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“An Armenian SU-25 plane was shot down by a Turkish F-16 … coming from Azerbaijani territory,” said the Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman, according to which the pilot lost his life.
Berlin and Washington have called for an immediate ceasefire, and the UN Security Council will meet urgently on Tuesday night to prevent an open war between Yerevan and Baku, which risks destabilizing the region and training the powers. regional, Turkey and Russia.
Also read Cătălin Gomboș’s analysis:
Moscow on Tuesday asked Turkey, which supports Baku, to work for peace in the enclave and warned of “all kinds of statements about support or military activity” that “undoubtedly only threw straw on the fire.”
A day ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Armenia to end the “occupation of Nagorno Karabah” and promised that Ankara would stand “alongside” Baku “by all means.”
Hundred dead
Thanking the “brother” countries – Turkey and Pakistan – for the “support”, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that “if the international community is not able to stop the irresponsible dictator of Armenia, then Azerbaijan will” and “restore integrity.” its territoriality “.
Starting Sunday, the forces in the separatist Nagorno Karabah enclave, supported politically, militarily and economically by Armenia, and those of Azerbaijan will face each other in the bloodiest battles of 2016.
On Tuesday, the official death toll was 99, including 15 civilians: 10 in Azerbaijan and five on the Armenian side. But the two camps say they killed hundreds of enemy soldiers.
The Armenian defense minister said separatists destroyed 49 drones, 4 helicopters, 80 tanks, a military plane and 82 Azerbaijani military vehicles on Sunday.
Nagorno Karabakh authorities say they have regained lost positions in recent days, which Baku denies, claiming it destroyed “an Armenian motorized column”, “an artillery unit” and “four enemy tanks, an armored vehicle”.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry also claims that Armenia is about to bring Russia-supplied S-300 air defense systems to Karabakh, and threatened that these systems would be “destroyed as soon as they enter our occupied territories.”
Azerbaijan, a predominantly Shiite Turkish-speaking country, demands the return of the enclave under its control. Nagorno Karabah is populated mainly by Armenian Christians and proclaimed its secession in 1991, but the act has not been recognized internationally.
After weeks of war rhetoric, Azerbaijan announced on Sunday that it had launched a “counteroffensive” in response to Armenian “aggression”, using artillery, armor and aerial bombardment.
Russia, France and the United States, the mediators of the conflict within the Minsk Group, have unsuccessfully called for a ceasefire and negotiations.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also called for an end to the violence and a return to negotiations as soon as possible.
Armenia and the separatists accuse Ankara of supplying weapons, “military experts”, drone pilots and planes to Baku.
Russia has good relations with both parties and is considered the great regional arbiter. But it stays closer to Armenia.
An emergency closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council is scheduled for Tuesday at 21:00 GMT.
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