EREVAN, Armenia – The confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated on Wednesday as the two sides exchanged accusations and statements of additional attacks in the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where heavy fighting continues for a third week despite a high-level agreement. the fire negotiated by Russia. .
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and stressed the desire to respect the truce he violated without delay after it came into force on Saturday. Putin also expressed fear of participation in the confrontation through Middle Eastern militants: reference to Turkey deploying Syrian fighters to fight Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Erdogan denied deploying fighters to the country in separate comments, however, a Syrian war observer and Syrian-based opposition activists demonstrated that Turkey had sent heaps of Syrian opposition fighters to Nagorno-Karabakh.
In a sign that the confrontation is widening, the Azerbaijani army said it had destroyed a formula of Armenian missiles on Armenian territory that was located to attack civilian areas. The Armenian Ministry of Defence responded by stating that it reserved the right to attack army elements and movements. Azerbaijani troops.
So far, Armenia and Azerbaijan have denied attacking their territory in the fight for Nagorno-Karabakh, although both sides have disputed these refusals.
An extension of hostilities beyond the separatist region may simply cause a damaging escalation of decades-long confrontation over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internal Azerbaijan but which has been under the control of Armenian-subsidized forces through Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994 Armenian forces also giant portions of Azerbaijani territory outside the separatist region.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry condemned Azerbaijan’s “attempted aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia” by Azerbaijan and warned of “irreversible military and political consequences. “
Reciprocal accusations and threats have raised considerations about the protection of a strategic pipeline carrying Azerbaijani crude oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey and Western markets.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has threatened to “retaliate very vigorously” if Armenia “implements its plans to destroy” oil and pipelines in Azerbaijan.
Nagorno-Karabakh officials accused Azerbaijan of shooting at a hospital in the region and called it a “war crime,” but said there were casualties. The Azerbaijani army rejected the Armenian claim.
Recent fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces broke out on 27 September and marked the biggest escalation of the fighting in more than a quarter of a century. He killed many of them despite calls for peace.
Russia, which signed a security pact with Armenia but also remained warm with Azerbaijan, welcomed high-level Armenian and Azerbaijani diplomats for more than 10 hours of talks that culminated in Saturday’s ceasefire agreement.
But the agreement was distorted without delay, with Armenia and Azerbaijan accusing each other of raping him with non-stop attacks.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed his hope for a peace agreement that would cause Armenian forces to renounce azerbaijan’s outdoor regions in Nagorno-Karabakh, while Azerbaijan lifts Armenia’s blockade. adding that either side at war will have to clearly settle for that.
Azerbaijan, however, insisted that it had the right to claim its land by force after the efforts of the so-called Minsk International Group of Mediators, which includes Russia, the United States and France, had made some progress. , Turkey, to play a leading role in long-term peace talks.
“The point is that Turkey is at this table. And that is already the case,” Aliyev said in an interview broadcast Wednesday, noting that he had discussed Nagorno-Karabakh’s confrontation with Russian and Turkish presidents, and that the Russian defense minister had recently spoken to the Turkish defense minister.
Turkey has publicly sided with Baku and is committed to Azerbaijan regaining its territory. Turkey’s new role reflects Erdogan’s ambitions to expand his nation’s influence.
On Wednesday’s appeal to Putin, Erdogan accused Armenia of seeking to make his Azerbaijani land profession “permanent,” according to a report from the Turkish leader’s office.
Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in an interview Tuesday that Ankara would announce four-way peace talks between Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. “The Minsk Group has been unable to produce a solution for 30 years. Do we have to wait?” Some other 30 years? In this case, we have to think of some other mechanism, ” said Kalin.
Turkey’s highly visual role in the confrontation has brought painful memories in Armenia, where around 1. 5 million people died in massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915. This occasion is regarded by historians as genocide, but Turkey denies it.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian accused Azerbaijan and Turkey of following Turkey’s “genocidal policy” against Armenians.
U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington is making diplomatic efforts to help reach a lasting settlement of the conflict. “We call on any of the countries to put their agreed ceasefire commitments into effect and to avoid attacking civilian areas,” he said.
Laetitia Courtois, the permanent observer for the International Committee of the Red Cross at the United Nations, condemned what she described as a wave of heavy-armed attacks in populated areas.
“We are seeing injuries and deaths among civilians, adding children,” he said. “Hundreds of houses and key infrastructure like hospitals have been destroyed or destroyed by this intense artillery fire, by air strikes, adding missiles. “
There has also been serious damage to roads, electricity, fuel and communications networks, which will take years to repair, he added.
“In terms of humanitarian consequences, we see that in Azerbaijani communities around the gang line, about 200,000 people are affected,” Courtois said. “Cities beyond this domain have also been affected by bombings that have killed and wounded civilians. And in Nagorno-Karabakh, we see at least another 75,000 people affected. “
He said continued bombing confuses the movement of the ICRC team, but under pressure that they are in a position to facilitate the surrender of the bodies of the dead in combat and the release of detainees.