Armenia-Azerbaijan: Both sides defy Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire calls

Forces from Azerbaijan and Armenia have defied calls for a truce in a disputed region of the southern Caucasus, where fighting has intensified in recent days.

On Thursday, Russia and France called for a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh region amid the worst outbreak of violence there in decades.

But heavy shelling persisted and explosions were reported in the region’s main city overnight.

Officially part of Azerbaijan, the area is ruled by ethnic Armenians.

The two former Soviet republics fought a war in 1988-94 over the territory. Although Armenia supports the self-proclaimed republic, it has never officially recognized it.

It is not clear what caused the resumption of fighting, which broke out on Sunday and is the most intense since the 1994 ceasefire.

Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds injured, and there is growing fear that international powers will be drawn into conflict.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on Thursday and discussed the need for an urgent downsizing in the region.

“[They] agreed on the need for a joint effort to reach a ceasefire, “President Macron’s office said in a statement shortly after the phone call.

“[We] called on the warring sides to stop the fire completely and as soon as possible reduce tensions and show the utmost restraint, “said a Kremlin statement.

Russia has also offered to host the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers for talks.

Russia is part of a military alliance with Armenia and has a military base in the country. However, it also has close ties to the government of Azerbaijan.

After Macron and Putin held talks, the Kremlin issued a statement saying they had discussed future steps that the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) could take to help resolve the conflict.

The Minsk Group was created in 1992 and is chaired by France, Russia and the United States.

Both leaders expressed their “willingness” to see a statement made on behalf of the group calling for an “immediate” end to the fighting and the start of peace talks.

Macron’s office also expressed “concern” over reports that Turkish security companies had transported Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan.

A fighter told BBC Arabic earlier this week that he was recruited from northern Syria and sent through Turkey to fight the conflict. Abdullah, who is not his real name, said he was sent to Nagorno-Karabakh “wearing Azerbaijani uniforms” shortly after fighting broke out.

But Turkey has disputed that claim, and an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed the report as “completely unfounded”. The Azerbaijani ambassador to the United States has also denied reports of Turkish involvement.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that some 900 Syrian mercenaries have been transported to Azerbaijan by Turkish security companies. But they add that Armenian-born fighters in Syria have also been transported to Armenia to join the fight.

Analysis by Laurence Broers, South Caucasus expert at Chatham House

Previous escalations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have been contained after a few days. The intensity of the current fighting indicates that this may not be possible this time.

Populated areas of the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh have been hit by missile attacks and shelling for the first time since the 1990s. Civilian targets have also been hit in Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Both sides seem to be digging for a longer conflict.

Azerbaijan has rejected the resumption of negotiations with Armenia and, compared to previous escalations, has a higher degree of Turkish support to count on.

The danger here is that a longer conflict will see a greater involvement of external powers and runs the risk of a broader regional war.

The heavy bombardments continued through Thursday, with both sides claiming to have inflicted damage.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said it had carried out “crushing artillery strikes against the positions of the Armenian forces” throughout the night.

Meanwhile, officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said the situation there was “tense” and that shots had been exchanged.

“The enemy tried to regroup its troops, but the Armenian forces suppressed all those attempts,” he said in a statement, according to the AFP news agency.

Two French journalists from the newspaper Le Monde were also injured during a bombing in the nearby Armenian town of Martuni.

Azerbaijan posted a video of what it said was the destruction of two “enemy” tanks and said that an Armenian battalion had fled the area around the village of Tonashen.

Armenian media said that three civilians had been killed in an Azerbaijani airstrike against the city of Martakert on Wednesday. The Armenpress state news agency said seven civilians and 80 service personnel had been killed since the fighting began.

The Armenian Defense Ministry also released a picture of an Armenian SU-25 aircraft that it said was shot down by a Turkish F-16 on Tuesday. Turkey, a staunch ally of Azerbaijan, has dismissed the accusation as “cheap propaganda”.