STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense of Artsakh released the list of military facilities that constitute legitimate military targets deployed in Azerbaijani cities.
In Ganja, the Azeri military has deployed the following facilities:
Air Force military airbase, helicopter squadron
Permanenet Deployment Location of Armed Forces General Staff Motor Rifle Brigade
Interior Troops Special Operations Brigade
Defense Ministry Combat Command Center
Armed Forces General Staff Radio-Technocal Battalion
Defense Ministry Fuel-Lubricant Base
Machinery plant of the Defense Industry Ministry, Aviation Repair Plant and Artillery Armament Repair Plant
In Barda, the Azeri military has deployed the following facilities:
David Phillips, Director of peacebuilding and human rights at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, gave his take on Turkish President Erdogan’s aggression towards Armenia, and how the West should review and act towards this military ally. He also expanded upon Russia’s role in all this, as well as Turkey’s ambitions in the region.
WION Web TeamWashington Oct 19, 2020, 03.51 PM(IST)Written By: James M Dorsey
Fighting in the Caucasus between Azerbaijan and Armenia is about much more than deep-seated ethnic divisions and territorial disputes. It’s the latest clash designed, at least in part, to shape new world order.
The stakes for Azerbaijan, backed if not egged on by Turkey, are high as the Azeri capital’s Baku International Sea Trade Port seeks to solidify its head start in its competition with Russian, Iranian, Turkmen and Kazakh Caspian Sea harbours, to be a key node in competing Eurasian transport corridors. Baku is likely to emerge as the Caspian’s largest trading port.
An Azeri success in clawing back some Armenian-occupied areas of Azerbaijan, captured by Armenia in the early 1990s, would bolster Baku’s bid to be the Caspian’s premier port at the crossroads of Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The Caspian is at the intersection of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) from China to Europe via Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) that aims to connect India via Iran and Russia to Europe.
An Azeri military success would also cement Turkey’s claim to be a player in former Soviet lands that Russia views as its sphere of influence and bolster nationalist sentiment among Iranians of ethnic Azeri descent that account for up to 25 per cent of the Islamic republic’s population, many of whom have risen to prominence in the Iranian power structure.
In an indication of passions that the conflict in the Caucasus evokes, Iranians in areas bordering Azerbaijan often stand on hilltops to watch the fighting in the distance.
Iranian security forces have recently clashed with ethnic Azeri demonstrators in various cities chanting “Karabakh is ours. It will remain ours.”
The demonstrators were referring to Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan that is at the core of the conflict in the Caucasus.
The demonstrations serve as a reminder of environmental protests in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan at the time of the 2011 popular Arab revolts that often turned into manifestations of Azeri nationalism.
Baku port’s competitive position was bolstered on the eve of the eruption of fighting in the Caucasus with the launch of new railway routes from China to Europe that transit Azerbaijan and Turkey.
China last month inaugurated a new railway route from Jinhua in eastern China to Baku, which would reduce transport time by a third.
In June, China dispatched its second train from the central Chinese city of Xi’an to Istanbul via Baku from where it connects to a rail line to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, the eastern Turkish city of Kars and onwards to Istanbul.
Azeri analysts charge that Armenian occupation of Azeri territory and demands for independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, threaten Baku’s position as a key node in Eurasian transport corridors.
“By continuing its occupation Armenia poses (a) threat not only to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity but also to the regional stability and cooperation,” said Orkhan Baghirov, a senior researcher at the Baku-based Center of Analysis of International Relations, a think tank with close ties to the government.
Mr Baghirov was referring to recent Russian, Iranian, Turkmen and Kazakh efforts to match Baku in upgrading their Caspian Sea ports in anticipation of the TITR and INSTC taking off.
Russia is redeveloping Lagan Port into the country’s first ice-free Caspian Sea harbour capable of handling transhipment of 12.5 million tonnes. The port is intended to boost trade with the Gulf as well as shipment from India via Iran.
Lagan would allow Russia to tap into the TITR that is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) via the Russian railway system as well as Kazakh, Turkmen, and Azeri ports.
It would also bolster Russian, Iranian and Indian efforts to get off the ground the INSTC that would hook up Caspian Sea ports to create a corridor from India to Russia via Iran, and in competition with the Suez Canal, to northern Europe.
The INSTC would initially link Jawaharlal Nehru Port, India’s largest container port east of Mumbai, through the Iranian deep-sea port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, funded by India to bypass Pakistan and its Caspian Sea port of Bandar-e-Anzali to Russia’s Volga River harbour of Astrakhan and onwards by rail to Europe.
Iranian and Indian officials suggest the route would significantly cut shipping time and costs from India to Europe. Senior Indian Commerce Ministry official BB Swain said the hook up would reduce travel distance by 40 and cost by 30 per cent.
