German-Armenians rally against Azerbaijani violence in Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Thousands of German-Armenians staged a rally in front of the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on Friday, April 8, protesting against Azerbaijan’s ceasefire violation on the contact line with Nagorno Karabakh.

The campaign started with the Lord's prayer by Fr. Gnel Gabrielyan, with over 2000 protesters joining the rally from Munich, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Cologne, Halle, Potsdam and elsewhere.

The demonstrators handed a letter to the Foreign Ministry, urging Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to curb Azerbaijan’s aggression.

“Both Germany and the European Union can stop the military clashes, unleashed by Azerbaijan,” a member of the Central Council of Armenians in Germany, Samvel Lulukyan said.

The parties to the Karabakh conflict agreed on a bilateral ceasefire along the contact line which came into force at midday, April 5.

Prior to that, on the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh.

As many as 46 Karabakh servicemen were killed and 122 were wounded in the course of military operations.

As of April 5, the Azerbaijani side has lost 26 tanks and 4 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 1 BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher, 1 engineering vehicle, 2 military helicopters and 11 unmanned aerial vehicles. The Azerbaijani side has admitted the loss of 31 fighters, 1 helicopter and 1 unmanned drones, whereas the Armenian side's photo and video materials show dozens of killed Azerbaijani troops, 1 helicopter and 3 UAVs. Opposition media outlets, however, reported on the death of 81 Azerbaijani soldiers, stating that 6 more have gone missing. According to Karabakh authorities, 300 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in clashes.

14 Karabakh tanks have been neutralized since April 2.