Category: 2022

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Azerbaijani forces shelled Armenia’s territory Tuesday and killed at least 49 Armenian soldiers, Armenia’s prime minister said, a large-scale attack that fueled fears of broader hostilities breaking out between the longtime adversaries.

The hostilities erupted minutes after midnight, with Azerbaijani forces unleashing an artillery barrage and drone attacks in many sections of Armenian territory, according to the Armenian Defense Ministry.

The ministry said fighting continued during the day despite Russia’s attempt to broker a quick cease-fire. It noted that the shelling grew less intense but said Azerbaijani troops still were trying to advance into Armenian territory.

The ministry added that the Azerbaijani shelling damaged civilian infrastructure and also wounded an unspecified number of people.

Azerbaijan charged that its forces returned fire in response to “large-scale provocations” by the Armenian military, claiming that the Armenian troops planted mines and repeatedly fired on Azerbaijani military positions, resulting in unspecified casualties and damage to military infrastructure.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.

Azerbaijan reclaimed broad swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh in a six-week war in 2020 that killed more than 6,600 people and ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal. Moscow, which deployed about 2,000 troops to the region to serve as peacekeepers under the deal, has sought to maintain friendly ties with both ex-Soviet nations.

Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, held a meeting with military officials to discuss the situation. “It was noted that the responsibility for the current tension rests squarely with the political leadership of Armenia,” his office said.

Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, also placed the blame for the violence on Armenia. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called for Yerevan to halt its “provocations,” and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar condemned “Armenia’s aggressive attitude and provocative actions.”

Speaking in parliament early Tuesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Azerbaijani shelling killed at least 49 Armenian soldiers. He squarely rejected the Azerbaijani claim that it was responding to Armenian provocations.

The governor of Gegharkunik province, one of the regions that came under Azerbaijani shelling, said there was a 40-minute lull in the fighting, apparently reflecting Moscow’s attempt to negotiate a truce, before it later resumed.

The governor, Karen Sarkisyan, said that four Armenian troops in his region were killed and another 43 were wounded by the shelling.

As the fighting raged overnight, Pashinyan quickly called Russian President Vladimir Putin and later also had phone calls with French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Charles Michel, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss the hostilities.

Speaking in parliament, Pashinyan noted that the Azerbaijani action followed his recent European Union-brokered talks with Aliyev in Brussels that revealed what he described as Azerbaijan’s uncompromising stand.

The Armenian government said it would officially ask Russia for assistance under a friendship treaty between the countries and also appeal to the United Nations and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Moscow-dominated security alliance of ex-Soviet nations that includes Armenia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refrained from comment on Armenia’s request but added during a conference call with reporters that Putin was “taking every effort to help de-escalate tensions.”

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said top officials from the security grouping held a meeting to discuss the fighting. Armenia’s representative at the grouping emphasized during the meeting that Yerevan expects its allies to take “efficient collective steps to ensure security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry urged both parties “to refrain from further escalation and show restraint.”

Moscow has engaged in a delicate balancing act, maintaining strong economic and security ties with Armenia, which hosts a Russian military base, while also developing close cooperation with oil-rich Azerbaijan.

___

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

https://apnews.com/article/azerbaijan-armenia-1aa2ec4e28135a8667823476c391e3ea

Fresh clashes have broken out on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, it's been claimed.

Armenia's defence ministry claimed Azerbaijani forces had started "intensive bombardment" of its positions shortly after midnight towards several towns such as Goris and Sotk.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has claimed that 49 soldiers were killed.

Baku accused Armenia of "large-scale subversive acts" overnight, adding that Armenian fire had caused casualties in its ranks.

The Azerbaijan foreign ministry said its forces suffered unspecified casualties and that “definitive retaliatory measures were taken”.

Pashinyan held separate talks overnight with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and US diplomatic chief Antony Blinken.

Armenia and Azerbaijan, two rival ex-Soviet republics in the Caucasus, have clashed in two wars over the past three decades for control of the Nagorny Karabakh region, the last of which was in 2020.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday he had discussed "Armenian provocations" with Baku and called on Armenia to focus on peace negotiations.

In a statement, Russia said the matter should be resolved "exclusively through political and diplomatic means" and called on both sides to cease hostilities amid "extreme concern".

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for a halt to hostilities and "a return to the negotiating table".

The French Elysée Palace also said on Tuesday that it would bring the dispute to the United Nations Security Council.

Six weeks of fighting in the autumn of 2020 left more than 6,500 people dead and resulted in a ceasefire brokered by Russia.

