Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict: Azerbaijani president vows to keep fighting

The President of Azerbaijan has promised to continue fighting until Armenian forces leave the disputed territory, on the fourth day of fierce fighting in the region.

“We have only one condition: the Armenian armed forces must unconditionally, totally and immediately abandon our lands,” said President Ilham Aliyev.

More than 100 deaths have been reported in the heaviest fighting in years in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Officially part of Azerbaijan, it is ruled by ethnic Armenians.

The two former Soviet republics fought a war in 1988-1994 over the territory. Although Armenia supports the self-proclaimed republic, it has never officially recognized it.

It is unclear what caused the resumption of the fighting, which is the most intense since the 1994 ceasefire, and there are growing fears that international powers could be drawn into the conflict.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “extremely concerned about the war messages” coming from Turkey, a staunch ally of Azerbaijan.

Turkey says it is “fully prepared” to help Azerbaijan regain the enclave.

Meanwhile, the Armenian Defense Ministry released a picture of an Armenian SU-25 aircraft that it said had been shot down by a Turkish F-16 on Tuesday. Turkey has dismissed the accusation as “cheap propaganda” and Azerbaijan says Armenia is lying about the cause.

And a fighter has told the BBC in Arabic that he was recruited from northern Syria last week and sent through Turkey to fight the conflict. Ilnur Cevik, an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, dismissed the report as “completely unfounded”.

Dozens of soldiers and some civilians have died since the clash broke out on Sunday.

Both sides accused the other of bombing the so-called Line of Control, separating forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.

On Wednesday, Azerbaijan released images of what it said was the destruction of two “enemy” tanks and said that an Armenian battalion had fled the area around Tonashen.

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

Azerbaijan’s attorney general announced on Wednesday that 14 civilians had been killed and 46 injured.

Meanwhile, BBC Arabic has spoken to a man who was recruited in northern Syria “to guard military points” on the borders of Azerbaijan for $ 2,000 (£ 1,550).

Abdullah, who is not his real name, said he was flown to Azerbaijan via Istanbul with other Syrians. They received no training, but were sent to Nagorno-Karabakh “wearing Azerbaijani uniforms” when fighting broke out.

“The car stopped and we were surprised to find ourselves on the front line,” he said. “Then the bombing started, people were crying in fear and wanted to go home.”

President Erdogan’s adviser, Ilnur Cervik, called the accusation “a kind of disinformation campaign.”

“We are not recruiting anyone. Where is the proof that we are recruiting these people together with the Syrian opposition sending them to Azerbaijan? [sic]? This is completely false, “he said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that some 320 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, but 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, unlike previous escalations, has a higher degree of Turkish support to count on.

The danger is that a longer conflict will see greater involvement by outside powers, with the risk of a broader regional war.

On Wednesday, French President Macron warned Turkey of “warlike remarks … that essentially remove any inhibitions by Azerbaijan in what would be a reconquest of Nagorno-Karabakh. We will not accept that.”

Turkey is an ally of Azerbaijan, and even closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

Meanwhile, Mr Macron seemed to promise greater support for Armenia in the coming days: “I tell Armenia and the Armenians that France will play its role.”

Hundreds of thousands of French citizens are of Armenian descent. France also chairs the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), created in 1992 to resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In recent weeks, NATO allies France and Turkey have been on opposite sides in a dispute over energy claims in the eastern Mediterranean. They have also been at odds over the struggle for power in Libya.

Turkey has said it will do “whatever it takes” to back Azerbaijan, and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has accused the French president of, in effect, supporting the occupation.

But there has been international concern that Turkey may back a larger military operation. Cavusoglu has already said that Turkey will support Azerbaijan “both on the field and at the negotiating table” and a presidential aide has spoken of Turkey’s commitment “to help Azerbaijan regain its occupied lands.”

Macron said he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin later Wednesday about the conflict.

Russia is part of a military alliance with Armenia and has a military base in the country. However, she is also close to the rulers of Azerbaijan and has called for an immediate ceasefire, offering to mediate in the conflict.

On Wednesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he had not yet discussed Russia’s possible involvement in the conflict, given their alliance. “The Armenian armed forces are capable of defending the security of the country,” he told reporters.