[ad_1]
The conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh has been going on for more than 30 years and has now erupted with renewed vigor.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh for two days. The conflict in the region has been going on for 30 years and has now erupted with renewed vigor.
Correspondent.net Understood the situation.
History of the conflict
In February 1988, even before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the formation of independent Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, which at that time was part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, announced its secession from the republic. . The region, the majority of whose population is historically ethnic Armenians, has declared its desire to be part of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1990, serious armed clashes broke out between the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides.
In 1992, the Nagorno-Karabakh parliament proclaimed the independence of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. In the same year, the OSCE Minsk Group for Conflict Resolution was created, co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States.
Active fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan continued until 1994, when the Bishkek Protocol was signed, which entailed a ceasefire. During this time, more than 30 thousand people died.
Despite the formal truce, from time to time there were armed clashes between the countries of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which did not escalate into large-scale military actions.
However, in 2016, the armies of Azerbaijan and Armenia (as well as the unrecognized NKR) accused each other of violating the ceasefire, and the hot phase of the conflict resumed. The clashes, known as the Four Day War, have affected up to 100 people on both sides.
The sovereignty of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh was recognized only by the self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as by the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Republic of Moldavia.
Officially, the whole world considers Nagorno-Karabakh to be part of Azerbaijan.
New aggravation
On September 27, the conflict erupted with renewed vigor. Armenia and Azerbaijan blamed each other for the offensive. The fighting has gone on for two days. Both Yerevan and Baku declare their own successes and defeats from the enemy. It is not clear how many soldiers died in the battles: the parties to the conflict present contradictory statements about hundreds of dead and wounded in the enemy ranks and a much smaller number of their own victims. There is no data from independent sources on losses. There are also reports of civilian casualties, but how many are also unknown.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry, citing “credible sources”, stated that Turkey is recruiting and deploying “foreign terrorists” in Azerbaijan, in addition to supplying specialists and weapons to the ally, including drones and military aircraft. The Turkish authorities deny the charges. Turkey really supported Azerbaijan, but it says it only in words.
Reaction
Basically, all countries are calling for an immediate end to the conflict.
The US State Department strongly condemned the escalation of violence in the region. Therefore, Undersecretary of State Stephen Bigan had a telephone conversation with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakian, urging the parties to the conflict to stop hostilities. The State Department noted the need for an urgent return to negotiations.
The French Foreign Ministry also called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to end hostilities.
NATO also reacted to the aggravation in the region: the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Alliance for Central Asia and the Caucasus, James Appathurai, said that this conflict had no military solution and called on the parties to negotiate.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to exercise the utmost restraint. The ministry stressed that restraint is necessary, including in rhetoric. The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that “hostilities must stop immediately” and that Russia is ready to mediate in the solution of the conflict.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry expressed concern about the resumption of hostilities in the region and called on the parties to begin negotiations.
What will happen next?
Vadim Mukhanov, an expert at the Russian Center for Caucasian Problems, believes that the aggravation will not last more than 2-3 days.
“If the conflict does not end with serious external pressure, the war will continue and it will be a disaster. It will shake the entire North Caucasus region and affect all major players, including Russia and Turkey, ”said the expert.
Sergei Markedonov of the Carnegie Moscow Center believes that “the most likely scenario is a fight over small and not very important areas so that you can symbolically designate your“ victory ”and create a favorable public environment. But this strategy seems perfect only in theory, but in practice, raising the level of conflict, it can be very difficult to stop where you want. “
