To His Excellency Mr. Šefik Džaferović, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dear Mr. Chairman,

First, I wish to extend to you my sincere greetings.

It is on my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan that I express my gratitude for the condolences you offered regarding the loss of life of our military servicemen and a civilian as a result of the sudden and heinous attack by Armenia and your country’s objective position with respect to this recent event.

On 12 July 2020, armed forces of Armenia had resorted to military provocation by using artillery in the Tovuz direction, along the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border, thus blatantly violating the ceasefire regime. Even though the enemy’s attack was repelled thanks to counter fire and counteroffensive measures, in the following days Armenia’s military-political leadership carried on with its reckless and aggressive policy and ordered the bombardment of our military and civil installations, and private properties.

As you are aware, for nearly 30 years, Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts have remained under Armenian occupation, with over one million Azerbaijanis expelled from their native lands. The most recent developments have demonstrated once again that Armenia’s leadership is duplicitous and the country itself is an aggressor. Therefore, the very attack has been the continuation of Armenia’s policy of aggression.

The targeting of children, women, and the elderly, along with the military personnel, during the attack is vivid evidence that to this day, the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide are still represented within Armenia’s present leadership.

Armenia’s malicious and sordid provocation has been thwarted thanks to Azerbaijan’s military might and valor of our heroic sons, and that will remain to be the case in the future.

I thank you once again for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s fair position with regard to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in line with our country’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of its borders, and in accordance with the norms and principles of the international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

We, in turn, share the grief of the Bosnian people that had gone through the Srebrenica tragedy of 1995 and honor, with profound esteem, the dear memory of the victims of the massacre.

I am confident that the relations of friendship and partnership between our countries will continue to expand through our joint efforts for the sake of the prosperity of our peoples.

I wish the best of health and success to you, and everlasting peace and prosperity to the friendly people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Sincerely,

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 24 July 2020