As part of the deal, Armenia ceded parts of the territory it had controlled for decades and Moscow deployed some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce.

Frequent shootings have been reported along their common border since the 2020 war. 

Last week, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of killing one of its soldiers in border clashes. In August, Baku said it had lost a soldier, and the Nagorno-Karabakh army reported that two of its soldiers had been killed and more than a dozen wounded.

Another bloody war in the early 1990s saw thousands killed on both sides and hundreds of thousands of people displaced. That war ended with a truce in 1994, although there has been sporadic violence since as the dispute remains unresolved.

https://www.euronews.com/2022/09/13/fresh-clashes-break-out-on-armenia-azerbaijan-border

(Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing everything he can to help de-escalate hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

"It is difficult to overestimate the role of Russia, and the role of Putin personally" in mediating between the two countries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"The president is making every effort to contribute to the de-escalation of tensions on the border. These efforts are continuing," he added.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have blamed each other for overnight clashes along the border.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire collapsed after less than an hour on Tuesday morning, although the intensity of fighting has reduced, Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an address to parliament.

The new flare-up of decades-old hostilities between the south Caucasus countries has fuelled fears that a second fully-fledged war could break out in the post-Soviet world in addition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

(Reporting by Reuters)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/kremlin-says-putin-making-every-095016028.html

ALSO

Armenia appealed to world leaders for help on Tuesday, Sep. 13, saying that Azerbaijani forces were trying to advance onto its territory amid deadly clashes along the arch foes’ shared border.

It also subsequently announced that Armenia and Russia had agreed on ‘joint steps to stabilise situation’ on border.

Fighting erupted overnight along the volatile border between the Caucasus neighbours, leaving troops dead on both sides, defence ministries in Baku and Yerevan said, without giving the number of casualties.

The escalation marked the latest flare up since the end of the 2020 war between Yerevan and Baku over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“Azerbaijani forces continue using artillery, trench mortars, and drones… striking military and civilian infrastructure. The enemy is trying to advance (into Armenian territory),” Armenia’s defence ministry in Yerevan said early on Tuesday.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s office said he called French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken to demand “an adequate reaction” to “Azerbaijan’s aggressive acts.”

Earlier, Azerbaijani defence ministry said its forces were responding to Armenian provocation and denied claims that they were hitting civilian infrastructure.

“Azerbaijani armed forces are undertaking limited and targeted steps, neutralising Armenian firing positions,” it said in a statement.

https://www.kyivpost.com/world/azerbaijan-forces-trying-to-advance-into-armenia-yerevan.html

PRESS STATEMENT

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE

The United States is deeply concerned about reports of attacks along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, including reported strikes against settlements and civilian infrastructure inside Armenia.  As we have long made clear, there can be no military solution to the conflict.  We urge an end to any military hostilities immediately.

By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber

TBILISI (Reuters) -At least 49 Armenian soldiers and an undisclosed number of Azeris were killed on Tuesday in the deadliest fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia since a 2020 war, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to appeal for calm.

Armenia and Azerbaijan, neighbouring former Soviet states, blamed each other for the renewed fighting which began overnight at several points along their border, raising fears of another major armed conflict in the former Soviet Union while Russia's military is tied up in Ukraine.

Russia has peacekeeping troops in the Azeri-Armenian conflict zone as guarantor of an agreement that ended a six-week war over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh two years ago.

Yerevan said Azerbaijan had shelled towns near the border including Jermuk, Goris and Kapan, forcing it to respond. Baku said Armenian sabotage units had sought to mine Azeri positions and began the shooting.

It also accused Armenian troops of firing heavy weapons in violation of a ceasefire reached earlier on Tuesday.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify battlefield accounts from either side.

"It is difficult to overestimate the role of the Russian Federation, the role of Putin personally," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"The president is naturally is making every effort to help de-escalate tensions at the border."

UKRAINE AND CAUCASUS

Russia's war in Ukraine has undermined its status as a regional security guarantor, leaving room for Azerbaijan to make more claims, said Laurence Broers, associate fellow at the Russia and Eurasia Programme of Chatham House think tank.

Azerbaijan, which is politically and culturally linked to Turkey, made significant territorial gains in 2020, reclaiming land lost to ethnic Armenians in an earlier war over Nagorno-Karabakh 30 years before.

"Since February, we also have been seeing the collapse of Russia's reputation as a security patron and a provider of security in the region," Broers said. "That has created a window of opportunity for Azerbaijan, recalling that the outcome of the second war in 2020 left unfinished business."