Wednesday,
Shelling Intensifies In Karabakh Conflict Zone
• Artak Khulian
NAGORNO KARABAKH -- A view of a newly built natal center damaged by shelling by
Azerbaijan's artillery in Stepanakert, .
Nagorno-Karabakh’s two largest towns again came under rocket attack on Wednesday
as deadly shelling of civilian areas in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict zone
intensified following the collapse of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal.
The Karabakh capital Stepanakert was heavily shelled by Azerbaijani forces
throughout the day. An RFE/RL correspondent heard several particularly loud
explosions from a local bomb shelter early in the afternoon.
Some of the rockets struck Karabakh’s main civilian hospital and a maternity
clinic adjacent to it. The hospital director, Mher Musayelian, said there were
limited numbers of medical workers and patients at both medical establishments
during the attack. None of them was seriously injured as a result.
There was also further damage inflicted on Stepanakert’s residential areas. No
casualties were immediately reported there. Most of the city’s remaining
residents continued to stay in basements and bomb shelters.
NAGORNO KARABAKH -- Medical workers take refuge in a basement of a hospital as
doctors perform surgery during shelling by Azerbaijan's artillery in
Stepanakert, .
Karabakh authorities said that the shelling of the nearby town of Shushi
(Shusha) left one person dead and two others wounded. It completely destroyed a
local house and seriously damaged a school building located nearby.
“We are already used to such things. What can we do?” a middle-aged Shushi
resident told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. He said he still has no plans to move
to Armenia where tens of thousands of other Karabakh Armenians have taken refuge
since the outbreak of the war on September 27.
For its part, Azerbaijan accused Armenian forces of continuing to target
Azerbaijani towns and villages located close to the Karabakh “line of contact.”
It said one such rocket strike killed on Wednesday 14 residents of Barda, a town
northeast of Karabakh.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov phoned the U.S., Russian and French
diplomats leading the OSCE Minsk Group to discuss the reported strike.
AZERBAIJAN -- An investigator walks near a burnt car after shells hit a street
in the town of Barda, .
The three mediators met with Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab
Mnatsakanian in Washington late last week. In a joint statement, they said they
will hold more talks with the two ministers in Geneva on Thursday to try to
“reach agreement on, and begin implementation … of all steps necessary to
achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
The statement came right after the announcement of a fresh Armenian-Azerbaijani
ceasefire agreement brokered by Washington. The ceasefire was due to come into
force on Monday morning. Fighting in and around Karabakh has continued since
then, however.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said on Wednesday that he is
ready to meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Moscow “without
any preconditions.”
“I don’t know how effective [such a meeting] would be … But if there is such a
proposal [from Russia] we will positively consider it,” Aliyev told the Interfax
news agency.
Armenians Donate Over $150 Million To Karabakh
• Sargis Harutyunyan
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Civilians gather in the basement of an art art school used
as a bomb shelter in the town of Martuni, October 14, 2020
People in Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora have donated at least $152 million
for humanitarian and economic aid to war-torn Nagorno-Karabakh provided by a
pan-Armenian charity.
The Yerevan-based All-Armenian Fund Hayastan launched an international
fundraising campaign immediately after the outbreak of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
war in and around Karabakh on September 27. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians
from around the world have responded to its appeal for urgent aid to Karabakh
and its population severely affected by the fighting.
Data released by Hayastan on Wednesday shows that the charity supported by the
Armenian government has raised nearly half of the money from the United States.
Armenia is the second largest source of the donations to Karabakh, having
contributed a third of the total sum so far.
“According to preliminary estimates, at least half a million people from around
the world have participated in this fundraising campaign,” Haykak Arshamian,
Hayastan’s executive director, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “But this number
will rise significantly after we process all data. This is a quite lengthy
process.”
The single largest donation worth $10 million has been made by the U.S.-based
Armenian General Benevolent Union.
Hayastan has also received $3.5 million from Eduardo Eurnekian, an Argentine
billionaire businessman of Armenian descent. Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel
Karapetian and two Armenian-American benefactors have contributed $3 million
each.
Arshamian said that a large part of the sum raised by Hayastan is already being
spent for humanitarian purposes in coordination with the Armenian government.
That includes relief aid provided to Karabakh civilians displaced by the
fighting, he said.
