Armenia wants verification mechanisms to identify ceasefire violator

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia believes that verification mechanisms on the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh are key in terms of demonstrating which party is not honoring the ceasefire, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said in an interview with Al-Jazeera.

"We want the ceasefire, we want verification mechanisms , which will indicate the perpetrator, which will demonstrate the party, which is not faithful to this ceasefire. We have been saying this for a long time and I repeat this again," Mnatsakanyan said.

"We have achieved an important statement to establish a ceasefire for the humanitarian purposes and to start working on that. But a few hours later, in the early hours of the morning on Saturday (October 10), Azerbaijan has been continuing with its military operations in every direction, mostly in the south. Most appallingly, they have been continuously and methodically targeting and hitting the civilian settlements, towns and villages, the civilian infrastructure of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"This has been going on for the entire morning all the way to the afternoon. After 12pm, when we were supposed to have the ceasefire established, these operations have been continuing on the Azerbaijani side. This is a premeditated attack on what we have been trying to achieve with this ceasefire."

Azerbaijan, with help from Turkey, launched a large-scale offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems. Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. International and local journalists too have been injured in Azeri shelling of towns and villages, as well as the iconic Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi. Before a humanitarian ceasefire could begin on October 10, Azerbaijan launched a new offensive and struck settlements both in Karabakh and Armenia.