ArmInfo.On October 28, the Azerbaijani armed forces, with the support of Turkey, launched strikes on Stepanakert and Shushi. The target of the shelling was again civilian objects: a complex of medical institutions and, including the maternity hospital in Stepanakert, were attacked, the Artsakh Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The statement emphasizes that as a result of the strikes, there are casualties among the civilian population. Located on the territory of the complex, the Republican Medical Center is the largest medical institution in Artsakh, which received treatment, including recently wounded French and Russian journalists, as well as Azerbaijani prisoners of war.
"According to international humanitarian law, civilian hospitals organized to help the wounded, sick, disabled and women in childbirth cannot under any circumstances be the target of attacks. Deliberate attacks on medical facilities are a war crime. Today's attack on the Stepanakert maternity hospital is yet another convincing evidence blatant disrespect of the Azerbaijani side to international humanitarian law and demonstrated that official Baku is ready to undertake any, even the most heinous, actions in order to achieve its military and political goals, "the statement says.
The Artsakh Foreign Ministry states that deliberate attacks on civilian objects, in particular, the medical institutions of Martuni, Martakert and Stepanakert, the Church of the Holy Savior of the city of Shushi, as well as the demonstratively brutal killings of Armenian prisoners are episodes in a series of large-scale and systematic crimes directed against the peaceful population of the Republic of Artsakh ... The acts of violence committed by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh have no justification and deserve the strictest international condemnation in order to prevent their recurrence in the future.
"The deliberate shelling of the medical complex in Stepanakert was, in fact, a cynical response of the Azerbaijani military-political leadership to the peacekeeping efforts of the Presidents of Russia, France and the United States aimed at ending hostilities and de-escalating tensions in the zone of the Azerbaijani- Karabakh conflict. We emphasize again that the international recognition of the Republic Artsakh, as well as the introduction of tough sanctions against Azerbaijan and its military-political leadership are the optimal and effective non-military way to put an end to the crimes against humanity committed by Azerbaijan, "the statement said.