Beginning at 00:05 hours on September 13th, subdivisions of the armed forces of Azerbaijan, resorting to yet another large-scale provocation, opened heavy fire on Armenian positions in Sotk, Vardenis, Goris, Kapan, Artanish, and Ishkhanasar, targeting the dwellings of innocent civilians, as well.
Evidently, the recently circulated disinformation regarding shelling attacks by the Armenian side was part of a premeditated campaign by the Azeri military-political leadership to fabricate a basis for this aggression.
Through this deliberate and deplorable harassment intent upon increasing border tensions, Azerbaijan aims to derail negotiations, avoid implementing certain elements of the November 9 tripartite statement and, through pressure and violence, coerce Armenia into making a corridor available and to extract territorial concessions from the Republic of Armenia.
In fact, the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party strongly condemns this reprehensible attack by Azerbaijan against the Armenian people.
It expects the Russian Federation and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to implement the provisions envisioned in their respective agreements with Armenia and to fulfill their obligations to defend the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia.
In addition, it invites the attention of the international community, the European Union, and the UN Security Council to the evident violation of international and humanitarian-rights standards and to elements of war crimes present in this intolerable assault, demanding that Azeri harassments be condemned and that immediate measures be taken to stop them, through mechanisms of international law.
In view of these developments, the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party calls upon all Armenians, be they in the fatherland or the diaspora, to unite and to jointly implement all possible efforts to bring our nation out of this calamitous situation and to support the Armenian army, which is standing firm at our national borders.
We also expect the parliamentary opposition to recognize the gravity of the moment, to put aside its political and ideological differences, and to engage, together with the government, in the sacred task of neutralizing the threats to the foundations of our nation and state.
The Armenian Democratic Liberal Party deeply condoles with the families of the fallen and wishes speedy recovery to the injured.