Month: September 2023

Azerbaijan has launched “anti-terror” operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, and said it will not stop until ethnic-Armenian separatists surrender.

Tensions in the South Caucasus have been high for months around the breakaway enclave, recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Armenia last went to war three years ago.

Baku ordered “Illegal Armenian military formations” to hand over arms and dissolve their “illegal regime”.

Azerbaijan and Armenia first went to war in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union. Then in 2020 Azerbaijan recaptured areas in and around Nagorno-Karabakh before a truce was agreed and monitored by Russian peacekeepers.

Ethnic Armenians in Karabakh appealed on Tuesday for a ceasefire and for talks to start. But it was clear from the Azerbaijani ultimatum that Baku’s aim was to complete its conquest of the mountainous enclave.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused Azerbaijan of starting a ground operation aimed at “ethnic cleansing”.

But hundreds of Armenian protesters, frustrated by their country’s response, clashed with police outside parliament in Yerevan, condemning their leader as a traitor and calling on him to resign.

Azerbaijan said talks could start in the town of Yevlakh, some 100km (60km) north of the Karabakh regional capital of Khankendi, called Stepanakert by ethnic Armenians.

IMAGE SOURCE,SARGSYAN/OC MEDIA/EPA-EFE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK Buildings and vehicles were damaged by shelling in the Karabakh regional capital

Since the end of 2020, 3,000 Russians have monitored the fragile truce but Moscow’s attention has been diverted by its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

An estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians live in the mountainous enclave. Russia said its soldiers were evacuating civilians from Karabakh and had moved almost 500 from the most at-risk areas.

For the past nine months Azerbaijan has imposed an effective blockade on the only route into the enclave from Armenia, known as the Lachin Corridor.

Azerbaijan said it had launched its operation in response to the deaths of six people, including four police, in two fatal landmine explosions on Tuesday morning.

Air raid sirens then rang out and the sound of artillery and gunfire could be heard in Karabakh’s main city. Residential buildings were damaged and journalist Siranush Sargsyan described seeing a building next door being hit.

Karabakh officials said five people had been killed and dozens more wounded, including women and children.

Defence officials in the breakaway region said the Azerbaijani military had “violated the ceasefire along the entire line of contact with missile-artillery strikes”. Other Karabakh representatives spoke of a “large-scale military offensive” although later reports said that the intensity of fire had decreased.

The Azerbaijan defence ministry insisted it was not targeting civilians or civilian buildings, and that “only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated by the use of high-precision weapons”.

It accused Armenian forces of “systematic shelling” of its army positions and said it had responded by launching “local, anti-terrorist activities… to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenia’s armed forces from our territories”.

IMAGE SOURCE,AZERBAIJAN DEFENCE MINISTRY Azerbaijani officials posted images of what they said was the aftermath of a deadly landmine blast

In a brief televised address, Armenia’s prime minister rejected claims that his military was involved.

Russia’s foreign ministry said it had been warned of the Azerbaijani offensive only minutes in advance and urged both countries to respect a ceasefire signed after the war in 2020. The EU’s regional special representative, Toivo Klaar, said there was “urgent need for immediate ceasefire”.

South Caucasus commentator Laurence Broers said on Tuesday the Armenian population in Karabakh had been weakened by the blockade and the Azerbaijan operation had been launched “seemingly to retake Armenian-populated Karabakh in its entirety”.

Nikol Pashinyan said recently that Russia was “spontaneously leaving the region”. Azerbaijan has meanwhile had strong support from its ally Turkey.

Hikmet Hajiyev, special adviser to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, called on the separatist ethnic-Armenian administration to “dissolve itself”.

“Azerbaijan has always said we are ready to provide rights and security of Karabakh Armenians under the constitution,” he told BBC News.

Azerbaijan had denied building up troop numbers in the region. On Monday, it allowed aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross into Karabakh on two roads, one via the Lachin Corridor from Armenia and the other on Azerbaijan’s Aghdam road.

Before Tuesday’s offensive began there had been hopes that tensions might subside.

The Azerbaijan defence ministry released images of a vehicle which it said were destroyed by a land mine, but ethnic Armenian officials said it was Azerbaijan’s military that had violated the ceasefire.

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Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim within the framework of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.

The latest developments in the region and the response measures taken by the Azerbaijani side to the provocations of the Armenian armed forces illegally deployed in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan were discussed at the meeting, Report informs with reference to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At around 1 p.m., the armed forces of Azerbaijan started shelling the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and after some time they started an operation to break the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and take control of positions and, according to some reports, of settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a live streaming on his Facebook page.