According to authorities in Stepanakert, some 90,000 Karabakh Armenians making
up around 60 percent of the territory’s population have fled their homes. They
have been relocated to other parts of Karabakh or taken refuge in Armenia.
Stepanakert, virtually all other Karabakh towns and dozens of villages have been
heavily shelled by Azerbaijani forces for the past month. The shelling has
caused extensive damage to many homes and public infrastructures.
Erdogan Seeks Russian-Turkish Push For Karabakh Peace
NAGORNO KARABAKH -- An Armenian soldier fires artillery on the front line on
October 25, 2020.
Turkey and Russia should jointly push for a quick resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on
Wednesday, commenting on his latest phone call with Russian President Vladimir
Putin.
“We held good talks with Putin [late on Tuesday.] We discussed Karabakh in
detail,” Erdogan told the Turkish parliament in remarks cited by the TASS news
agency.
“We said: let’s finish all this in the Caucasus. If you want, we will jointly
take steps, talk to the parties,” he said.
Erdogan said he specifically proposed that he and Putin talk to the leaders of
Azerbaijan and Armenia respectively. “Let delegations meet. I’m sure that we
will get a result,” he added.
According to the Kremlin’s readout of the call, Putin voiced serious concern
about the continuing hostilities in and around Karabakh and what he called a
growing involvement of “terrorists from the Middle East” in them.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that the two presidents did not discuss
a possible Turkish involvement in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks. He
reiterated that Turkey, which fully supports Azerbaijan in the conflict, cannot
become a mediator without Armenia’s consent.
Armenia has always ruled out any Turkish mediation. It maintains that Turkey is
directly involved in the Karabakh war by providing weapons, Turkish military
personnel and Middle Eastern mercenaries to Azerbaijan. Ankara denies that.
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks have long been mediated by Russia, France and
the United States, the three co-chairs of the Minsk Group.
American, French and Russian diplomats are expected to meet again with the
Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Geneva on Thursday. They said at
the weekend that they are planning to discuss not only a new ceasefire regime in
the conflict zone but also a Karabakh settlement proposed by the three mediating
nations.
Erdogan again hit out at the Minsk Group co-chairs on Wednesday, saying that
they have for years “stalled for time, rather than solved the problem.”
Iran To Propose Karabakh Peace Plan
• Gevorg Stamboltsian
RUSSIA -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a news
conference following a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Moscow, June 16,
2020
Iran announced late on Tuesday that it has drawn up a plan to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the hope of stopping fighting between Armenian and
Azerbaijani forces continuing along its northwestern border.
“This plan approved by the country’s supreme leadership will be presented today
or tomorrow,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. “We are going
to present it in Moscow and Yerevan as well.”
Zarif did not divulge any details of the plan. Iranian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also shed no light on it when he spoke at a news
briefing in Tehran. He said only that it can put an end to the long-running
conflict over Karabakh.
Zarif’s deputy Abbas Araghchi reportedly travelled to Baku earlier on Tuesday to
submit the peace proposals to Azerbaijan’s leadership.
International efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict have long been jointly
led by the United States, Russia and France through the OSCE Minsk Group.
The American, French and Russian diplomats co-chairing the group are scheduled
to hold fresh talks with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in
Geneva on Thursday. They said at the weekend that they are planning to discuss
not only a new ceasefire regime in the conflict zone but also a Karabakh
settlement proposed by the three mediating nations.
An area south of Karabakh and north of Iran has been one of the epicenters of
the ongoing war that broke out on September 27. Tehran says that dozens of
rockets and other shells have mistakenly landed near Iranian border villages
over the past month.
According to Iranian news agencies, Araghchi toured Iranian districts adjacent
to the area before heading to Baku. He warned the warring sides against causing
any damage to Iranian hydroelectric plants and reservoirs on the Arax river
marking the Iranian border.
Iran’s army and Revolutionary Guards have reportedly been massing troops along
the border. The army began on Sunday major exercises in Iran’s Western
Azerbaijan province bordering Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.
“We will not tolerate any threats to our country’s borders,” a top Iranian
general was reported to say on Tuesday.