Iran is further investing in increased capacity and connectivity at its Amirabad port while at the same time emphasizing its naval capabilities in the Caspian.
For their part, Turkmenistan inaugurated in 2018 its US$1.5 billion Turkmenbashi Sea Port while Kazakhstan that same year unveiled its Kuryk port.
The fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia with Turkey and Israel supporting the Azeris; Russia struggling to achieve a sustainable ceasefire; Iran seeking to walk a fine line in fighting just across its border; and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates attempting to stymie Iranian advances wherever they can, threatens to overlay port competition in the Caspian with aspects of the Middle East’s myriad conflicts.
Said Iran scholar Shireen T Hunter: “Largely because of the Iran factor, the Caucasus has become linked with Middle East issues. Israel and Saudi Arabia have tried to squeeze Iran through Azerbaijan… Thus, how the conflict evolves and ends could affect Middle East power calculations…. An expanded conflict would pose policy challenges for major international players.”
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)
STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani armed forces fired heavy strikes at Artsakh’s towns and cities overnight October 16-17, with nine missiles hitting Stepanakert City.
The State Service of Emergency Situations of Artsakh told ARMENPRESS that the Azeri military used prohibited cluster munitions and other munitions in bombarding the Artsakh capital, causing significant damages to civilian infrastructure and leaving apartments in ruins in the city’s neighborhoods and suburbs.
“They hit Stepanakert, Shushi, Martakert, Shosh, and several other communities,” State Service of Emergency Situations spokesperson Hunan Tadevosyan told ARMENPRESS.
“Three civilians, including an elderly woman, were wounded in Shosh. They were immediately taken to a hospital. The night was rough in Stepanakert, the air raid sirens were on uninterruptedly for a long time,” he said.
In Stepanakert, the Azeri missiles hit central parts and suburbs, completely destroying private property of residents, apartments, shops and other civilian infrastructure. “A lot of time and huge resources will be needed to restore all of this. A residential home where a wounded elderly woman was living was completely destroyed,” Tadevosyan said.
He said the Azeri military used Grad and Smerch multiple rocket launchers, cluster munitions, missiles and loitering munitions in the attack on Stepanakert and other peaceful settlements. The total damages are still under assessment.
Fresh explosions rocked the capital of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Saturday despite a ceasefire agreed between warring neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan that brought a brief lull in shelling and missile strikes earlier in the day.
The truce, which entered into force at noon on Saturday, had been agreed between both sides in marathon Russia-brokered talks in Moscow.
Azerbaijan and Armenia immediately accused each other of violations, but the agreement appeared to curb artillery fire during the afternoon, with some Stepanakert residents emerging from their homes after days of heavy bombardment.
The respite was short, however, with seven loud explosions rocking the badly damaged city at around 23:30 pm (1930 GMT) on Saturday evening, triggering fresh air raid sirens, an AFP journalist working in the city reported.
A senior Azerbaijani official said the truce was only meant to be “temporary”.
“It’s a humanitarian ceasefire to exchange bodies and prisoners. It’s not a (proper) ceasefire,” the official said, adding that Baku had “no intention to backtrack” on its effort to retake control of Karabakh.
The disputed territory is an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, home to about 150,000 people, which broke from Azerbaijan’s control in a war in the 1990s that killed some 30,000 people.
Its separatist government is strongly backed by Armenia, which like Azerbaijan gained independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
The most recent fighting since September 27 has been the heaviest since the 1990s war, with more than 450 people reported dead, thousands forced to flee their homes and fears the fighting could escalate into a devastating all-out conflict.
Earlier in the day, the Armenian defence ministry had accused Azerbaijani forces of launching an attack on the frontline five minutes after the ceasefire came into force.
In return, Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said Armenian forces had also carried out attacks on the frontline and shelled populated areas, accusing it of “blatantly violating the ceasefire.”
In the evening, it said that Armenian armed forces had attempted to launch an offensive in several areas but were “forced to retreat.”
– ‘These people hate us’ –
On Saturday afternoon in regional capital Stepanakert, air raid sirens that had sounded for days to warn of attacks had stopped, and some residents were emerging from shelters to get supplies.
But an AFP correspondent working in the city found few people with much hope of the ceasefire taking hold for long.
“I lived for nearly 20 years in Azerbaijan, these people hate us,” Vladimir Barseghyan, 64, told AFP in a workshop making uniforms for fighters at the front. “We don’t believe in a ceasefire, they just want to gain some time.”
In Barda, an Azerbaijani town about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the conflict zone, many residents who spoke to AFP were against the ceasefire and in favour of Baku pressing on with its campaign to restore its control over Karabakh.
