Serzh Sargsyan is wrong. In 2016, only one country condemned Azerbaijan’s aggression

The third president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan stated in an interview with ArmNews TV channel that unlike the four-day war in April 2016, the international community did not make any condemning statement on the offensive actions of Azerbaijan during the 44-day war in 2020.

“There is nothing to be surprised about on why no one condemned the resumption of hostilities by Azerbaijan. Do you remember April 16, when the international community unanimously condemned Azerbaijan’s offensive actions?“ he said.

The Fact Investigation Platform tried to find out how the international community, including international organizations and countries, condemned the two wars unleashed by Azerbaijan.

Only Cyprus has directly condemned Azerbaijan

Both during the four-day war in April 2016 and during the war in 2020, there were calls from various countries and institutions condemning the hostilities, but at the official level, only the Republic of Cyprus issued a statement condemning Azerbaijan.

On April 4, 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus issued a statement condemning the use of force in Nagorno-Karabakh and the resulting human losses. In particular, the Foreign Minister of Cyprus accused the Azerbaijani government of violating the ceasefire, noting “The Government of the Republic of Cyprus monitors closely the worrying developments in Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, following the violations of the armistice line from Azerbaijani military forces.” At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus urged Turkey to refrain from any activities and statements that would further destabilize the unfolding situation.

A similar condemning statement on the Artsakh war was made by Cyprus in 2020. On September 27, the Foreign Ministry of Cyprus issued a statement expressing deep concern over the escalation of tensions in Artsakh and condemning Azerbaijan for violating the ceasefire. Apart from Cyprus, only France made a condemning statement. The President of France Emanuel Macron stated during a press conference on September 30, 2020, “Since it has already been revealed that the shelling was carried out by Azerbaijan, I demanded that the attack be stopped, and I clearly condemned the move.”

It is noteworthy that after the April war, a protest rally was planned against the silence of the international community on April 9, 2016. The statement of the organizers of the rally said: “During the hostilities, the criminal silence of some members of the international community, especially the organizations primarily involved in the settlement of the conflict, or the no less criminal practice of putting an equality sign in addressing the actions of Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and the Azerbaijani side was observed.”

Note that the calls of the international community, both during the war in April 2016 and in 2020, were mainly addressed to the two countries to establish a ceasefire and start a dialogue. A few countries expressed support for Azerbaijan and condemned Armenia. Thus, the former president’s assertion that in 2016 the international community unanimously condemned Azerbaijan’s actions is false.

Nelli Lazaryan