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The Armenian Defense Ministry accuses the Azerbaijani army of massive attacks in the south and northeast of Nagorno-Karabakh. The UN Security Council will deal with the conflict in an emergency meeting.
In the conflict over the besieged Nagorno-Karabakh region of the South Caucasus, Armenia will depend on Russia as a protective power in the event of a further escalation. The Russian military base in Gyumri is the most important security factor in the region, Armenian Ambassador to Moscow Vardan Toganyan told Interfax news agency. The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the conflict.
The Russian military base “has always played a stabilizing role,” he said. Gyumri is located about 120 kilometers north of the Armenian capital, Yerevan. A garrison in Yerevan also belongs to the military base.
There have been clashes in the region since Sunday. The belligerent states of Armenia and Azerbaijan have declared a state of war. The international community calls for an immediate end to the fighting and a return to the negotiating table for a peaceful solution to the conflict. Russia has offered itself as a mediator.
The contract for the Russian military base runs until 2044. According to this, Russia’s task in the South Caucasus region is to ensure peace and order. Neighboring Azerbaijan has repeatedly announced that it will use military force to retake the fertile mountainous region, which Armenia has controlled since the war in the 1990s. In bloodshed at the time, with around 30,000 dead, Russia finally seized on. sided with Armenia. A fragile armistice has been in effect since 1994.
Around 100 dead since Sunday
According to Interfax, around 3,500 soldiers are stationed in the cities of Gyumri and Yerevan. The base includes a battalion of tanks, dozens of fighter jets, and missile defense systems. Troops are also responsible for border security.
To this day, Armenia considers it a historical injustice that Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been inhabited by Christians for centuries, was added to Muslim Azerbaijan under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, is based on international law according to which Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to its territory.
The Armenian Defense Ministry accuses the Azerbaijani army of massive attacks in the south and northeast of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ministry spokesman Arzun Owannissian announced Monday night in Yerevan that the army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic has withstood enemy attacks.
In the capital of Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh, parliamentary leader Artur Towmassian accused Azerbaijan and Turkey of having chosen the language of violence. “This war, started by the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem, is not a war of the Azerbaijani people, but a war for Ilham Aliyev to maintain his own power,” said the politician. The authoritarian Azerbaijani President Aliyev had once again accused Armenia of attacking his country.
As of Monday night, Nagorno-Karabakh confirmed a total of 89 dead since Sunday. Azerbaijan reported nine deaths, including civilians. There were also many injuries on both sides.
Guterres calls for an end to the fighting
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, once again called for an immediate end to the fighting. Guterres told Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Paschinian via video call, a UN spokesman said Monday (local time) in New York. Guterres had already expressed “extremely concerned” about the escalation of the conflict on Sunday. He called for negotiations to resume immediately and for OSCE observers to be sent back to the region.
Meanwhile, various members of the UN Security Council moved to put the issue on the agenda. The emergency meeting of the UN body must take place in the afternoon (local time) behind closed doors. The initiative came from Germany and France and was supported by Belgium, Great Britain and Estonia, according to diplomatic circles. Then a statement will be published.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region, controlled by Armenia, is part of the Islamic region of Azerbaijan under international law. In a war that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan lost control of the area. Now it is inhabited by Armenian Christians from Karabakh. Completely impoverished Armenia relies on Russia as a protective power, which has stationed thousands of soldiers and many weapons there. Azerbaijan, which is rich in oil, gas and armed with military equipment, has Turkey as an allied sister state.
(WHAT / dpa)