“We don’t want a ceasefire. They should leave our lands,” said Zemfira Mammadova, a 71-year-old retiree.
“They should get out and let our people live a normal life. We have nothing to do with them and they should stay away from us.”
The ceasefire deal was announced after talks between the two countries’ top diplomats mediated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
He said the truce had been agreed “on humanitarian grounds” and would allow for exchanges of prisoners and bodies.
The Red Cross offered to act as a “neutral intermediary” to facilitate the handover of bodies and detainees.
The Russian ministry said Saturday evening that Lavrov had spoken to his counterparts in Armenia and Azerbaijan who “confirmed their commitment” to the deal and “stressed the need for its strict observance on the ground.”
– Call for ‘substantive negotiations’ –
Lavrov said that Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed at the Moscow talks to “substantive negotiations” on resolving the dispute over Karabakh, with France, Russia and the United States continuing as longtime mediators.
France called for the ceasefire to be strictly respected “in order to create the conditions for a permanent cessation of hostilities.”
Karabakh’s declaration of independence has not been recognised by any country — even Armenia — and the international community regards it as part of Azerbaijan.
The return of fighting has stoked fears of a full-blown war embroiling Turkey, which strongly backs Azerbaijan, and Russia, which has a military treaty with Armenia.
Turkey said the ceasefire agreement was an important first step but that Armenia had a “last chance” to withdraw from Karabakh.
Since the conflict restarted both sides have accused the other of shelling areas populated by civilians and thousands of people have been displaced by the clashes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the ongoing military face-off in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh a “tragedy” and has indicated his willingness to honor Russia’s long-standing mutual defense treaty with Armenia, if required.
Speaking to the Rossiya TV network, Putin noted that two million Azerbaijanis and over two million Armenians live in Russia, and that“a huge number of Russian citizens maintain close, friendly and even familial relations with both republics.”
“This is a tragedy,”the president said.“We are very worried, because Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Nagorno-Karabakh are all territories inhabited by people who are not strangers to us.”
Although Russia acts in an official capacity as a meditator of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, Yerevan and Moscow are officially allied as part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), along with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. According to the organization’s agreement, aggression against one CSTO member is perceived as aggression against all. Therefore, if Azerbaijan attacks Armenia territory, Russia is obliged to help out.
READ MORE
‘An immediate cessation of hostilities’: Putin, Macron & Trump issue joint statement demanding end to Nagorno-Karabakh violence
“As you know, Armenia is a member of the CSTO, and we have certain obligations to Armenia under this agreement,”Putin explained.“To our great regret, the fighting is still going on, but it is not being conducted on the territory of Armenia.”
The president noted that Russia will continue to discharge all its obligations under the treaty, and has urged Yerevan and Baku to agree on a ceasefire.
Along with US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin last week called for“an immediate cessation of hostilities between the relevant military forces.”Russia, the US, and France are chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is tasked with ending the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
The dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia is decades old, with both countries believing they have strong claims over Nagorno-Karabakh. The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is primarily populated by ethnic Armenians. Baku considers the enclave to be illegally occupied by Armenia. In the past fortnight, the war has again flared up.
CivilNet’s Eric Hacopian speaks with Emil Sanamyan, a specialist on the South Caucasus and the editor of FOCUS ON KARABAKH, a news and analysis platform of the Institute of Armenian Studies at the University of Southern California.
12:49 GMT 02.10.2020(updated 17:37 GMT 02.10.2020) Get short URL
by Ilya Tsukanov
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused the Turkish military of controlling Azerbaijan’s military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, and alleged that Ankara has deployed jihadist mercenaries from Syria to support the fight against Armenian forces.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Baku to continue to pursue its offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Azerbaijan has already liberated a vast territory. I hope it will keep fighting until all its lands in Karabakh are freed,” Erdogan said in an address broadcast on Twitter on Friday.
The Turkish president noted that Turkey supports “friendly and fraternal Azerbaijan in all possible ways,” and would continue to do so.
Earlier, in an interview with the Globe and Mail, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Turkey’s exit from the southern Caucasus would be a necessary condition for peace in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinyan added that it was now up to Turkey’s NATO allies to provide an explanation as to why Ankara is involved in the Karabakh conflict.
“Turkey’s military personnel and the Turkish armed forces are directly engaged in the hostilities. Turkey’s NATO allies must explain why these [Turkish] F-16 jets are shelling towns and villages in Nagorno-Karabakh and killing civilian populations,” he said, referring to reports from earlier this week that an Armenian air force jet had downed a Turkish fighter. Turkey denied those reports.
