Mr Tahir Taghizade, Ambassador of Azerbaijan in the UK, writes in response to “War in the time of COVID-19: humanitarian catastrophe in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia”
Authors: Tahir Taghizade
Journal: The Lancet Global Health (2020)

I am writing to you in connection with the Comment by Airazat Kazaryan and colleagues (published online first Nov 27, 2020).1Kazaryan AM Edwin B Darzi A et al.War in the time of COVID-19: humanitarian catastrophe in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.Lancet Glob Health. 2020; (published online Nov 27.)https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30510-6Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar It is true that among all three south Caucasian countries, Armenia is the one which is most seriously hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. I understand the concern of the signatories of the Comment in that sense. What I do not understand is their deviation into political science and distorted history of the conflict to support their cause instead of relying on medical science, which stands at the heart of their profession and The Lancet group's principles. Still, given that such a Comment did find its way to publication at The Lancet Global Health, I believe the readers of the journal have a right to know the real political situation and history of the region. Nagorno-Karabakh is an internationally recognised, historical territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Between 1988 and 1994, Armenia occupied and ethnically cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan. The UN Security Council adopted four resolutions (822, 853, 874, and 884) in 1993 condemning this occupation, confirming Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan and demanding immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces from occupied Azerbaijani territories. Despite the ceasefire ending the war on May 12, 1994, and ongoing peace talks in the aftermath for 26 years, Armenia has been constantly violating the ceasefire, undermining the talks and continuing the occupation of Azerbaijan's territories. Most recently, Armenia resorted to large-scale aggression against Azerbaijan between Sept 27, 2020, and Nov 10, 2020, by shelling the military positions of Azerbaijan and densely populated residential areas along the entire front line. To protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and ensure the safety and security of its citizens, the Armed Forces of my country were compelled to launch a counter-offensive operation acting on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan within the limits of self-defence. Turkey's assistance to Azerbaijan was only limited to diplomatic and moral support. Losing on the battlefield, Armenia launched prohibited ballistic attacks (Tochka, Scud, and Smerch) against Azerbaijani civilians living in the cities far removed from the combat zone, including Ganja and Berde cities. Amnesty International2Amnesty International UKArmenia/Azerbaijan: first confirmed use of cluster munitions by Armenia 'cruel and reckless'.https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/armeniaazerbaijan-first-confirmed-use-cluster-munitions-armenia-cruel-and-recklessDate accessed: December 1, 2020Google Scholar and Human Rights Watch3Human Rights WatchArmenia: cluster munitions kill civilians in Azerbaijan.https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/30/armenia-cluster-munitions-kill-civilians-azerbaijanDate accessed: December 1, 2020Google Scholar confirmed on Oct 29 that Armenia used cluster munitions against Azerbaijani civilians. As a result of these deliberate attacks, 94 Azerbaijani civilians lost their lives and 414 were injured, among them children, women, and elderly people. Notwithstanding the attacks from Armenia proper on civilian residential areas of Azerbaijan, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan demonstrated consistent restraint and took actions only against legitimate military targets. A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was achieved as a result of the signing of a Joint Trilateral Statement by the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia and the Prime Minister of Armenia on Nov 10, 2020. The statement is being implemented successfully at the moment. Thus, it is at least not professional that the Comment published on Nov 27 included a call against the war in Nagorno-Karabakh which ended on Nov 10. It is also disappointing to observe how this long-desired ceasefire is now being undermined. The war might be a factor which exacerbated the already severe COVID-19 situation in Armenia, but responsibility for the outbreak of war and its consequences lies squarely with Armenia's current leadership. Given these and the fact that previous ceasefires have proven short-lived only because of Armenia's breaches, we would humbly advise the signatories of the Comment to call instead on the Armenian government to live up to its domestic and international commitments for the wellbeing of its own population and that of the region. War in the time of COVID-19: humanitarian catastrophe in Nagorno-Karabakh and ArmeniaAs a small country with a population of 3 million, Armenia has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and for several months was among the countries with the highest prevalence of COVID-19.1 On Oct 23, 2020, the number of confirmed cases was 70 836 and the number of new daily diagnosed cases reached 2484. As a result, Armenia is now the second country in the world with the highest number of new daily diagnosed cases per person (778 cases per million per day), overtaking only the Czech Republic (1321 cases per million per day). Full-Text PDF Open AccessThe Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the politicisation of scienceAirazat Kazaryan and colleagues (March, 2021)1 describe the unfortunate rise in COVID-19 cases in Armenia during the recent Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We would argue that this Comment is an attempt to politicise scientific data via misrepresentation of COVID-19 statistics, distortion of facts, and omission of important historical context. Full-Text PDF Open AccessConstructive criticism or distortion of the humanitarian narrative? – Authors' replyWe have read the Correspondence from Tahir Taghizade (the Ambassador of Azerbaijan in the UK)1 and Samir Babayev and colleagues2 regarding our recently published Comment.3 We are surprised to read that these authors are trying to change the primary focus of our publication from a humanitarian and health-care crisis around the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) into a political discussion about its background and history. We, health-care professionals, believe that we should rise above politics and focus on the humanitarian and health-care crisis, which was also the main focus of our Comment as an outreach to the international community to support the collapsing health care in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh due to a war during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full-Text PDF Open Access