Hurriyet, Turkey
March 28 2010
Azerbaijani soldier killed by Armenian forces
Sunday, March 28, 2010
BAKU ` Agence France-Presse
An Azerbaijani soldier was killed in fighting with Armenian forces
near the disputed Nagnorno-Karabakh region, Azerbaijan’s ANS
television reported on Sunday.
The soldier, Vusal Salakhly, was shot in the head when after Armenian
forces opened fire on his post in the village of Tagibeili in the
Agdam district of Azerbaijan late Saturday evening, ANS said. The
Azerbaijani defense ministry could not be reached for comment.
Tension over Nagorny Karabakh has heightened in recent months amid
efforts by Armenia and Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, to
establish diplomatic ties and reopen their border after decades of
hostility. Backed by Yerevan, ethnic Armenian forces seized control of
Nagorny Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in
the early 1990s, in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.
The two former Soviet republics have cut direct economic and transport
links and failed to negotiate a settlement on the region’s status.
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are now spread across a ceasefire line
in and around Nagorny Karabakh, often facing each other at close
range, and shootings are common.
Azerbaijan’s defence minister warned last month that the threat of
conflict with Armenia was rising fast and that all-out war was
inevitable if Armenian forces failed to pull out of the region.