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Armenian Radicals Launch Attacks on Azerbaijani Embassies

By Gunay Hajiyeva September 20, 2022

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Armenian radicals were seen to gather in front of the Azerbaijani embassy in Paris to attack the embassy's building, September 18, 2022 / Azertag

The latest in a series of vandalistic attacks by Armenian radicals on Azerbaijani embassies took place in France on Sunday.

During the incident, furious Armenians overthrew iron barriers in front of the embassy’s building in an attempt to storm the front door of the building and get inside.

In video footage from inside the building, an embassy employee attempted to prevent the attackers from breaking down the door.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to France, Rahman Mustafayev, said the inaction of the French law enforcement services enabled the fanatics to attack the embassy.

“French Armenian fanatics storm the building of the Azerbaijani Embassy in France. But let's leave Armenian barbarians aside. Mr. Emmanuel Macron [French president], shame on France, which does not protect the embassies and ignores our fundamental requests related to our security,” he wrote on Twitter.

Earlier, Armenians living in Lebanon committed similar attack on Azerbaijani embassy located in Beirut.

In Georgia, attackers' attempts were thwarted by police before they managed to march toward the Azerbaijani embassy in the capital Tbilisi.

A spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, Leyla Abdullayeva, said the recent attacks of Armenian radicals on the embassies were nothing new for Azerbaijan.

“We have faced this before,” she said. “According to international law, namely the Vienna Convention, the country in which the diplomat and the diplomatic mission itself is located has a special obligation to ensure their safety. We called on these countries to take the necessary measures for the proper implementation of the Convention.”

The ministry submitted a note of protest to the French ambassador in Azerbaijan on Monday to demand a thorough investigation by French law enforcement agencies into the incident, an appropriate legal assessment, the prosecution of responsible individuals and compensation for the damages caused to the embassy's building.

Attacks by Armenians against Azerbaijan’s embassies followed the recent clashes between the militaries of the two countries on the state border. The situation escalated after the Armenian troops shelled military and civilian positions in Azerbaijan, and deployed sabotage groups to mine the territories and supply routes used by the Azerbaijani army on September 12 and 13.

The short but bloody flare-up of hostilities claimed lives on both sides. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry confirmed that 80 Azerbaijani servicemen were killed in the clashes, while the number of injured servicemen reached 282. According to Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, 135 Armenian servicemen were reported dead.

According to the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan, countermeasures taken by the Azerbaijani army resulted in the manpower and combat equipment losses of the Armenian armed forces involved in offensive and sabotage operations. The Baku-based Caliber.Az news service claimed that the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan also destroyed cannons, military trucks with ammunition, a military unit and S-300 air defense systems of the Armenian military as a result of the retaliatory measures.

On September 14, the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan announced the resumption of armed provocations by the Armenian military. According to the ministry, the incidents took place on the night of September 13 and into the next morning.

The Armenian armed forces once again opened fire on Azerbaijan army units stationed in the directions of Kalbajar and Lachin regions with mortars and artillery weapons. The Azerbaijani troops responded to the shelling with retaliatory measures. According to Azerbaijani media reports, the Armenian army's renewed attack aimed to capture military positions, however, the troops had to retreat after suffering losses.

The situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border has remained stable since the two sides agreed to a truce on September 14.