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Clashes continued on Monday between Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Azerbaijani army, in violation of the humanitarian armistice agreement, which was supposed to be in force from Saturday and was reached under the supervision of Russia, which called for “strict respect. “to the ceasefire.
On Monday, Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of launching attacks against the breakaway Nagorno Karabakh region, despite a ceasefire agreement aimed at trying to end the worst outbreak of hostilities in the region in decades.
And the Armenian foreign minister was dissolved in Moscow on Monday, where he held a meeting with the mediator in the conflict, the “Minsk Group” of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States. His Azerbaijani counterpart participated in a similar meeting last week in Geneva.
And Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asked his meeting with his Armenian counterpart “strict respect for both sides” of the truce, which is supposed to be implemented on Saturday at noon. Despite the continuous fighting, he considered that “efforts are in order” and called for a mechanism to be established to verify the implementation of the ceasefire, while the two sides exchanged accusations of rape.
The Armenian minister said “consultations” are taking place on the matter, especially with the Red Cross. So far, the two sides have not exchanged prisoners or bodies under the armistice agreement. But despite the failure of nearly three decades of mediation, the Russian, American and French diplomats in charge of the dossier want to persuade the Armenians and Azeris to return to the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh state and stop the ongoing battles, which are the bloodiest since 1994.
For his part, the Turkish Defense Minister on Monday called for the withdrawal of Armenian separatists from Nagorno-Karabakh in a phone call with the Russian Defense Minister. In his interview with Sergey Shoygu, Turkish Minister Hulusi Akar highlighted the need for Armenia “which attacked civilian areas in violation of the ceasefire, stop its attacks and withdraw from the territories it occupies,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry. Turkish Defense.
Akar added that “Azerbaijan cannot wait another 30 years to reach a solution,” referring to the first ceasefire that was reached in 1994 and led to the conflict freezing after a war that left some 30,000 people dead.
Turkey, which has supported Azerbaijan since the outbreak of the latest clashes on September 27, believes that the ceasefire will only freeze the conflict in Karabakh once again and defends Baku’s right to “liberate” the enclave controlled by Armenian separatists. .
Azerbaijan, which has started buying weapons in recent years, has warned that its military operations will not stop except in the event that Armenians withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia has good relations with the two warring parties, to which it supplies arms, but remains closer to Armenia, which belongs to a Moscow-dominated military alliance. Turkey’s strong support for Baku’s declared desire to expel Armenian separatists from the region threatens to stoke tension between Ankara and Moscow, which seeks to impose a ceasefire to end the fighting.
It is war
An AFP correspondent in the Azerbaijani city of Barda, not far from the front, heard the artillery barrage Monday morning.
After the European Union and Pope Francis on Sunday, Iran, the neighboring country of the two countries, expressed regret over the “violations of the ceasefire” and called on Monday “the parties to show restraint.”
Last month, the worst fighting in nearly three decades broke out in Nagorno Karabakh, a separatist region in Azerbaijan controlled by Armenians since the two sides’ war in the 1990s, although no country recognized the region’s independence.
As has been the case since the resumption of fighting on September 27, the two sides exchange responsibilities for hostilities and each declares victories on the battlefield that are difficult to verify by an independent source. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry accused the Armenian forces of not complying with the ceasefire agreement.
“The Armed Forces of Armenia, which did not comply with the humanitarian truce, repeatedly tried to attack the positions of the Azerbaijani army,” the ministry said. It added that it destroyed “a large number of enemy vehicles”, a T-72 tank and three Grad missile launchers.
For her part, a spokeswoman for the Armenian Defense Ministry, Shushan Stepanyan, said that Azerbaijan “is now heavily bombing the southern front.” The Armenian government information center said: “The enemy suffered heavy losses of men and military equipment,” but did not provide further details.
500 dead
The war of the 1990s killed some 30,000 people and ended with a ceasefire in 1994 that did not provide a long-term solution to the conflict. Some 500 people, including more than 60 civilians, have died in the fighting since last month, according to a tally based on losses announced by both sides.
Azerbaijan, which is supported by Turkey, confirmed that it would not permanently stop its operations except in the case of an Armenian withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh. The international community is concerned about the internationalization of the conflict with Turkish support for Baku, while Moscow has a military treaty with Yerevan. Turkey accuses Turkey of sending loyal Syrian fighters to fight in the ranks of the Azerbaijani army, which Baku denies.
