BAKU. Oct 22 (Interfax) - The Azerbaijani Armed Forces will retaliate for the strikes delivered by the Armenian army on Azerbaijan's towns and villages on the battlefield, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said during a meeting with Turkish ombudsman Seref Malkoc in Baku on Thursday.
"The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan regularly shell residential areas in cities and districts of Azerbaijan. This is a crime against the civilian population. I know that during your trip, you will visit Ganja and will see for yourself how brutal of an enemy we've encountered. They can't stand against us on the battlefield. In retaliation for these defeats, they are shelling the civilian population," Aliyev said.
All Azerbaijani towns and villages located in the proximity of the zone of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh come under attack from the Armenian side every day, he said.
"Today, between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., 190 projectiles were fired on the Tartar district alone. More than 90 projectiles hit the Agdam district. There were even days when up to 2,000 projectiles per day were fired at the Tartar district. We are retaliating for this on the battlefield. We have never taken and will not take any action against the civilian population of Armenia," Aliyev said, adding that "the criminal fascist regime in Armenia" poses the main threat to the region.
Turkey is Azerbaijan's main ally, he said.
"Your visit to Azerbaijan is of great importance. As you know, fraternal Turkey has supported us from the very first hours. Esteemed President [of Turkey] Recep Tayyip Erdogan, my dear brother, said from the very first hours that Turkey supports Azerbaijan. Other high-ranking Turkish officials have made similar statements. The conflict is receiving wide coverage in Turkish media. This is highly important, because, regrettably, media outlets in a large number of countries unilaterally back Armenia. This is a great injustice, this is falsification and a distortion of the events," Aliyev said.
"Attempts to portray Azerbaijan as an aggressor or an aggressor state are, of course, absolutely groundless. Therefore, the presence of Turkish media here since the very first days and their coverage from the zone of fighting help provide the whole world with accurate information on this matter," he said.
Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijani forces have managed to break through the fortifications of unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh along the contact line and expressed confidence that Azerbaijan's military operation in the region will be brought to a victorious end.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said earlier on Thursday that Armenian forces had delivered strikes on three Azerbaijani cities. The Armenian Defense Ministry denied the claim.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced the beginning of a military operation along the entire line of contact in the Karabakh conflict zone on the morning of September 27. The ministry said it was "a counteroffensive" launched in response to provocations from the Armenian side.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the time that the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic had been attacked by Azerbaijan.
The fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone is continuing now, despite two attempts to conclude a "humanitarian truce." Both parties to the conflict are reportedly sustaining losses, both in terms of troops and equipment.