For the first time in history: the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh took an unexpected turn

The Azerbaijani armed forces attacked the territory of Armenia, destroying the missile system ready for launch. The fact of the blow was recognized by both sides. Writes about it RBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

“On October 14, at about 08:36, the placement by the Armenian armed forces of another operational-tactical missile system with ballistic missiles in the border areas of Armenia near the occupied Kelbajar region of Azerbaijan was recorded. Operational-tactical missiles were aimed at Ganja, Mingachevir and other cities of Azerbaijan with the aim of causing casualties among civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure,” the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense said.

“In order to ensure the safety of the civilian population as a legitimate military target, the missile system located at the launch position was disabled by a precise pre-emptive strike,” the Ministry of Defense noted.

The Armenian Ministry of Defense said that the strike was carried out “merely on the basis of assumptions that this equipment was ready to strike civilian settlements in Azerbaijan.”

“It is needless to note that this statement by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense cannot have any justification. In fact, the military-political leadership of this country allows itself, only on the basis of assumptions, to fire at military equipment located on the territory of the Republic of Armenia and carrying out routine combat duty,” noted the Armenian military department.

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They added that “from now on, the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia reserve the right, by the same logic, to attack any military object or movement on the territory of Azerbaijan,” and responsibility “for the process of changing the combat zone” in Yerevan was assigned to Baku.

The Azerbaijani military also noted that at 01:00 “in the same direction” the missile systems brought to their launch positions were destroyed.

For the first time in the history of the conflict

This is the first case when both sides recognize the fact of an attack on the territory of Armenia proper, outside the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions of Azerbaijan, writes with the BBC.

At the very beginning of the war, Armenia announced an air raid on its border town of Vardenis, during which a Turkish fighter allegedly shot down an Armenian attack aircraft, but did not provide convincing evidence of this.

Azerbaijan, on the other hand, claims that Armenia is shooting rockets from its territory at its cities, but the public has not yet seen evidence of this either.

Russian intervention

In addition, this case could theoretically have international political consequences. Armenia is part of the military alliance of the CSTO with Russia, and a confirmed strike on its territory (and not on the territory of unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh) may become a reason for Russia to intervene in the conflict on the side of its ally.

True, so far Russia has tried to balance between the warring parties and play the role of mediator.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called on his colleagues in Armenia and Azerbaijan David Tonoyan and Zakir Hasanov to fully implement the agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh reached in Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also commented on the situation. He spoke about how he sees a political solution to the Karabakh conflict.

He called the first stage the liberation of five regions around Karabakh while observing Karabakh's security guarantees. Then the unblocking of communications, connections, transport contacts and the deployment of peacekeepers on the contact line. The second stage is determining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

This vision corresponds to the proposals on the basis of which negotiations on a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan are being conducted through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group (co-chaired by Russia, the USA, France).

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But the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry also called for the deployment of Russian military observers on the line of contact.

“Now it’s not even peacekeepers, but military observers, they would be enough. We believe that it would be absolutely correct if these were our military observers, but the final word should belong to the parties,” said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Armenia's reaction

In his address to the nation, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan addressed the issue of returning the five occupied regions to Azerbaijan as a condition for resolving the conflict, as stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Pashinyan said that during the negotiations, official Baku demanded the return of five regions not in exchange for determining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, but in exchange for peace. According to Pashinyan, this is unacceptable, and his government refused to discuss these concessions.

“In the negotiation process, Azerbaijan reached a point where it demanded the Armenian people to renounce their own rights, return five of the seven regions, present specific deadlines for the surrender of the remaining two regions, any status of Nagorno-Karabakh must be determined as part of Azerbaijan,” the Armenian leader said .

“In addition, clarification of the status should not have been linked to the process of surrendering territories. The territories were to be surrendered in exchange for peace. Our government, which received this basis for negotiations as a final document from the previous authorities, refused such a discussion because it was unacceptable,” Pashinyan said.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• After the start of the clashes both countries have declared martial law... Armenia reported the death of two civilians, Azerbaijan - the death of a family of five and the injury of 19 citizens. In addition, the Armenian military reported the loss of 16 soldiers and the injury of about a hundred more people. Azerbaijan has not officially announced the deaths, Armenia reports the deaths of 200 Azerbaijani soldiers.
• Into the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh a NATO member country can be involved.
• The conflict began in 1988, when the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from Soviet Azerbaijan. After the armed confrontation in 1992-1994, Baku lost control over the region, as well as over the seven adjacent regions. Since 1992, negotiations have been underway on a peaceful settlement of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, headed by three co-chairs - Russia, the United States and France.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump issued a joint statement. They are called on the parties to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh to stop hostilities.
• The ceasefire announced at 12:00 on Saturday 10 October lasted less than a day... The Azerbaijani side blamed Armenia for its disruption, announcing a new shelling of the city of Ganja, as a result of which a residential building was destroyed, at least nine people were killed. The Armenian military deny that they fired at the city and accuse Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire.

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