Category: 2020

Armenia honors Nagorno-Karabakh dead; some demand PM resign

Alex Jidarian
Click-On Detroit
Dec 19 2020

YEREVAN – Both opponents and supporters of Armenia's prime minister rallied Saturday as the nation paid tribute to the thousands who died in fighting with Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Critics demanded that the leader resign and tried to pelt him with eggs.

The Azerbaijani army pushed deep into Nagorno-Karabakh in six weeks of hostilities that ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal on Nov. 10 that saw Azerbaijan reclaim large parts of the separatist region and surrounding territories.

The loss of lands that had been controlled by ethnic Armenian forces for more than a quarter-century has traumatized Armenians, triggering weeks of protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters rallied near the Yerablur military memorial cemetery on the outskirts of the Armenian capital of Yerevan as Pashinyan visited it to honor the soldiers killed in the latest fighting. The nation is observing a three-day mourning period for the dead.


The prime minister's opponents, shouting “Nikol, you traitor!,” engaged in scuffles with his supporters and police. Police dispersed the protesters to clear the way for Pashinyan and his security guards covered him with shields and umbrellas as protesters attempted to hit him with eggs.

Later in the day, about 20,000 opposition supporters marched across Yerevan for a memorial church service for the victims of the conflict.

Also on Saturday, 14 retired military generals issued a statement calling for the resignation of the government over its handling of the latest fighting.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but was under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. That war left Nagorno-Karabakh itself and substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.

In 44 days of fighting that began in late September and left more than 5,600 people killed on both sides, the Azerbaijani army fought its way deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept last month’s peace deal.

Russia has deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to monitor the peace agreement and facilitate the return of refugees.

Putin’s comments caution ‘foreign circles’ aiming to derail Karabakh deal, says Aliyev

Garo Vardanian
TASS, Russia
Dec 19 2020
 
 
 
According to the Azerbaijani president, the saboteurs are dissatisfied with Russia’s leading role in the ceasefire
 
 
BAKU, December 18. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks about Nagorno-Karabakh are an important signal to those forces that seek to prevent the implementation of the trilateral statement signed by the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said on Friday at an online meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council.
 
"In an interview with the media yesterday, Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] once again pointed out that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan. This is not the first statement of this kind. I believe this is a very important statement. It is important for those revanchist forces in Armenia, which are trying to revise the conditions of the statement of November 10 [November 9 Moscow time – TASS]. Unfortunately, there are such forces, and this is a very important signal to those who are trying to prevent the implementation of that statement. We saw such attempts both during the war and after the statement was signed," Aliyev emphasized.
 
According to the Azerbaijani president, some "foreign circles" that are dissatisfied with Russia’s leading role in the ceasefire would similarly like to revise the terms of the deal. "We saw attempts by certain foreign circles, which were dissatisfied with the fact that they stayed on the sidelines, dissatisfied with the fact that Russia was instrumental in achieving the ceasefire. They tried to muddy the waters in every possible way, and, unfortunately, they are pushing ahead with their attempts. This is especially true of the situation in Armenia. [They are seeking] to use certain levers, various infrastructure that has been created in Armenia, including the Soros infrastructure, in order to incite unrest in Armenian society and essentially to derail that statement," he said.
 
"I would like to once again thank Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin for such active participation and [his] enormous contribution to the resolution of this conflict," he concluded.
 
On Thursday, Putin said at his annual news conference that, from the viewpoint of international law, Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan. He noted that Russia adhered to that position within the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh. Referring to the status of the region, Putin noted that it should be unchanged now, while the issue of its definition should be solved in the future.
 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
 
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku and Yerevan have disputed sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh since February 1988, when the region announced its secession from the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic. In the armed conflict of 1992-1994, Azerbaijan lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjoining districts.
 
On November 9 (November 10 Baku time), Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had held, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region. Later on, some districts were handed over to Azerbaijan’s control.
 
 
 
After the document was made public, opposition protests erupted in Armenia. Opposition supporters believe that this statement essentially spells Armenia’s surrender, and they hold Pashinyan responsible for the country’s economic and social woes. Opposition marches are being held in Armenia’s capital of Yerevan practically on a daily basis. Given these events, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has called for holding early parliamentary elections and transferring power to the government of national accord until then.
 
 
 
 
 
 

AFP: Tensions In Armenia As Thousands Mourn Karabakh Victims

Maral Takmazian
BARRON'S
Dec 19 2020
 
 
 
Tensions In Armenia As Thousands Mourn Karabakh Victims
 
________________________________
Mariam HARUTYUNYAN
AFP
 
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday led thousands in a march in memory of those killed in a six-week war with Azerbaijan as the Caucasus country began three days of mourning.
 
Pashinyan has been under huge pressure from the opposition to step down after nearly 3,000 Armenians were killed in the clashes with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
 
As Armenia began its period of mourning for the Karabakh war, the opposition kept up pressure on Pashinyan to resign over the handling of the conflict and what they say is a humiliating peace deal with Azerbaijan.
 
Accompanied by top officials, Pashinyan led a thousands-strong procession to a memorial complex in the capital Yerevan where victims of the conflict are buried.
 
"The entire nation has been through and is going through a nightmare," Pashinyan said in a video address ahead of the memorial march.
 
"Sometimes it seems that all of our dreams have been dashed and our optimism destroyed," he said.
 
The opposition has called the 45-year-old leader a "traitor" for agreeing to end the war on Azerbaijan's terms.
 
Pashinyan, whose wife and son were at the front during the conflict, has said he has no plans to quit and the peace deal was Armenia's only option, ensuring Karabakh's survival.
 
The war ended in November with a Moscow-brokered peace agreement that saw the Armenians cede swathes of territory to Azerbaijan which has been backed by close ally Turkey.
 
Beg for forgiveness
 
Many critics said on Saturday the leader should stay away from the memorial cemetery.
 
"He must not desecrate the graves of our children," Misak Avetisyan, who lost a son in the war, told reporters.
 
The grief-stricken father said the prime minister should get down on his knees and "beg for forgiveness".
 
Many critics chanted "Nikol the traitor" as authorities dramatically beefed up security at the cemetery.
 
Later Saturday several thousands of opposition supporters gathered for a memorial rally in Yerevan's Freedom Square.
 
"This war did not have to happen," said former prime minister Vazgen Manukyan who the opposition says should replace Pashinyan.
 
He said Armenia under Pashinyan had lost "all allies."
 
Pashinyan's critics have called on supporters to stage a national strike from December 22.
 
A member of the Pashinyan-led procession said the prime minister should not be blamed for the mistakes of previous leaders.
 
"He is not guilty of anything," said Karo Sargsyan.
 
Pashinyan, a former newspaper editor, was propelled to power in 2018 after he channelled widespread desire for change into a broad protest movement against corrupt post-Soviet elites.
 
But after the war with Azerbaijan, many now say Pashinyan has betrayed Armenia's interests.
 
Numerous public figures including the influential head of Armenia's Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin, have called for Pashinyan's resignation.
 
As part of the peace deal Russia deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeeping troops to Karabakh.
 
More than 5,000 people including civilians were killed during the fighting between the ex-Soviet rivals, who also fought a war in the 1990s over the mountainous region.
 

 

Armenian church [in Jerusalem] leasing land to Israelis causes Palestinian worry

Karlen Baghdasarian
Arab News
Dec 19 2020
Palestinian demonstrators protest against the selling of church land to Israelis, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. An unknown deal to turn the land into a parking lot is causing concern for the Palestinian leadership. (AP/File)

Armenian Patriarchate terms the deal as simply a financial operation and ‘not selling land’

Daoud Kuttab
23:21

AMMAN: A previously unknown agreement to turn sensitive land in the old city of Jerusalem into a parking lot — largely for the exclusive use of Jewish residents of the old city — is causing concern for the Palestinian leadership and members of the tiny Armenian community.

The contract, a copy of which is with Arab News, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2021.


 Officials of the Armenian Patriarchate confirmed the agreement but insisted that the contract with the Israeli Jerusalem municipality and the Jewish-centric Jerusalem Development Authority (Harali) does not constitute selling or leasing land but is simply a financial operation.


 The Armenian Patriarchate said that removal of all earth from the plot of land, which will cost about $2 million, was “a financial obligation that the Patriarchate by itself doesn’t have the capacity to undertake,” according to a statement by the real estate department of the Armenian Patriarchate. The statement said that efforts to get support from “multiple governmental bodies” had run “into obstacles.” In return, the municipality and Harali will have access to 90 parking spots.


 But the five-page contract notes (Article 2a) that the cost of lifting the rubble will be considered “a loan” that the church will have to pay back.


 The Higher Presidential Committee of Church Affairs in Palestine wrote to Armenian Patriarch Nourhan Manoogian reminding him that the Armenian quarter is part of occupied Palestinian territories where UN resolutions, including the 2017 UNSC Resolution 2334, apply. The letter also noted that the agreement between Jordanian King Abdullah and President Abbas in 2013 was set to regulate Christian and Muslim holy places in Jerusalem.


 The letter, signed by Ramzi Khoury, the director of the committee, called on the Armenian Patriarchate “to abide by international law” and said that Israel has “expansionist ambitions,” especially in the area of the Omar Bin Khatab Square and the Armenian quarters” in the old city. Palestinian sources have said that President Arafat refused to concede the Armenian quarter during the 2000 negotiations at Camp David.

The Higher Presidential Committee of Church Affairs in Palestine wrote to the Armenian Patriarch Nourhan Manoogian reminding him that the Armenian quarter is part of occupied Palestinian territories where UN Resolutions, including the 2017 UNSC resolution 2334, apply.

A well-respected Palestinian source from the Armenian community said that he “smells a rat,” adding that the current Armenian Patriarchate is not to be trusted. “I think that this is not the first time that the Armenian Patriarchate has tried to sell land and the people of Jerusalem to the Israelis and the people of the city stood up to him,” said the Palestinian leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity.


 The Palestinian/Armenian source denied claims that the church had no choice but to go to the Israelis after repeated requests for financial support from the Palestinian government and others were turned down: “This is not true. The EU was interested in fixing the parking lot in a way that would allow its parking lot income to support the church while allowing all the people of the old city to use it but the church refused the offer. A 10-point official statement issued by the real estate department of the Armenian Patriarchate states that the parking lot will remain private and that the management, ownership of the parking lot will remain in the hands of the Patriarchate.”


The statement also highlights that “within the next 10 years, once the Patriarchate has finalized and received all construction permits, in agreement with the municipality, the Patriarchate will begin a new construction that will benefit the Armenian community.” The Patriarchate is hoping to get permission to build a hotel.


 Armenian clergy have frequently complained about religious Jews spitting on them. In March 2020 the Israeli police, and for the first time since 1967, fined a young Jewish man 1,500 Israeli shekel ($463) for spitting at an Armenian bishop a year earlier.


 Palestinians have boycotted the “unified” Jerusalem municipality since 1967 and consider the Jerusalem Development Authority an arm of radical Jewish groups that intend to Judaize the old city of Jerusalem at the expense of the indigenous Arab Palestinians.


https://www.arabnews.com/node/1779856/middle-east


Over 42,000 refugees return to Nagorno-Karabakh – Russia’s Defense Ministry

Emil Lazarian
TASS, Russia
Dec 19 2020
Buses have taken 306 people from Yerevan to Stepanakert today

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. More than 42,000 refugees have returned to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh since fighting stopped in the region, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on Saturday.

In the past 24 hours, 306 people came back from Yerevan to Stepanakert on buses escorted by Russian peacekeepers, the defense ministry added.

"Buses have taken 306 people from Yerevan to Stepanakert today. The buses were escorted on their route by patrols of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and military police," the Russian Defense Ministry said. "A total of over 42,000 refugees have already returned to their domiciles."

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. Under the agreement, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides maintained the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Russian peacekeeping contingent is based on the 15th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Central Military District. Russian observation posts are deployed along the contact line and to the Lachin corridor, which links Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. The headquarters of the peacekeeping operation is located in Stepanakert. The situation is monitored round the clock.


Armenians march to mourn war victims, demand PM resigns

Emil Lazarian
Al-Jazeera, Qatar
Dec 19 2020

PM Nikol Pashinyan leads the march to honour fallen in Yerevan, but the opposition calls on the beleaguered leader to step down

Thousands of Armenians have marched through the capital Yerevan to commemorate the soldiers killed in a six-week conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in which Azerbaijan made significant territorial gains.

The conflict and the deaths on the Armenian side have increased pressure on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whom the opposition accuses of mishandling the conflict by accepting a Russian-brokered ceasefire last month, to resign.

Pashinyan led Saturday’s march, held on the first of the three days of mourning, driving up to the Yerablur military cemetery to light incense on the graves of fallen soldiers along with other senior officials.

“The entire nation has been through and is going through a nightmare,” Pashinyan said in a video address before the memorial march.

“Sometimes it seems that all of our dreams have been dashed and our optimism destroyed,” he said.

Still, the prime minister’s opponents seemed unsatisfied with his address, with many of them shouting “Nikol, you traitor!” and engaging in scuffles with his supporters and police.

Police dispersed the protesters to clear the way for Pashinyan and his security guards covered him with shields and umbrellas as protesters attempted to hit him with eggs.

Later in the day, about 20,000 opposition supporters marched across Yerevan for a memorial church service for the victims of the conflict.

Also on Saturday, 14 retired military generals issued a statement calling for the resignation of the government over its handling of the latest fighting.

“He must not desecrate the graves of our children,” Misak Avetisyan, who lost a son in the war, told reporters.

The grief-stricken father said the prime minister should get down on his knees and “beg for forgiveness”.

“This war did not have to happen,” said former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan who the opposition says should replace Pashinyan.

He said Armenia under Pashinyan had lost “all allies”.

Pashinyan’s critics have called on supporters to stage a national strike from December 22.

A member of the Pashinyan-led procession said the prime minister should not be blamed for the mistakes of previous leaders.

“He is not guilty of anything,” said Karo Sargsyan.

Pashinyan, a former newspaper editor, was propelled to power in 2018 after he channelled widespread desire for change into a broad protest movement against corrupt post-Soviet elites.

But after the war with Azerbaijan, many now say Pashinyan has betrayed Armenia’s interests.

Numerous public figures including the influential head of Armenia’s Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin, have called for Pashinyan’s resignation.

As part of the peace deal, Russia deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeeping troops to Karabakh.

More than 5,000 people including civilians were killed during the fighting between the ex-Soviet rivals, who also fought a war in the 1990s over the mountainous region.

Source : News Agencies

VoA: Armenia Mourns Karabakh War Victims

Emma Nadirian
Voice of America
Dec 19 2020
By AFP
04:58 AM
YEREVAN, ARMENIA – Armenia on Saturday began three days of mourning for the victims of clashes with Azerbaijan as the opposition kept up pressure on the country's leader to resign over the handling of the conflict.

More than 5,000 people including civilians were killed in Armenia and Azerbaijan when clashes erupted between the ex-Soviet enemies in late September over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The war ended in November with a Moscow-brokered peace agreement that saw the Armenians cede swathes of territory to Azerbaijan, which has been backed by close ally Turkey.

The deal sparked fury in Armenia, with the opposition urging Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign.

On the first day of the national mourning on Saturday, Pashinyan was expected to lead a procession to a memorial complex in the capital Yerevan where victims of the conflict are buried.

The opposition planned to hold a separate march later in the day. Pashinyan's critics have called on supporters to stage a national strike, starting Tuesday.

"The entire nation has been through and is going through a nightmare," Pashinyan said in a video address ahead of the memorial march.

"Sometimes it seems that all of our dreams have been dashed and our optimism destroyed," he added.

The 45-year-old former newspaper editor was propelled to power in 2018 after he channeled widespread desire for change into a broad protest movement against corrupt post-Soviet elites.

But after six weeks of clashes with Azerbaijan, many have called Pashinyan a "traitor" for agreeing to what they say is a humiliating deal with Azerbaijan. He has so far refused to step down.

As part of the peace deal Russia deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeeping troops to Karabakh.

Moscow said on Friday that a Russian mine clearer was killed by a blast in Karabakh when an explosive went off earlier this week.

Armenia honors Nagorno-Karabakh dead, some call for PM resignation

Garik Boshkezenian
Hindustan Times, India
Dec 19 2020
world Updated: Dec 19, 2020, 19:15 IST

Associated Press

Yerevan, Armenia


Both opponents and supporters of Armenia’s Prime Minister rallied Saturday as the nation paid tribute to the thousands who died in fighting with Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Critics demanded that the leader resign and tried to pelt him with eggs.

The Azerbaijani army pushed deep into Nagorno-Karabakh in six weeks of hostilities that ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal on November 10 that saw Azerbaijan reclaim large parts of the separatist region and surrounding territories.

The loss of lands that had been controlled by ethnic Armenian forces for more than a quarter-century has traumatized Armenians, triggering weeks of protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters rallied near the Yerablur military memorial cemetery on the outskirts of the Armenian capital of Yerevan as Pashinyan visited it to honor the soldiers killed in the latest fighting. The nation is observing a three-day mourning period for the dead.

The prime minister’s opponents, shouting “Nikol, you traitor!,” engaged in scuffles with his supporters and police. Police dispersed the protesters to clear the way for Pashinyan and his security guards covered him with shields and umbrellas as protesters attempted to hit him with eggs.