Zarif said that Tehran will also not tolerate the presence of Sunni Islamist
militants and “other terrorists” in the region. He clearly alluded to reports
that Turkey has recruited scores of Syrian and Libyan mercenaries for the
Azerbaijani army. Both Ankara and Baku deny those reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin again discussed the matter with his Turkish
counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Tuesday. According to the
Kremlin, Putin expressed serious concern over the “increasingly large-scale
involvement of terrorists from the Middle East” in the Karabakh war.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Author: Albert Nalbandian
It’s not realistic to talk about diplomatic solution unless Azerbaijan changes position – Pashinyan
22:00,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia NIkol Pashinyan commented on his yesterday’s announcement, according to which at this stage Nagorno Karabakh conflict has no diplomatic solution. ARMENPRESS reports in an interview with Interfax Pashinyan said that already 2 ceasefire agreements have been thwarted.
‘’Of course, Azerbaijanis blame the Armenian side for that, that we violated the agreement. But we know the truth. Diplomatic solution means compromise. And the problem is that during the entire negotiation process, and particularly during the negotiations of the last years, when Armenia says that this or that compromise is acceptable for us, which seemed to be acceptable until that moment for Azerbaijan as well, it immediately becomes unacceptable for Azerbaijan as soon as they realize that Armenia is really ready for that. This means every time when Armenia expresses readiness for mutual concessions, Azerbaijan starts demanding more. And this continues for already 9 years, or maybe more. This is what I mean saying that it’s nor realistic to speak about diplomatic solution unless Azerbaijan changes this position. But diplomatic efforts are necessary for changing this position of Azerbaijan and I highly appreciate the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and Particularly the Russian Federation’’, the PM said.
To the question if it can be confirmed that diplomatic efforts continue or can continue, PM Pashinyan answered, ‘’We need some quick solutions. But during this period, particularly following the two failed agreements, I mean the Moscow agreement and the following one initiated by the French President, when everything seemed to be agreed, I just don’t think it’s realistic to reach a quick diplomatic solution. But this does not mean that I don’t want that, that I am not ready to make all possible efforts for that. It’s just my objective assessment of the position of Azerbaijan. By the way, it’s not so that it’s entirely Azerbaijan’s position. I think it’s more the position of Turkey that is reflected in the position of Azerbaijan’’, Pashinyan said.
Tensions Rise in Armenia and Azerbaijan Amid Claims of New Attacks
TIME Magazine
Oct 15 2020
By AVET DEMOURIAN / AP
YEREVAN, Armenia — The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated Wednesday, as both sides exchanged accusations and claims of new attacks over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where heavy fighting continues for a third week despite a Russia-brokered cease-fire deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, emphasizing the need to respect the truce that was violated immediately after taking effect Saturday. Putin also voiced concern about the involvement in the conflict by militants from the Middle East — a reference to Turkey deploying Syrian fighters to combat Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Erdogan denied the deployment of combatants to the region in separate comments, but a Syrian war monitor and Syria-based opposition activists have confirmed that Turkey has sent hundreds of Syrian opposition fighters to Nagorno-Karabakh.
In a sign that the conflict was widening, Azerbaijan’s military said it destroyed an Armenian missile system on the territory of Armenia that was positioned to target civilian areas. Armenia’s Defense Ministry responded by stating that it reserves the right to target Azerbaijani military objects and troop movements.
So far, Armenia and Azerbaijan have denied targeting each other’s territory in the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, although each of the parties often contested the denials.
An expansion of hostilities beyond the separatist region could trigger a dangerous escalation of the decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is inside Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994. The Armenian forces also have controlled significant chunks of Azerbaijani territory outside the separatist region.
Asbarez: Trump Aware Turkey is ‘Reinforcing Azerbaijan,’ Pompeo Says
October 14, 2020
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a press briefing on Oct. 14
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday confirmed that the United States is aware of Turkey’s involvement in the Karabakh conflict, saying Ankara is Ankara is “reinforcing” Azerbaijan.
In his Wednesday morning briefing, Pompeo said he has discussed the matter with President Donald Trump.
“I don’t want to get into the conversations that are ongoing and continue to be ongoing, but suffice it to say I spoke to President Trump about this just this morning briefly,” said Pompeo.
“We are watching what’s taking place there. We have joined our European partners and, frankly, many countries around the world to ask that there be a ceasefire as a beginning of a solution to the conflict,” Pompeo said.
“We have watched the reporting of civilians deaths. We have watched Turkey begin to reinforce Azerbaijan,” added Pompeo. “We have asked every international player to stay out of the region, not to continue to reinforce trouble. We are working to deliver that,” added Pompeo.
