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After fighting with neighboring Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict region, Armenia declared martial law and announced general mobilization. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called on his compatriots in a Facebook post on Sunday to be ready to defend the “Holy Fatherland.”
Azerbaijan had previously announced a military operation against Nagorno-Karabakh. Soldiers in the South Caucasus region are said to be numerous wounded and around 10 dead. It is the worst escalation in decades.
According to both sides, intense fighting broke out between neighboring warring countries on Sunday morning. The capital, Stepanakert, had been bombed, people should be safe, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities said. Numerous houses in towns were destroyed. According to reports from Baku and Yerevan, the fighting continued.
Hostile neighboring countries hold each other accountable
Both sides blamed each other for the fighting. The shelling started early in the morning from the Azerbaijani side, Pashinyan wrote on Facebook. “All responsibility for this rests with the political-military leadership of Azerbaijan,” said the spokeswoman for the Armenian Defense Ministry. Yerevan shot down helicopters and combat drones. Three enemy tanks were hit. Baku denied this and emphasized that the fighting was a counter-offensive on the front line. Armenia provoked the fighting.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is controlled by Armenia, is part of the Islamic region of Azerbaijan under international law. Baku lost control of the Christian Armenian-inhabited area of Karabakh in a war that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. There has been a ceasefire in the region since 1994, but it has been repeatedly broken. The conflict escalated for the last time in 2016. More than 120 people died.
In July there was intense fighting on the border between the republics at war; however, the fighting took place hundreds of kilometers north of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia depends on Russia as a protective power, which has stationed thousands of soldiers and weapons there.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on both sides to stop the fire immediately. Baku and Yerevan should also start talks to stabilize the situation. Neighboring Turkey accused Armenia of violating international law. The Ankara Foreign Ministry said it strongly condemned the “Armenian attack”. Turkey is on the side of Azerbaijan.
