At UN, Armenia Accuses Azerbaijan of 'Unspeakable Atrocities'

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York Yuki IWAMURA AFP
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York Yuki IWAMURA AFP
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At UN, Armenia Accuses Azerbaijan of 'Unspeakable Atrocities'

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York Yuki IWAMURA AFP
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York Yuki IWAMURA AFP

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan used his address before the United Nations Thursday to accuse Azerbaijan of "unspeakable atrocities" during the latest clashes between the two rivals, including mutilating the bodies of dead soldiers. 

Fighting flared up last week between the Caucasus countries, leaving nearly 300 dead in the worst violence since a war in 2020, AFP said.

"There are evidences of cases of torture, mutilation of captured or already dead servicemen, numerous instances of extra-judicial killings and ill treatment of Armenian prisoners of war, as well as humiliating treatment of the bodies," he told the UN General Assembly.

"The dead bodies of Armenian female military personnel were mutilated, and then proudly video recorded with particular cruelty by the Azerbaijani servicemen."

As Pashinyan spoke, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, who is set to address the global body this weekend, watched impassively.

Pashinyan went on: "No doubt, committing such unspeakable atrocities is a direct result of a decades-long policy of implanting anti-Armenian hatred and animosity in the Azerbaijani society by the political leadership."

He also accused Azerbaijan of shelling civilian facilities and infrastructure deep inside his country's territory, displacing more than 7,600 people, as well as leaving three civilians dead and two missing.

"This was not a border clash. It was a direct, undeniable attack against the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Armenia," he said.

The speech comes just days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged peace between the two sides in a meeting where he hosted both countries' top diplomats.

"Strong, sustainable diplomatic engagement is the best path for everyone," Blinken said.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, during a visit Sunday to the Armenian capital Yerevan, blamed Baku for "illegal" attacks on Armenia, condemning an "assault on the sovereignty" of the country.

Washington's ties are deepening with Yerevan whose traditional ally Moscow is distracted with its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has close ties with both former Soviet states. It is obligated to intervene if Armenia is invaded under a security pact, but did not rush to help despite an appeal from Yerevan.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars -- in the 1990s and in 2020 -- over the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan.

A six-week war in 2020 claimed the lives of more than 6,500 troops from both sides and ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire.

Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades, and Moscow deployed about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce.



Zelenskiy Says He Wants Half Ukraine’s Weapons to Be Produced Domestically

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
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Zelenskiy Says He Wants Half Ukraine’s Weapons to Be Produced Domestically

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that he was counting on his new incoming government to take measures to boost the proportion of weapons made at home to 50% within six months.

Zelenskiy has carried out a political reshuffle this week, nominating as his new prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko, the driving force behind a minerals deal with the United States. Outgoing prime minister Denys Shmyhal has been put forward as the new defense minister.

The nominations, which require parliamentary approval, came as diplomatic efforts to end the war with Russia, now in its fourth year, have stalled and as Ukraine seeks to revive its cash-strapped economy and build up a domestic arms industry.

Zelenskiy said he, Shmyhal and outgoing defense minister Rustem Umerov had decided at a meeting on Wednesday that the defense ministry would have "greater influence in the domain of arms production".

"Ukrainian-made weapons now make up about 40% of those used at the front and in our operations," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. "This is already significantly more than at any time in our country's independence. The production volumes are truly large, but we need more.

"Our goal is to reach 50% Ukrainian-made weaponry within the first six months of the new government, by expanding our domestic production. I am confident this is achievable, though not easy."

Zelenskiy has long stressed the importance of boosting domestic production of weapons and developing joint production of weaponry with Ukraine's Western partners.

It has focused on drone production and on providing air defenses to withstand intensifying Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. Zelenskiy has in recent weeks stressed the importance of developing drone interceptors as a rational way of tackling swarms of drones.

Kyiv's military authorities last week announced the allocation of $6.2 million for a drone interceptor program to defend the capital's skies from Russian drones.