The Secretary of State said the U.S. is using its “diplomatic toolkit to try to achieve an outcome that is a solution based on international law.”
“It’s pretty straightforward, we are focused on it. We are paying a great deal of attention to it, and we’ve frankly done some work that I think increases the likelihood that the objectives that I just identified actually take place,” he added.
In a Twitter post on Tuesday, Pompeo offered the same false-parity that has been emanating from the State Department for 30 years now in reference to the Karabakh conflict.
“The United States calls on Azerbaijan and Armenia to implement their commitments to a ceasefire as agreed and cease targeting civilian areas, such as Ganja and Stepanakert. We deplore the loss of human life and remain committed to a peaceful settlement,” said Pompeo on Twitter, referring first to Azerbaijan’s second largest city, which was hit by one bomb last week and then Stepanakert, Artsakh’s capital, which has been under continuous shelling by Azerbaijan for more than week.
Greece recalls Ambassador to Azerbaijan
11:59, 7 October, 2020
ATHENS, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Greece has recalled its Ambassador to Azerbaijan following “the completely unsubstantiated and insulting allegations made by the government of Azerbaijan”, the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Following the completely unsubstantiated and insulting allegations made by the government of Azerbaijan regarding supposed tolerance on the part of the Greek state for preparation of terrorist actions, efforts to recruit terrorist fighters, and cyberattacks from Greek territory on Azerbaijan, in the context of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, a stern demarche was made to the Azeri Ambassador yesterday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Following the demarche, the Greek Ambassador to Azerbaijan, N. Piperigos, was summoned to Athens for consultations, by decision of Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias”, the statement says.
UNSC urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to halt fighting
NHK World – Japan
Sept 29 2020
The UN Security Council is urging Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume dialogue to end the latest round of heavy fighting over disputed territory.
Niger's UN ambassador, who serves as Security Council president, read out a press statement on the conflict following an emergency session on Tuesday.
In the statement, council members expressed concern at reports of large-scale military actions, condemned the use of force by both sides, and regretted the loss of civilian lives.
The council members also backed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call for an immediate halt to the fighting.
They expressed full support for a central role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in resolving the conflict.
The council urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to work with the OSCE for a resumption of dialogue.
Fighting broke out on Sunday over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The area in western Azerbaijan is mainly populated by ethnic Armenians.
The death toll on both sides from three days of fighting has reportedly reached 100, including civilians.
At the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations over which side started the conflict.
Explainer: Why has conflict erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan?
The Journal, Ireland
Sept 28 2020
AFP
ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN, two ex-Soviet republics in the Caucasus, are locked in a decades-long territorial dispute – with deadly new fighting erupting yesterday.
These were the fiercest clashes in the area since 2016, when 110 people were killed. Dozens of people were killed this weekend, sparking international calls to halt the fighting.
Both Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh (the breakaway region involved in the dispute) declared martial law and military mobilisation, while Azerbaijan imposed military rule and a curfew in large cities.
Fighting between Muslim Azerbaijan and majority-Christian Armenia threatened to embroil regional players Russia and Turkey. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called on global powers to prevent Ankara’s involvement.
France, Germany, Italy, and the European Union swiftly urged an “immediate ceasefire”. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “extremely concerned” and urged the sides to stop fighting and return to talks.
The US State Department said it had contacted the two countries and called on them to “use the existing direct communication links between them to avoid further escalation”. Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the military flare-up with Pashinyan and called for “an end to hostilities”.
In a televised address to the nation yesterday, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev vowed victory over Armenian forces.
The latest news has even led Kim Kardashian West – whose father was Armenian – to weigh in.
She claimed that Armenia was the victim of unprovoked attacks, and that the news around the issue was “misleading”. She also called for the cutting of all US military aid to Azerbaijan.
Some raised fears about the conflict escalating. “We are a step away from a large-scale war,” Olesya Vartanyan of the International Crisis Group told AFP.
“One of the main reasons for the current escalation is a lack of any proactive international mediation … for weeks.”
But why are these two countries involved in an intense and long-running conflict?
Here’s a look at some of the key issues surrounding the issue.
Nagorny Karabakh
At the heart of the standoff between the Armenian capital Yerevan and Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, is the contested Nagorny Karabakh region.
