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Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
The battle between Azerbaijan with its separatist territory, Nagorno-Karabakh, supported by Armenia, became even more heated after the announcement of the military deployment of the two parties.
At least 23 people died in the clashes. The two sides also mutually claim that their civilians were killed in the attacks. Observers predict that the Caucasus region is now on the brink of a great war.
Quoted from AFPAccording to the Karabakh Presidency, the escalation of the conflict between the two sides started when Azerbaijan began to actively bomb the Karabakh front line on Sunday (9/27) morning. The targets were civilian areas, including the main city in the region, Stepanakert.
The rebels said that 16 Armenian separatist fighters were killed and more than 100 injured in the fighting. An ethnic Armenian woman and child were reportedly killed.
“According to preliminary data, 16 soldiers (Karabakh) were killed and more than 100 wounded,” the rebel defense ministry said.
They also claim to have shot down two Azerbaijani helicopters and three drones.
President Karabakh Araik Harutyunyan, at an emergency parliamentary meeting in Stepanakert, also declared “martial law and total military mobilization”.
“I declare martial law” and the mobilization of all those who fall into the category of military service and are over 18 years of age, he said.
Harutyunyan also accused Turkey of sending mercenaries to Azerbaijan.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also condemned the Azerbaijani attack.
“The authoritarian regime of Azerbaijan has once again declared war on the Armenian people,” he said in a televised speech.
“We are on the brink of a full-scale war in the southern Caucasus, which may have unforeseen consequences,” he said.
Through his Facebook account, Pashinyan also asked “Prepare to defend our holy homeland.”
Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that Karabakh rebel forces killed “about 200 Azerbaijani soldiers and destroyed 30 enemy artillery units and 20 drones.”
On the other hand, Azerbaijan accused the Armenian forces of violating the ceasefire.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said it was launching “a counterattack to suppress Armenian combat activity and ensure the safety of the population” using tanks, artillery missiles, fighter jets and drones.
Azerbaijan has also imposed martial law and a curfew in major cities.
Azerbaijani presidential spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev said that “martial law will be imposed at midnight, as well as a curfew from 9 pm to 6 am”, in Baku (the capital), several cities and other nearby districts. in front of Karabakh.
The Baku party also claimed civilian casualties. A family of five is said to have been killed in a shootout by Armenian separatist forces on Sunday (9/27).
 Photo: Astari Kusumawardhani |
“As a result of artillery fire [pemberontak Karabakh] a family of five people died in the village of Gashalty, “according to an official statement from the Azerbaijan Prosecutor General’s office.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry also reported “severe damage to many houses and civil infrastructure” resulting in casualties and injuries.
Hajiyev also claimed that his side had captured the 3,000-meter-high strategic Murovdag peak in Karabakh.
The mountain is strategic, the presidency said, because it helps control communication and transportation between Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and an enclave controlled by Armenia.
In a televised speech to the country on Sunday (9/27) morning, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev promised to defeat the Armenian forces.
“Our goal is fair and we will win,” he said, “Karabakh is Azerbaijan.”
In response to this armed conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed this with Pashinyan and called for “an end to hostilities.”
“The Russian side expresses serious concern about the resumption of large-scale clashes,” said a statement from the Russian presidency, the Kremlin.
Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey blamed Armenia for the upheaval and promised to provide “full support” to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
“The Turkish people, as usual, will support our brothers in Azerbaijan at all costs,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted.
 Photo: CNN Indonesia / Timothy Loen |
The call for peace
From St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, Pope Francis prays for peace in the region while calling on France, Germany and the European Union to promote an “immediate ceasefire.”
It also calls for a “concrete attitude of good will and brotherhood” on the part of the parties in conflict.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned about the renewal of new hostilities” between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Armenian-backed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
“The secretary-general strongly calls on the parties to stop fighting immediately, reduce tensions and return to meaningful negotiations without delay,” a Guterres spokesman said in a statement.
The US Foreign Office says it has contacted both countries “to urge both parties to immediately end hostilities.”
“Use the direct communication link that exists between them to avoid further escalation and to avoid useless rhetoric and actions,” the statement continued.
Large scale war
Olesya Vartanyan, a political observer for the International Crisis Group, called on global powers to intensify talks to stop the conflict. Otherwise, a great battle will break out.
“We are just one step away from a full-scale war,” he said. AFP.
“One of the main reasons for the current escalation is the lack of proactive international mediation between the parties for weeks,” he added.
Likewise, Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, said that the big countries should encourage more to end the conflict.
“The war continues. It is time for Russia, France and the United States, individually and collectively, to stop it,” he tweeted.
 The border conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia also occurred on July 14. (Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia via AP) |
Nagorny-Karabakh is part of the territory of Azerbaijan that is inhabited by a majority of ethnic Armenians. The history of the conflict between the two parties in the Caucasus region dates back to the Nagorno-Karabakh war from 1980 to 1994.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this region declared its independence in 1991. However, this was not recognized internationally. A referendum was then held in 2017 with the majority pushing for independence. The great powers have once again not recognized the results. Only on Armenia depends Karabakh.
The lengthy negotiations that have been mediated by the major powers have so far not yielded any significant results. The last truce between Karabakh and Azerbaijan took place in 1994. The efforts of France, Russia and the United States, which are members of the “Minsk Group”, in 2010 also failed.
(AFP / arh)
[Gambas:Video CNN]
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