Pashinyan suggested that Western countries should rethink the sale of arms to Turkey amid reports that they were being used by the Azerbaijani side in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In a series of tweets, Pashinyan also accused Ankara of returning to the South Caucasus “to continue the Armenian Genocide,” and said that “Armenia and the Armenians of the South Caucasus are the last remaining obstacle in the way of continued Turkish expansion toward the North, the North-East, and the East, and the realisation of its imperialistic dream.”
Armenia and the Armenians of the South #Caucasus are the last remaining obstacle on the way of continued #Turkish expansion towards the North, the North-East, and the East, and the realisation of its imperialistic dream.
— Nikol Pashinyan (@NikolPashinyan) October 1, 2020
In a recent interview with Le Figaro, Pashinyan said that Yerevan has evidence that the Turkish military was controlling Azerbaijan’s military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, and suggested that Ankara be kicked out of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) because of its ‘aggressive and biased’ position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
On Thursday, Erdogan said the OSCE Minsk Group which is responsible for negotiating a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has no right to call for a ceasefire, and said that the organisation should demand that Armenia put an end to its “occupation” of the breakaway Azerbaijani region instead.
Armenian Defence Ministry Shares Animated Map Allegedly Showing Movement of Turkish F-16s – Video
Both Paris and Moscow have expressed concern over reports of illegal armed formations being transferred to Nagorno-Karabakh by Turkey from Middle Eastern conflict zones including Syria and Libya to take part in the fighting against Armenian forces.
In his remarks Friday, Pashinyan reiterated the claims about the transfer of jihadist militias, and stressed that the population of Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be “unprotected, facing terrorists and extremists.”
Nagorno-Kharabakh: Over 30 Years of Conflict
The latest bout of fighting in the contested south Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh began Sunday, with each side blaming the other for starting the shooting. In five days, as many as 3,600 soldiers and civilians from both sides have been killed, with an array of military equipment, as well as civilian infrastructure, destroyed or damaged.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has its origins in Soviet days. In the late 1980s, the autonomous majority-Armenian region attempted to secede from the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic and join the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. Azerbaijan’s capital Baku tried to prevent this, and in 1991 abolished the region’s autonomous status. After the USSR was dismantled in the early 1990s, Armenian-supported forces from the self-proclaimed Karabakh Republic of Artsakh waged a brutal two-year war with the Azerbaijani military, which led to the death of tens of thousands and the displacement of more than a million Armenians and Azeris across the region. A shaky ceasefire facilitated by Russia was put in place in 1994, but has been broken repeatedly in the years that followed.
U.N. Security Council discusses Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh on Sept. 29
The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday called a special session to discuss Azerbaijan’s unprovoked attacks along the entire border of Artsakh, expressing concern that the most recent clashed could “spiral into all-out war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
The 15-member security council held a close-door discussion on the matter and emerged with a strong condemnation of “use of force.”
“Security Council members voiced support for the call by the Secretary General on the sides to immediately stop fighting, de-escalate tensions and return to meaningful negotiations without delay,” the council said in a statement.
The meting was held at the request of Estonia, a permanent member of the Council. What the meeting did not do is condemn Azerbaijan for its aggression, nor did it address Turkey’s intervention in the conflict, which threatens the stability of the region.
Ahead of Tuesday’s security council meeting, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who pointed to Turkey’s “direct destabilizing” involvement in Azerbaijan’s latest attacks.
Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan sent a letter to Guterres on Monday detailing Azerbaijan’s latest aggression in Artsakh, including the deliberate targeting of the civilian population and infrastructures using heavy artillery and force/ “The aggression was pre-planned, and the statements of the Azerbaijani side on the alleged counter-attack are absolutely falsified. Azerbaijan has never concealed its strategic goal of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by the use of force, while continuously maintaining tension along the line of contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border,” said Mnatsakanyan in his letter.
The foreign minister also expressed Yerevan’s concern over Turkey’s unconditional and unilateral support to Azerbaijan and its aggression. Strongly condemning Azerbaijan’s aggression, Mnatsakanyan emphasized that Azerbaijan’s attacks, which violate the ceasefire, are not only a gross violation of international humanitarian law, but also pose the risk of escalating into a full-scale regional war.
Mnatsakanyan criticized Azerbaijan’s attacks pointing out that they directly oppose Guterres’ calls for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic. He stressed that the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the aggression.
Mnatsakanyan told the U.N. leader that Armenia, as the guarantor of the security of the people of Artsakh, will take all necessary measures to protect the inalienable rights of the people of Artsakh and will give an adequate response to the Azerbaijani aggression.
“The right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination is an integral part of the conflict resolution, and by virtue of this right the people of Artsakh must be able to determine its status without any limitation,” Mnatsakanyan said in the letter, reiterating Armenia’s commitment to a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.