The Soviet authorities merged the predominantly ethnic Armenian territory with Azerbaijan in 1921. After the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenian separatists seized it in a move supported by Yerevan.
An ensuing war left 30,000 dead and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Despite a ceasefire mediated in 1994 by Russia, the United States and France, peace negotiations struggle to move forward and fighting erupts frequently.
The latest clashes at the weekend saw Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists accuse each other of igniting the fighting that left both sides with casualties, including civilians.
It followed a flare-up along the border in July which claimed the lives of 17 soldiers from both sides. In April 2016, some 110 people were killed in the most serious fighting in years.
Revolts and dynasty
Armenia, a Christian country since the fourth century, has been rocked by political and economic instability since it gained independence from the former USSR.
The country’s post-Soviet leadership repressed opposition to its rule, was accused of falsifying ballot results, and was largely beholden to the interests of Russia.
In the spring of 2018, mass street protests brought current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to power. He has since cracked down on corruption and introduced popular judicial reforms.
Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, meanwhile, on the Caspian Sea, has been under the authoritarian grip of a single family since 1993. Heydar Aliyev, a former officer of the Soviet security services, the KGB, ruled the country with an iron fist until October 2003.
He handed over power to his son, Ilham, weeks before his death. Like his father, Ilham has quashed all opposition to his rule and in 2017 made his wife, Mehriban, the country’s first vice president.
Russia and Turkey
What about the roles of Turkey and Russia in the conflict?
Turkey, with ambitions to be regional powerbroker in the Caucasus, has thrown its weight behind oil-rich and Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan.
Their alliance is fuelled by a mutual mistrust of Armenia. Ankara routinely issues strongly worded statements in support of Baku’s ambitions to reclaim Nagorny Karabakh.
Yerevan harbours hostility towards Turkey over the massacres of some 1.5 million Armenians by Turkey under the Ottoman Empire during World War I. More than 30 countries have recognised the killings as genocide, though Ankara fiercely disputes the term.
Russia, which maintains close ties with Armenia, is the major powerbroker in the region. It leads the Collective Security Treaty Organisation military alliance of ex-Soviet countries that includes Armenia.
Yerevan relies on Russian support and military guarantees, because its defence budget is overshadowed by Azerbaijan’s spending on arms.
Oil and diaspora
Azerbaijan has recently begun leveraging oil revenues as part of a bid to overhaul its image in the West.
Baku has invested in massive sponsorship deals including with the Euro 2020 football championship (which was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic). Baku was due to host matches this year and Azerbaijan has held Formula 1 Grand Prix races since 2016.
Azerbaijan has also tried to pitch itself to European countries as an alternative energy supplier to Russia.
On the international stage, Armenia has a vast and influential diaspora that fled during the Ottoman-era repressions.
Kim Kardashian, the late singer Charles Aznavour, and pop star and actress Cher all trace their roots to Armenia. Some have appointed themselves unofficial ambassadors, like Kardashian who has been outspoken on the issue of the Armenian genocide.
AFP
Armenian PM warns against any Turkish involvement in conflict with Azerbaijan
Reuters
Sept 27 2020
Armenia rallies to ‘defend homeland’ over fighting with Azerbaijan
The National , UAE
Sept 27 2020
President Nikol Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan attacked civilian settlements in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenia declared a national mobilisation to “defend our sacred homeland” after fierce fighting involving tanks, aircraft and artillery broke out with Azerbaijan forces on Sunday in the latest flare-up of a decades-long conflict over disputed land.
Azerbaijan said it had captured seven of its Armenian-controlled villages, a claim Yerevan denied.
Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry said it launched a “counterattack” after being accused of starting the fighting and claimed Armenia had fired on its military positions and on civilian settlements near the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia said Azerbaijan started bombarding along the contact line separating the two forces and shelled civilians including in the region’s capital, Stepanakert.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared martial law and ordered a general mobilisation, after accusing Azerbaijan of “pre-planned aggression.” Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said in a state TV address that: “We’ll win as our cause is just.”
France, Russia and others urged calm after the latest flare-up over Nagorno-Karabakh where fighting has repeatedly broken out since Armenians took control of the territory and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Hundreds were killed in a five-day war in 2016 before Russia pressured both sides to resume a ceasefire that was first brokered in 1994. Despite decades of mediation by the US, France and Russia, no peace agreement has been signed.
