Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said it had started “local counter-terrorism activities” in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh to oust what it claims was Armenian troops and “restore constitutional order”.
Tuesday’s military attack appeared to mark a return to open hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The Nagorno-Karabakh region is recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan but has been under effective Armenian control since a separatist war broke out during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1988. Ceasefire in 1994.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said Azerbaijan had begun a “large-scale military attack on the Republic of Artsakh”, as Armenia calls the region. “The capital Stepanakert and other cities and villages are currently under intensive artillery fire,” the ministry said.
European Council President Charles Michel called the attack “devastating news”.
“Azerbaijan must immediately cease military operations so that real dialogue can take place between the Armenians of Baku and Karabakh,” Michel said.
In the video played on social media, Stepanakert could hear sirens blaring as explosions in nearby mountains sent billows of smoke into the air.
The fighting is the worst of the decades-long conflict since the 2020 war, with Azerbaijan regaining control of part of the enclave as well as several surrounding territories with the support of Turkey.
Since December, it has blocked the region’s only road linking it to Armenia, causing shortages of food, medical supplies and frequent power outages.
Baku’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that “the only way to achieve peace and stability in the region” was for Armenian troops to withdraw and that Nagorno would become a sign of Azerbaijan’s quest to regain full control over the Armenian-populated enclave. -The ethnic Armenian government in Karabakh will be dissolved.
In justifying Tuesday’s military attack, Azerbaijan cited a landmine explosion in the region a day earlier that killed four soldiers and two civilians and claimed that the Armenian armed forces “posed a serious threat to regional peace and stability.” Armenia’s Defense Ministry denies having any troops stationed in the area.
Toivo Kral, the EU’s special representative for the South Caucasus, said reports of deaths from landmine explosions were “tragic” but warned that “continued military operations will only worsen the situation”.
Kral wrote on
Armenia said Azerbaijan’s accusations were an excuse “to complete its policy of ethnic cleansing” and called on Russia to “take clear and unambiguous steps to end Azerbaijan’s aggression”.
Although Moscow pledged to protect “links between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia” in the deal it brokered to end the 2020 war, Russia’s peacekeeping contingent in the region is largely on standby.
The standoff underscores how Russia, the region’s traditional power broker, is losing influence among its “neighbors” after President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine last year.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that Russia was “concerned” about the escalation and was working to bring the conflict back on a diplomatic track.
He said Russia was engaging with both sides “at all levels” and had the potential to engage “at the highest level.”
Russia’s foreign ministry said its peacekeepers received advance warning from Azerbaijan of the attack only minutes before it took place.
Late on Tuesday, senior presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev said Azerbaijan had struck its main targets and operations would continue in a “more limited form,” according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist Defense Ministry later said “firepower along the line of contact has weakened significantly”.
Armenia, a predominantly Christian country that has traditionally viewed Russia as its protector, has sought Western support to mediate its standoff with oil-rich, mostly Muslim Azerbaijan and has expressed frustration at a lack of support from Moscow.
The EU has tried to fill the vacuum created by Moscow through several rounds of negotiations with Armenia and Azerbaijan, most recently in July.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has offered to withdraw from the Russian-led military alliance CSTO, canceled CSTO exercises scheduled to be held in the country and started joint exercises with the US military last week.
This month, Russia summoned the Armenian ambassador for “difficult” talks after Yerevan delivered its first humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Pashinyan’s wife Anna Khakobyan visited Kiev.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Armenia’s “recent actions are creating a favorable basis for Western hostility toward Russia,” but added that Moscow was committed to cooperating with Yerevan.
Additional reporting by Anastasia Stoneyi
Svlook