“Of course, we are in contact with Nagorno-Karabakh, but there are certain communication problems. The general information is that from the beginning, the Nagorno-Karabakh region was attacked with various weapons, including jet artillery, and then a ground operation was launched against Nagorno-Karabakh from several directions.

During this period, Azerbaijan also carries out informational support for operations, and the information that Azerbaijan officially informed Russia about the start of these operations was also puzzling to us. We have not received any information from our partners.

Of course, it cannot be said that this was unforeseen. We could see the tension of the situation and today in the statement of the Foreign Ministry, it was emphasized that the meeting held yesterday at the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan with diplomatic representatives accredited in Azerbaijan was a diplomatic preparation for military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh. And it was justified,” he said.

Nikol Pashinyan added that they immediately convened an extended session of the Security Council with the participation of the President of the Republic of Armenia and the Speaker of the National Assembly and discussed the situation.

Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijan՛s Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.

Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy shelling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children. 

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At around 1 p.m., the armed forces of Azerbaijan started shelling the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and after some time they started an operation to break the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and take control of positions and, according to some reports, of settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a live streaming on his Facebook page.

“Of course, we are in contact with Nagorno-Karabakh, but there are certain communication problems. The general information is that from the beginning, the Nagorno-Karabakh region was attacked with various weapons, including jet artillery, and then a ground operation was launched against Nagorno-Karabakh from several directions.

During this period, Azerbaijan also carries out informational support for operations, and the information that Azerbaijan officially informed Russia about the start of these operations was also puzzling to us. We have not received any information from our partners.

Of course, it cannot be said that this was unforeseen. We could see the tension of the situation and today in the statement of the Foreign Ministry, it was emphasized that the meeting held yesterday at the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan with diplomatic representatives accredited in Azerbaijan was a diplomatic preparation for military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh. And it was justified,” he said.

Nikol Pashinyan added that they immediately convened an extended session of the Security Council with the participation of the President of the Republic of Armenia and the Speaker of the National Assembly and discussed the situation.

Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijan՛s Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.

Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy shelling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children. 

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Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said Tuesday it had begun an “anti-terrorist” campaign in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, as Armenian media and local authorities reported heavy bombardment of the regional capital of Stepanakert.

Two civilians, including a child, were killed, and 11 people were injured, amid shelling by the Azerbaijan military, according to Gegham Stepanyan, the Ombudsman in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, has been the cause of two wars between the neighbors in the past three decades, most recently in 2020.

Tensions have been simmering around the region for months, after Azerbaijani troops blockaded the Lachin corridor in December, cutting off the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and preventing the import of food to its roughly 120,000 inhabitants.

Russian peacekeepers, who deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh under the terms of the 2020 ceasefire, have been tasked with preventing a fresh conflict breaking out. But Moscow has been accused of being unable or unwilling to intervene to protect Armenia, its long-term ally, in the face of continuing aggression from Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani defense ministry demanded in a statement Tuesday “the complete withdrawal of ethnic Armenian troops and the dissolution of the government in Stepanakert.”

“The only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the dissolution of the puppet regime,” it said.

“As part of local anti-terrorist measures carried out in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, regular long-term firing points and military installations of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed by precise strikes by units of the Azerbaijan Army,” the ministry added.

The ministry claimed its army had come under “systematic shelling” from Armenia’s armed forces, adding that its action was designed to “neutralize their military infrastructure” and “ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.”

“Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated,” it added.

It said Armenia had fortified its positions, “bringing units to a high level of combat readiness,” and that mines had been planted in previously de-mined areas. The ministry also claimed one Azeri vehicle had struck a mine and two civilians had been killed.

But Armenia’s foreign ministry rejected claims that the Armenian army was in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Armenia’s assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh is of a humanitarian nature, the need for which is further confirmed by the humanitarian crisis caused by the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor,” it said in a statement.

Armenian news agency Armenpress reported that Nagorno-Karabakh’s army, which is not part of Armenia’s armed forces, is “displaying ‘resolute resistance’ to the Azeri military’s attempts to advance.”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has convened a meeting of the Armenian Security Council against the backdrop of the situation in Karabakh.

Armenia’s defense ministry wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, to deny Azerbaijan’s claims that Armenian forces had opened fire on Azeri combat outposts.

Armenian news agency Armenpress said the city of Stepanakert City was under heavy Azerbaijani bombardment, and that mobile and internet connection had been disrupted.