Russia again called on both sides to halt fighting immediately and to return to negotiations to ease tensions, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said.
France called on Yerevan and Baku to end hostilities and immediately restart dialogue. "France is extremely concerned by the confrontation," foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes bon der Muhll said.
The EU too called for a halt in fighting.
"Military action must stop, as a matter of urgency, to prevent a further escalation," European Council president Charles Michel tweeted, calling for "an immediate return to negotiations, without preconditions".
Pope Francis appealed to Armenia and Azerbaijan on Sunday to resolve their differences through negotiations, saying: "I pray for peace in the Caucasus and ask the parties in conflict to make concrete gestures of goodwill and brotherhood that can lead to the resolution of problems not with the use of force and weapons but through dialogue and negotiations."
Turkey will stand by its ally Azerbaijan “with all our means until the end,” Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said, without elaborating.
The Azeri army is using tanks, artillery, missile systems and aircraft against Armenian positions near the front line and deeper into Armenian-held territory, the Defence Ministry in Baku said. As many as 12 Armenian anti-aircraft systems have been destroyed and one Azeri helicopter was shot down, it said.
Armenian forces hit two Azeri helicopters, three tanks and 14 drones, Armenian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said.
Civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh have been urged to go into shelters after Azerbaijan shelled Stepanakert, according to Vahram Poghosyan, a presidential spokesman in the unrecognised republic. “Our response will be proportional, and full responsibility is on the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan,” he said.
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An Armenian woman and child were killed although the full extent of the toll is unclear.
About 10 Armenian servicemen have been killed in the fighting, said Samvel Babayan, secretary of the Nagorno-Karabakh Security Council, according to Radio Liberty.
The conflict comes after tensions between the two sides rose sharply last week, when Mr Aliyev alleged that Armenia was massing forces near Nagorno-Karabakh for a new war. Armenia dismissed the claim as groundless and accused him of preparing for war.
As the fighting raged, Facebook and other social media appeared blocked in Azerbaijan and internet access was slow in some areas.
“Armenia is occupying our territory,” Mr Aliyev said in his speech. “We’ll put an end to this occupation.”
Support continues to grow for Armenia and Artsakh resolutions
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 26 2020
Two resolutions in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.Res.452 and H.Res.190 regarding U.S.-Armenia and U.S.-Artsakh relations, continue to garner support, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). Both resolutions were introduced by Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chair, along with fellow leaders of the Armenian Caucus.
H.Res.452 has bipartisan support with 47 cosponsors with three additional cosponsors joining in recent weeks: Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Scott Peters (D-CA), and Dina Titus (D-NV). H.Res.452 celebrates a century of United States-Armenia relations, the enduring friendship of the American and Armenian peoples, the strong bonds between the two governments, and the wide array of contributions that Americans of Armenian heritage continue to make in the United States.
H.Res.190 enjoys the support of 31 Members of Congress, with its most recent cosponsors, Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Lori Trahan (D-MA), joining in the last two months. H.Res.190 encourages: 1) visits and communication between officials from the United States and Artsakh at all levels; 2) open communication, meetings, and other direct contacts between officials of Artsakh and the executive and legislative branches of the United States Government, representatives of state and local governments, and representatives of American civil society; and 3) calls for the full and direct participation of the democratically-elected Government of the Republic of Artsakh in all OSCE and other negotiations regarding its future.
“We thank the Members of Congress for their support as we continue to advance U.S.-Armenia, U.S.-Artsakh relations,” stated Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan. “We call upon our grassroots activists to contact their respective Members of Congress to cosponsor these resolutions, and urge the House of Representatives to adopt them,” added Khaloyan.
H.Res.452 is cosponsored by Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), Armenian Caucus Vice-Chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), along with Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), Rep. Julia Brownley, (D-CA), Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Rep. TJ Cox (D-CA), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Rep. Gil Cisneros Jr. (D-CA), Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Rep. James Langevin (D-RI), Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI), Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-AL), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), Rep. Scott Peters, (D-CA), Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ), Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA), Rep. David Trone (D-MD), and Rep. Ron Wright (R-TX).
H.Res.190 is cosponsored by Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), Armenian Caucus Vice-Chairs Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY), along with Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), Rep. TJ Cox (D-CA) Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI), Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-AL), Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA), and Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN).