[ad_1]
The most serious conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the end of the war between the two countries after independence in 1991 ended with an agreement concluded by the Azerbaijanis and which is sparking protests in the Armenian capital. In the coming weeks it will be seen if it is the definitive end of the oldest European conflict “without solution”.
The ceasefire text, negotiated overnight and also signed by Russia, establishes that Azerbaijan will maintain control of an extensive territory that it conquered from Armenia in the Nagorno-Kharabakh region, the ethnic Armenian enclave within the official borders of Azerbaijan. . .
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described the agreement as “indescribably painful” for him and “the Armenian people”, in a Send On Facebook. These statements were the first indication that a real truce had been reached. Since the restart of the war six weeks ago, several attempts at mediation had failed.
Pashinyan says he made the decision after “an in-depth analysis of the military situation”, at a time when Azerbaijani forces were closing in on Stepanakert, the capital of the enclave, and two days after claiming the conquest of the historic city of Shusha. the second most important in the region.
Confirmation came later through the voice of the others involved: “The signed trilateral declaration will be crucial to resolve the conflict,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told a meeting. online with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Moscow, Turkey, Azerbaijan’s main ally, agrees with the negotiations.
“What is happening in Kharabakh is a real tragedy,” Putin said. “I hope that all the measures we have taken recently will lead to the establishment of a long-term peace for the benefit of the people of Azerbaijan and Armenia.”
Hours later, around 2,000 peacekeepers sent by Moscow arrived in the region.
According to Aliyev, the agreement also involves the mobilization of Turkish troops, but Kremlin officials heard by the newspaper Washington Post refute. What is on the table is the possibility of installing a ceasefire monitoring center in Azerbaijan that could include Turkey, Putin’s press officer Dmitri Peskov explained. “The nuances of this mobilization are part of a separate agreement,” he said.
The signed declaration calls for the Armenian forces to withdraw from the enclave. The Aghdam and Kalbajar regions will be returned to Azerbaijan in the coming weeks, allowing for the return of the refugees who fled there in the 1990s.
The Azerbaijanis will also pass control of the strategic Lachin Corridor, where the only highway connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia is located, something that the Armenians have always refused to give in to all attempts at negotiation since the 1990s. It is precisely here where Russian soldiers will occupy positions.
Turkish support
The announcement of the agreement sparked violent protests in Yerevan, with protesters attacking government buildings and looting the prime minister’s office. Meanwhile, there was a party in Baku, where many people took to the streets at night, despite the curfew in force since the beginning of the conflict, describes Al-Jazeera. The celebrations continued until the morning.
“This statement has historical significance,” Aliyev wrote on Twitter. “This declaration is the capitulation of Armenia. This declaration ends years of occupation. This declaration is our Glorious Victory ”, he congratulated himself.
Aliyev spoke briefly with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: according to media Azerbaijan, the two celebrated the “brilliant victory” of Azerbaijan. Was the Turkish support that changed the balance of forces and allowed Baku to win on the ground. Ankara denies the dispatch of hired fighters to Syria, despite numerous coincidental reports confirming this.
Fundamental were the drones bought from Turkey and Israel which allowed the Azerbaijanis to eliminate air defense systems and destroy hundreds of Armenian tanks.
According to the Armenian authorities, the conflict that started in late September killed 1,200 soldiers and killed at least 50 civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan has never reported any military casualties, but says Armenia’s attacks beyond the enclave’s borders left 92 dead. Yet for almost three weeks Moscow said the actual death toll was approaching 5,000.
This was the worst restart of the conflict since the 1994 ceasefire was declared. The war between Armenia, a majority Christian, and Muslim Azerbaijan began three years earlier, when the Armenian enclave declared its independence, simultaneously with the collapse of the Soviet Union. , and killed 20,000 to 30,000 people.
[ad_2]
