No:529/22, Press release on summoning of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
On November 25, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Republic of Azerbaijan Pauline Eizema was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.
At the meeting, dissatisfaction with the letter of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra, addressed to the Parliament of the Netherlands on November 23, over alleged war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani Army has been brought to attention.
At the meeting, it was also mentioned that since the first Karabakh war, Armenian armed forces have committed unprecedented massacres not only against Azerbaijani soldiers, but also against civilians, that 613 civilians in just one night were brutally murdered in Khojaly on February 26, 1992, and that no information on the fate of nearly 4,000 Azerbaijanis has been given so far. It was noted that in October 2020 Armenia subjected Azerbaijan's Ganja, Barda, and Mingachevir cities to the missile strike, thereby committing another crime against humanity.
It was noted that the threat of landmines caused by Armenia as in the past, today keep posing a serious threat to the lives of people in the region and nearly 268 of our citizens, most of whom are civilians, have been victims of landmines since the end of the 2020 Patriotic War. It was pointed out that the fact that the landmines discovered in the territories of Azerbaijan were produced in Armenia in 2021 is a vivid example of Armenia continuing its war crimes against Azerbaijanis by planting new mines.
It was emphasized that the government of Armenia has not taken any practical measures to prevent the committed war crimes or bring the crime perpetrators to justice. The necessity of giving a fair international assessment to the crimes committed by the Armenian armed forces and in this sense putting pressure on Armenia was also noted.
At the meeting, it was mentioned that, unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan takes its international obligations seriously, and allegations related to crimes committed during military operations are investigated by relevant state institutions. It was brought to attention that on September 17, 2022, the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan announced that comprehensive investigations have been launched to determine whether the videos spread on social networks are genuine, as well as the time and place of the images in the videos were taken, the identity of the military personnel depicted in them, as well as the objective truth.
The ambassador said that she would submit Azerbaijan’s appeal to the relevant authorities of the Netherlands.