ANKARA, Oct 4 (Sputnik) The Turkish Foreign Ministry branded Sunday's shelling in the Azerbaijani city of Ganja a violation of the Geneva Convention's code on the conduct of warring sides.

Earlier in the day, Azerbaijan shared audiovisual material showing extensive damage of a building in the country’s second-largest city and said that the shelling left one civilian dead and four others injured. It placed the blame at the feet of Armenia, which has denied firing towards Azerbaijani territory.

"Today's attacks by Armenia on the civilian population in Ganja, the second-largest city in Azerbaijan, are a new manifestation of Armenia's unlawful position. We condemn these attacks. Facing defeat in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Armenia violates all principles of humanitarian law, primarily the Geneva Conventions, and attacks civilian settlements outside the territories that are a conflict zone because of the occupation," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement went on to say that Armenia remains the biggest obstacle to peace in the region.

The document also said that Ankara supports the position of Azerbaijan, which "despite the provocations of Armenia, uses the right to self-defense based on international law within its internationally recognized borders and makes every effort not to harm the civilian population."

SPUTNIK ASN 1655/1716