Tension mounts between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the clash in Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijan and Armenia have sharply revived their disputes in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, with attacks that both factions attribute to each other. The clashes of the last few hours have left an undetermined number of victims and the president of the self-proclaimed republic, Arayik Harutyunyan, has imposed martial law with a view to "the general mobilisation of people over 18", after calling an extraordinary session of the National Assembly.
The fighting started early in the morning, according to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence. Official Azeri sources have indicated that the Armenian Armed Forces have attacked Azerbaijani military positions in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, leaving several dead and wounded, although it is not specified how many. "At 06:00 (local time), Armenian forces carried out a large-scale provocation by subjecting Azeri army positions along the front and our villages in the border area to intense bombardment with large-calibre weapons, mortars and artillery," the former Soviet republic's defence ministry said in an official statement.
Azerbaijan has stated that its army is "responding with measures to stop enemy provocation and to ensure the safety of civilians living near the front", according to the Sputnik media.
For his part, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinian, said that "the enemy has launched an offensive on Artsaj", the Armenian name for the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. "The defence forces are successfully resisting the offensive," said Pashinian on the Facebook social network. The Ministry of Defence of the Caucasian nation has assured that they have shot down two helicopters and three Azeri drones in Nagorno-Karabakh. "The fighting continues", added the ministerial spokesperson, Shushan Stepanian, on the same social network.
For his part, the spokesman for the government of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Vargram Pogosian, confirmed that the capital, Stepanakert, and several towns of his own had come under artillery fire and said there would be a "proportionate" response, urging the population to "seek refuge".
By mid July, clashes had already taken place in the area separating the Azeri region of Tovuz from the Armenian province of Tavush, near Georgia (also a former Soviet republic), several hundred kilometres from Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been a focus of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan since 1988.
Azerbaijan insists on recovering its territorial integrity, while Armenia defends the interests of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has a majority Armenian population. The conflict escalated in April 2016 and, although a new ceasefire was agreed, sporadic clashes continue to be recorded in the border area. This is an area where there have always been refusals to negotiate.
The dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, when this Armenian-majority territory decided to secede from the then Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan, which was itself part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Baku lost control of Karabakh and seven adjacent districts following the heavy fighting with Yerevan in 1992 and 1994.
In order to seek a negotiated solution to the conflict, the so-called Minsk Group (Belarus), co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France, was set up in 1994. This group also includes Belarus, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Turkey, as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the leadership of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The Armenian foreign minister, Zograb Mnatsakanyan, has communicated with the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group due to the escalation of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, as confirmed by the foreign ministry's spokeswoman, Ana Nagdalyan. "The Armenian Foreign Minister is in permanent communication with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair," the spokesperson said on Facebook.
Several States and international bodies have expressed their concern about the destabilisation on the Armenian-Azeri border and urged the parties to engage in dialogue. Russia has offered to help Baku and Yerevan stabilise the situation. "According to available information, the situation in the area of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has deteriorated considerably. Heavy bombing is taking place along the line of contact from both sides. Losses are reported. We urge the parties to cease fire immediately and to start negotiations to stabilise the situation", the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed in an official note.
Meanwhile, the President of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, has issued a warning to Azerbaijan and the current situation before the National Assembly: "We have always said we are not in favour of war, but we are prepared for it. There is no greater supporter of peace than us and no one loves peace more than we do. We did not want war, it was imposed on us, and we are obliged to defend our country and our families". "Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will be personally responsible for the devastating humanitarian catastrophe in the region," Harutyunyan added.