The Azeri army’s attack on Armenian targets prompted the intervention of the international community, with Turkey being the only country to side with Baku.
The death toll from the Azeri army operations in the region in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave has already reached 25, according to human rights official Gegam Stepanyan. Reuters, which reported the statement, was unable to verify this information.
Earlier, Baku launched a military operation to retake the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the southern Caucasus, which is populated mainly by Armenians.
Armenia has denounced a “large-scale offensive” launched by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, with Yerevan saying Baku’s aim is to carry out “ethnic cleansing” of this disputed enclave in the southern Caucasus, which is populated mainly by Armenians.
“Azerbaijan has launched a new large-scale attack against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, seeking to complete its policy of ethnic cleansing,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
At the same time, Armenian diplomacy emphasized that Russian peacekeeping forces in the region must “stop the aggression” of Azerbaijan.
Authorities in the enclave reported numerous civilian casualties in the area after hostilities began.
Following the latest developments, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan requested the urgent convening of the UN Security Council.
Baku stressed that peace with Armenia is possible only in case of “total” withdrawal of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Azerbaijani region of Karabakh and the dissolution of the so-called separatist regime,” Azerbaijan’s diplomacy said in a statement.
Russia: “Azerbaijan started first – find the solution among us”
Ahead of the developments, Moscow stressed that it was notified only “a few minutes” before the start of Baku’s “anti-terrorist operations” in the region.
It is recalled that Russia is a guarantor of the truce reached after the last Armenia-Azerbaijan war in 2020.
“Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh must take clear and unambiguous measures to put an end to Azerbaijan’s aggression,” Yerevan said.
Indeed, since the morning of September 19, 2023, “the Russian peacekeeping force has recorded numerous incidents of ceasefire violations on the part of Azerbaijan along the entire line of contact,” the ministry said and called on the sides of the conflict to stop the use of force and engage in dialogue.
Russia is “concerned” by the “violent escalation” of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Azerbaijan has launched a military operation against Armenian separatists and Moscow is trying to bring Yerevan and Baku back “to the negotiating table”, the Kremlin said today .
“The main thing is to convince Yerevan and Baku to sit down at the negotiating table” and “avoid human losses,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Germany: Baku did not keep its promises
German Foreign Minister Analena Burbock said Azerbaijan had broken its promise not to resort to military action in Nagorno-Karabakh and demanded an end to its military operations.
“Baku’s promise to refrain from military action has been broken. Azerbaijan must immediately stop the bombing and return to the negotiating table,” said the German foreign minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The situation in Yerevan is untidy – “Nikol, traitor!”
Armenia may have the rhetorical support of powerful players, but the country is going through a major internal crisis.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today denounced those calling for a “coup” in his country, following the military operations launched by Azerbaijan.
“We must not allow certain individuals, certain forces, to stage a coup in Armenia. There are already calls from various quarters for a coup in Armenia,” he said in his address to the nation.
At the same time, Armenian television reported that hundreds of protesters had gathered outside the government headquarters in Yerevan.
Opposition parties called on their supporters to demonstrate. Indeed, protesters gathered in front of the Armenian government headquarters in the capital Yerevan, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Some protesters chanted: “Nicole, traitor!”, “Nicole, resign!” and “Artshah! Artsakh!’ (s.b.: the name the Armenians give to Nagorno-Karabakh), noted an AFP journalist.
Faced with hundreds of protesters, the police closed the entrances to the government building.
The opposition has tried several times over the past three years to oust Pashinyan, blaming him for the defeat in the brief war with Azerbaijan in the fall of 2020. Then, the mass protests that followed forced Pashinyan to call early elections. Pashinyan himself became prime minister after the 2018 protests.
