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The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated with the bombing of the second largest city in Azerbaijan, in which at least one civilian was killed.
The target of the attacks was the airport in Ganja, a city of 330,000 people north of Nagorno-Karabakh, where most of the fighting had so far taken place. The Armenian government denied attacking Ganja, but authorities in the Yerevan-controlled enclave confirmed the bombing, which they justified in retaliation for the offensive against Stepanakert, the capital of the separatist region.
Large numbers of civilian casualties are feared in the main city of Nagorno-Karabakh. Several of Stepanakert’s buildings were destroyed and electricity was cut, according to the Armenpress agency, cited by the BBC. More than 220 people have died since the last fighting broke out last weekend.
“As of now, military installations in major cities of Azerbaijan are legitimate targets,” said separatist leader Arayik Harutyunyan.
Armenia’s official position is that “there was no fire of any kind from Armenian territory in the direction of Azerbaijan,” according to Defense Ministry spokesman Shushan Stepanyan.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the two newly independent neighbors went to war for control of this region, formally part of Azerbaijan but mostly inhabited by Armenians. In 1994, a ceasefire was signed, but not an agreement on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijani territory, but is controlled from Yerevan.
Since then there have been sporadic clashes, but never a declared war between the two nations: the fighting has continued between the Azerbaijani army and the separatist military forces. The Ganja bombing in the heart of Azerbaijan is seen as a step that could precipitate the start of an open war.
The Baku government has promised to respond to the attack on the airport by shelling Armenian territory.
In Yerevan, the rhetoric of war is already audible. “We are facing the most decisive moment in our millennial history. We have to dedicate ourselves to only one goal: victory, ”said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
However, diplomatic efforts to try to contain the conflict appear to show little progress. The United States, Russia and France are part of the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for European Security and Cooperation (OSCE) and have called for dialogue between the parties. But the entry of Turkey, together with Azerbaijan, on the scene is changing regional balances.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week rejected the mediation of the other three countries, which could suggest a protracted conflict and even drag foreign powers into another indirect war.
