 km inwards from the RA state border.
Our colleagues of Civilnet filmed how a civilian car was damaged by Azerbaijani shelling on the road to Jermuk, as a result of which the driver was taken to the hospital. As of that moment, the road leading to Jermuk was closed for traffic for safety reasons. .
The city of Jermuk is located 13 km away from the state border of Armenia.
Apart from that, the RA Ministry of Health announced yesterday that three civilians were wounded as a result of shelling by Azerbaijani armed forces in the direction of Armenian positions and settlements.
The health condition of one of the injured is assessed as severe, and that of the other two is satisfactory. Later, RA NA Speaker Alen Simonyan announced that we [the Armenian side] have civilian losses.
What does the CSTO charter envisage in this situation?
Months ago, the Fact Investigation Platform wrote what is envisaged by the CSTO Charter.
According to Article 4 of the Charter, “if any of the Member States is subjected to aggression by any State or group of States, it shall be considered by the Member States as aggression against all States Parties to this Treaty.”
In the event of an act of aggression against any of the participating states, the remaining participating states will provide the necessary assistance, including military assistance, and will also provide assistance with the means at their disposal in accordance with the procedure for the exercise of the right to collective defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.”
Thus, the claim of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan that since no border demarcation was carried out, therefore, it is difficult to say whether there was a violation of the border or not, is not appropriate, to say the least, because as a result of Azerbaijani aggression, civilian objects located at a considerable distance from the border are damaged, including cars and houses, and civilians are injured and killed.
Narek Martirosyan
