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BAKU – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday called for the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the Nagorno Karabakh region on the eighth day of battles between separatists loyal to Yerevan and the Azerbaijani army, and asked Armenia to apologize as well.
Aliyev said in a televised address to the nation: “I have only one condition” for a ceasefire “that the Armenian armed forces must leave our lands,” demanding that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan “apologize to the Azerbaijani people.” He added: “Let him say that I want to withdraw my forces from the Occupied Territories, to say that Karabakh is not Armenia.”
He demanded that Pashinyan define a “clear plan” for an Armenian withdrawal from the disputed region, and continued: “In such a case, we will restore the ceasefire regime,” and stressed that what Azerbaijan is doing is to restore “historical justice. “.
On Sunday, Armenian separatist militants in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Azerbaijani army intensified the exchange of artillery shelling, which especially targeted the separatist capital and the second city of Azerbaijan, on the eighth day of bloody fighting.
The two sides also escalated fierce statements, ignoring calls by the international community for a ceasefire, and held each other accountable for the outbreak of the fighting.
And Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced on Saturday night, in a tweet, the control of seven villages during the day.
Hours earlier, he had reiterated that the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the “occupied territories” alone could end the conflict that has continued since 1990.
Aliyev’s remarks came as Armenian separatist militants in Nagorno Karabakh and the Azerbaijani army intensified exchanges of artillery shelling on Sunday, targeting especially the separatist capital and the second city of Azerbaijan on the eighth day of bloody fighting.
The two sides also stepped up offensive statements, ignoring calls from the international community for a ceasefire and exchanging accusations about responsibility for the conflict.
In light of the “increase in the number of victims among the civilian population”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed his concern and renewed his call for “a ceasefire as soon as possible”.
Since Friday, Stepanakert, the largest city in the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region, has been bombed, forcing residents to take refuge in basements and shelters. In addition, the power was cut from Saturday night to Sunday in the city.
The artillery bombardments intensified, while the sirens sounded almost non-stop. The center of the city and its surroundings were attacked, and clouds of black smoke rose in the eastern part.
Neighbors took refuge in existing shelters, as well as in the basement of a church where several families took refuge.
A spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry, Artzron Hovensyan, accused “Azerbaijani forces of bombing civilian targets”.
According to local authorities, the bombardment was carried out using multiple launch systems from Smerch and Bolognese. The drones flew over the city.
The head of the separatist region, Arayik Harutyunyan, announced that his forces would respond by attacking the military infrastructure stationed in “major cities” of Azerbaijan, located far from the front, and called on “civilians to leave these cities immediately.”
Following this, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced that the country’s second city, “Ganja, is under fire from Armenian forces.” Baku accused Armenia of carrying out the bombing, which was denied by Yerevan.
The spokesman for the presidency of Sultan Nagorno-Karabakh, Vagram Boghossian, announced that these attacks were carried out by Armenian separatists and highlighted the “destruction” of a military airport. “It’s just the first,” he said.
Turkey condemned what it said were the attacks carried out by Armenian forces in the city of Ganja, and the Turkish Foreign Ministry considered in a statement that “the Armenian attacks on civilians today in the second largest city of Azerbaijan of Ganja are a new indication of their position (Yerevan) that does not recognize the law. We condemn these attacks. “
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry also stated that “Armenian forces fire projectiles at the cities of Tartre and Horadze in the Fizuli region from Khankendi”, which is the Azerbaijani designation for Stepanakert.
At the front, the two sides, as in previous days, confirm field victories.
On Saturday night, the head of the separatist region confirmed that “the army improved its positions, paving the way for advance.”
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry confirmed that since the start of the fighting on September 27, 14 villages have been captured, in addition to the strategic Morovdag mountain range.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia is facing “perhaps the most decisive moment in its contemporary history”, and called for mobilization to achieve “victory”.
The Nagorno Karabakh region, which has an Armenian majority, declared secession from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, sparking a war that caused 30,000 deaths. No peace agreement was signed between the two sides, although the front has been mostly frozen since then, but has seen skirmishes from time to time.
The two sides blame each other for the resumption of fighting on September 27, which produced what could be the most dangerous crisis in the region since the 1994 ceasefire, raising fears of an open war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. .
The outcome of the fighting remains partial, as Baku has not announced its military losses. So far, 247 people have been killed, including 209 separatist militants, 14 Karabakh civilians and 24 Azerbaijani civilians. Each side confirms that, on the other side, more than two thousand combatants have died.
The possibility of open warfare between the two southern Caucasus countries, which were previously within the Soviet Union, raises fears of further instability in light of competition from multiple powers in the region, including Russia, the traditional regional government. and Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, Iran, and the West.
Ankara is accused of pouring oil on the fire by encouraging Baku to launch a military attack and is suspected of sending loyal Syrian mercenaries to Karabakh. At least 64 of them have died in this area since the fighting began, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