Later in the day, about 20,000 opposition supporters marched across Yerevan for a memorial church service for the victims of the conflict.

Also on Saturday, 14 retired military generals issued a statement calling for the resignation of the government over its handling of the latest fighting.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but was under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. That war left Nagorno-Karabakh itself and substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.

In 44 days of fighting that began in late September and left more than 5,600 people killed on both sides, the Azerbaijani army fought its way deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept last month’s peace deal.

Russia has deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to monitor the peace agreement and facilitate the return of refugees.

Turkish Press: Turkey rejects Belgium’s Nagorno-Karabakh resolution

Ani Tigranian
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Dec 19 2020
Turkey rejects Belgium’s Nagorno-Karabakh resolution

Zuhal Demirci   | 19.12.2020

ANKARA

Turkey on Friday rejected the resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh adopted by the lower house of Belgian Parliament. 

Responding to a question in writing, the Spokesperson of Turkish Foreign Ministry Hami Aksoy said the resolution 1597 related to Nagorno-Karabakh adopted by Belgium’s House of Representative is neither historical nor compatible with facts.

“The resolution 1597 is neither historical, legal, nor compatible with the facts in the field. We reject this decision, which includes baseless allegations and accusations against Turkey,” he said.

Aksoy emphasized that this decision is an obvious example of how the Belgian House of Representatives and some parliaments are becoming tools of one-way Armenian rhetoric, act with prejudices, and remain hostages to narrow interests aimed at domestic politics.

"The decision will not contribute to Turkey-Belgium relations, nor will it serve efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region,” he said.

He added that “such decisions also delay the process of accepting the facts of Armenia and encourage it to avoid taking on its responsibilities”.

“However, the reference to the events of 1915 in the decision of the Belgian House of Representatives to declare Dec. 9 as the day of remembrance of the victims of the genocides, adopted on the same day, is also contrary to the basic principles of law, especially the decisions of the European Court of Human Right (ECHR),” he said.

Aksoy said that he expected Belgium to act with reason and to stay away from taking steps that will overshadow bilateral relations.

New clashes erupted on Sept. 27, and the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violating cease-fire agreements.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenia occupation.

The two countries signed a Russia-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

Turkish stance on 1915 events

Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of these incidents as "genocide," describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia as well as international experts to tackle the issue.

*Writing by Merve Berker

AP: Rivals clash as Armenia honours war dead

Diana Dabaghian
Canberra Times, Australia
Dec 19 2020
 
 
 
Rivals clash as Armenia honours war dead
 
AVET DEMOURIAN
 
 
 
Opponents and supporters of Armenia's prime minister have clashed as the nation paid tribute to the thousands who died in fighting with Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
 
Critics demanded that the country's leader, Nikol Pashinyan, resign and tried to pelt him with eggs.
 
The Azerbaijani army pushed deep into Nagorno-Karabakh in six weeks of hostilities that ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal on November 10 that saw Azerbaijan reclaim large parts of the separatist region and surrounding territories.
 
The loss of lands that had been controlled by ethnic Armenian forces for more than quarter of a century has traumatised Armenians, triggering weeks of protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Pashinyan.
 
On Saturday, thousands of protesters rallied near the Yerablur military memorial cemetery on the outskirts of the Armenian capital of Yerevan as Pashinyan visited it to honour the soldiers killed in the latest fighting.
 
The nation is observing a three-day mourning period for the dead.
 
The prime minister's opponents, shouting "Nikol, you traitor", engaged in scuffles with his supporters and police.
 
Police dispersed the protesters to clear the way for Pashinyan, and his security guards covered him with shields and umbrellas as protesters attempted to hit him with eggs.
 
Later in the day, about 20,000 opposition supporters marched across Yerevan to attend a memorial church service for victims of the conflict.
 
Also on Saturday, 14 retired military generals issued a statement calling for the resignation of the government over its handling of the latest hostilities.
 
Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but had been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.
 
That war left Nagorno-Karabakh itself and substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.
 
In 44 days of fighting that began in late September and left more than 5,600 people dead on both sides, the Azerbaijani army fought its way deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept last month's peace deal.
 
Australian Associated Press
 
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7062962/rivals-clash-as-armenia-honours-war-dead/?fbclid=IwAR0EkcPQPvlaM2vlMZgSvG-uM2inLB2HhaQDNSfLcdsBg20ENBgrL34vHUE
 
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