Today has been a bloody day between Armenians and Azerbaijanis as the latter launched an offensive to capture the historically Armenian region of Artsakh.
It was a costly affair for the Azerbaijanis as they suffered 200 casualties, while four helicopters and 33 tanks and armored vehicles, along with 27 drones and two military engineering vehicles, were destroyed by the Armenians.
The Armenian today lost 16 soldiers and over 100 wounded.
In the face of such hostility, it was noted that the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted timidly to Azerbaijan's aggression against the Armenians and received hundreds of complaints from Greek social media users, as reported earlier by Greek City Times.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias then made a new statement, reaffirming the "strong bonds of friendship" between Greeks and Armenians, but once again did not condemn Azerbaijan for its aggression that has resulted in the loss of human life, including women and children.
"In call with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, we reaffirmed strong bonds of friendship between Greece and Armenia. Ι condemned loss of lives and expressed Greece's readiness to assist efforts for immediate de-escalation in [Artsakh]," he said on Twitter.
Cyprus on the other hand, in its own statement regarding Azerbaijan's aggression against Artsakh, did not shy away from condemning Azerbaijan.
"The Foreign Ministry expresses deep concern over the escalation of tensions in the [Artsakh] region since yesterday and condemns the violation of the ceasefire by Azerbaijan, which has led to violent clashes that have resulted in civilian casualties. We call on all parties to show restraint and end hostilities so that tensions can escalate as soon as possible," the statement said.
"In the light of the developments, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Nikos Christodoulidis had a telephone conversation earlier today with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Mr. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, during which he was informed by the latter about the development of the situation. For his part, Mr. Christodoulidis expressed to his Armenian counterpart the support of the Cypriot Government in the efforts for the peaceful settlement of disputes on the basis of international law, through the negotiation process within the Minsk Group, and condemned any action by and intervention by third parties moving in the opposite direction," the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Kaspar Karampetian, President of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy and Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of Europe, did not shy away from expressing his disappointing with the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs response to today’s conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as reported by Greek City Times.
In a tweet written in Greek, Karampetian correctly highlighted the three way relationship between Greece, Cyprus and Armenia and other factors.
“Gentlemen and ladies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, your announcement is a shame for Greece. Do you forget the tripartite relationship between Cyprus, Greece, Armenia? Do you forget the direct support of Armenia in the recent crisis with Turkey? Do you forget Aliyev’s insult to our Ambassador?”