Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia does not believe the authorities of Azerbaijan

One of the parties to the conflict is trying to turn the tide of events in their favor with the help of a limited military campaign. And this is rather Azerbaijan, since Baku is more interested in resuming hostilities. The main danger here is that any military operation can very easily get out of control, and then it will not matter who started it.

Experts have long warned about the threat of renewed fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, and this weekend it happened, writes carnegie.ru. According to reports from the field, hostilities began again in the Karabakh conflict zone, dozens already dead.

Azerbaijan announced a “unilateral ceasefire” in the north of Karabakh. However, the Armenian Ministry of Defense does not confirm these reports. As a result of the military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, 30 people were killed, reports bbc.com.

A representative of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said that in this way the country heeded the calls of the international community to stop the violence. Azerbaijan, however, promised to resume hostilities if the Armenian side does not support the truce.

“Taking as a basis the love of peace and the calls of international organizations, Azerbaijan decided to unilaterally stop retaliatory military operations and will strengthen the territories liberated the day before,” the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The Karabakh military and the Armenian Ministry of Defense claim, for their part, that fighting in the region continues. Armenian media also quote another official representative of Yerevan, Tenor Astratyan. He stated that Azerbaijani troops are shelling the northern region of Karabakh, Mardakert, using heavy artillery and Grad systems.

The Armenian press also reports that in the last hours two more servicemen were injured.

Press Secretary of the Armenian Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan called the statements of the Azerbaijani side an “information trap.”

The reaction of world leaders

With a call for restraint, Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon turned to the conflicting parties.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, said that he supported Azerbaijan in the confrontation.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev promised to continue efforts for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, but with one tough condition.

The United States condemns hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and calls to avoid its further escalation. This was stated by US Secretary of State John Kerry. He stressed that there is no military solution to the conflict.

Video footage of a downed Azerbaijani helicopter appeared on the Internet. The video, according to unofficial data, was published by the Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

The Azerbaijani military also reported on the destruction of Armenian tanks, artillery installations and the death of 100 soldiers of the Armenian army, as well as the occupation of several strategic heights in Karabakh.

The Armenian Defense Ministry denied the message of the Azerbaijani side about the casualties among the personnel of the Armenian army and the loss of military equipment. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that 18 soldiers were killed in the clashes, 35 were injured.

History of conflict

• The Karabakh conflict, which began more than 100 years ago, is rooted in rivalry over this territory between Armenians, who traditionally adhere to Christianity, and the Muslim influence of the Turkic and Persian peoples.

• After the regional parliament decided in 1988 to join the Armenian SSR, tensions led to a surge in violence.

• The ethnic Azerbaijanis, who constituted about a quarter of the population of the region before the war, fled from Karabakh and Armenia, and ethnic Armenians were forced to flee from Azerbaijan.

• In the 1994 year, with the mediation of Moscow, a truce was signed that put an end to active hostilities in the region, but left Karabakh under the control of Armenia.

• The peaceful resolution of the conflict came to a standstill after the talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2009, followed by several serious armed incidents at the border.

• The word "Karabakh" comes from a Turkic-Persian phrase, meaning "black garden".

See also:

Karabakh military conflict: Baku and Yerevan blame each other

Azerbaijan shot down Armenian helicopter over Nagorno-Karabakh

Go to the page ForumDaily on Facebook to keep abreast of the latest news and comment material.