Pope calls on Azerbaijan and Armenia for dialogue

Pope Francis called on Azerbaijan and Armenia for dialogue.

He stated this after the traditional Sunday sermon in St. Peter's Square, addressing the believers from the window of the Apostolic Palace, Caliber.Az reports via Vatican News.

“I renew my call for dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia, hoping that the talks between the parties, with the support of the international community, will favour a lasting agreement that will put an end to the humanitarian crisis,” Pope Francis said.

The pope also said he was praying for the victims of the explosion at a fuel depot near the city of Khankendi in Garabagh.

On October 1, Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general issued an arrest warrant for separatist leader Arayik Harutyunyan as the first UN mission to visit the region in three decades arrived in the former breakaway state.

Harutyunyan led the junta regime in Azerbaijan’s Garabagh region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but was largely populated by ethnic Armenians, between May 2020 and last month, when the separatist government said it would dissolve itself by the end of the year after a three-decade bid for independence.

Azerbaijani police arrested Harutyunyan’s former “state minister”, Ruben Vardanyan, on September 27 as he tried to cross into Armenia along with tens of thousands of others who left following Baku’s 24-hour blitz last week to reclaim control of Garabagh.

Harutyunyan and the junta’s former military commander, Jalal Harutyunyan, are accused of firing missiles on Azerbaijan’s third-largest city, Ganja, during a 44-day war in late 2020, local media reported.