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EU demands investigation of possible war crimes by Azerbaijan

The European External Action Service (EEAS) wants the possibility of war crimes committed by by Azerbaijan to be investigated. This follows a video whereby Armenian prisoners of war were executed by people dressed in Azerbaijani uniforms.

EEAS spokesperson Peter Stano reacted that the video, if it could be proven that it is authentic, “shows acts of war crimes and clear violation of international law.”

Meanwhile, Simon Maghakyan, a Visiting Scholar at Tufts University wrote a comment piece in Time, stating “I analyze US’s unprecedented response to Azerbaijan’s Sep 13-14 invasion of Armenia, wondering if the United States realize that, if it fails to thwart the next aggression, Armenia would have no choice but to further integrate with Russia”.

Writing in The Critic, Dan Jeremy Barnes criticises the international response, and the EU’s response in particular, writing:

“What was the international response during this time? To reward Azerbaijan. Baku was a common location for sporting events, and Azerbaijan participated in most other important European social events during that time — including Eurovision. Azeri President Aliyev’s wife (also the vice president) is the current regional head of UNESCO. Most importantly, Azerbaijan recently received a huge natural gas contract from the EU.

Almost immediately following this gas deal, Armenia received these demands at the next peace conference:

Nikol Pashinyan is the current Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. It at least seems that as a direct result of the increased revenue and relations with the European Union, Azerbaijan decided that they could bite off a huge chunk of Armenia, including the capital of Yerevan. Yerevan has over one third of the nation’s population and a large portion of its business interests.”

Last month, a number of MEPs, including German ECR MEP Lars Patrick Berg, called for EU sanctions against Azerbaijan.