“Recently, the Azerbaijani side has been carrying out daily troop transfers and stockpiling of various weapons, which were accompanied by intensive information and propaganda activities, preparing the ground for large-scale aggression against Artsakh,” the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh – the local term for Nagorno-Karabakh – said in a statement.

“Now we are witnessing how Azerbaijan, in order to implement its policy of genocide, is moving towards the physical destruction of the civilian population and the destruction of civilian objects.”

CNN has been unable to verify the claims of either side in the conflict.

The previous war, which ended in a crushing defeat for the de-facto Nagorno-Karabakh state backed by Armenia’s government, lasted 44 days, before a Moscow-brokered ceasefire ended the conflict.

The deal provided for around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to deploy to Nagorno-Karabakh to guard the Lachin corridor. But Russia’s peacekeepers did not prevent Azerbaijani troops from establishing a military checkpoint along the corridor, stopping the import of food to the enclave.

Earlier this month, Pashinyan said Azerbaijan had concentrated troops on the border with Armenia and the dividing line with Nagorno-Karabakh, and warned of a possible escalation.

“Over the past week, the military-political situation in our region has deteriorated significantly,” Pashinyan said. “The reason is that Azerbaijan has been accumulating troops along the contact line of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border for several days now.”

The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell condemned the attack, saying “military escalation should not be used as a pretext to force the exodus of the local population.”

The French Foreign Ministry also slammed Azerbaijan’s aggression and said it had called for a UN Security Council meeting “to be urgently convened.”

Pashinyan’s told Armenpress that he had spoken with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and French President Emmanuel Macron about the unfolding crisis, saying that “both sides emphasized the unacceptability of the use of force and noted the need to use international mechanisms for de-escalation.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was deeply alarmed by the sharp escalation in the region.

“(The) Russian side urges the conflicting parties to stop the bloodshed, immediately cease hostilities and return to the path of political and diplomatic settlement,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday, claiming the Russian peacekeeping contingent “continues to fulfill its tasks.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also expressed “concern about the sharp escalation of tensions and the outbreak of hostilities,” and called for Armenia and Azerbaijan to adhere to the tripartite agreements signed after the war in 2020.

But Pashinyan criticized Russia for not alerting his government about Azerbaijan’s plans to launch military action.

“We haven’t received any information from our partners in Russia about that operation,” Pashinyan was quoted by Armenpress as saying, describing this as “strange and perplexing.”

“Azerbaijan has essentially launched the ground operation to subject the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing,” Pashinyan said. “We believe that the Russian peacekeeping forces should first of all take measures, and second of all we expect the UN Security Council to take measures as well.”

CNN’s Chris Liakos, Maya Szaniecki and Alex Hardie contributed reporting.

“We must not allow certain people, certain forces to deal a blow to the Armenian state,” Pashinyan said.

“There are already calls, coming from different places, to stage a coup in Armenia.”

‘Intensive fire’

Armenia’s foreign ministry condemned Azerbaijani “aggression” against Karabakh.

“On September 19, Azerbaijan unleashed another large-scale aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, aiming to complete its policy of ethnic cleansing,” the foreign ministry said.

It said Russian peacekeepers stationed in the region should “take clear and unequivocal steps to stop Azerbaijan’s aggression.”

A separatist organization based in Armenia said on social media that “Stepanakert and other cities and villages are under intensive fire,” accusing Azerbaijan of launching a “large-scale military offensive.”

Azerbaijan justified the mission, citing “systematic” shelling by Armenian-backed forces and accusing them of carrying out “reconnaissance activities” and fortifying defensive positions.

“There is also the strengthening of combat positions with personnel, armored vehicles, artillery and other weapons,” Azerbaijan said, accusing separatists of “a high level of combat readiness.”

Regional power brokers Russia and Turkey, which oversee a fragile peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh, had been informed about Azerbaijan’s military activities in Karabakh, Baku said.

Moscow urged the parties to the conflict to respect a peace accord and end the “bloodshed.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was given “minutes” notice of the start of Azerbaijan’s operation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was “concerned” over the “sharp escalation” in Karabakh and was working to get the two countries to negotiate.

Mine blasts

The fighting came just hours after Azerbaijan said four police officers and two civilians were killed in mine blasts in Nagorno-Karabakh, with authorities blaming separatists.

The deaths at dawn came after Armenian separatists said they had reached an agreement with Azerbaijani authorities to resume aid deliveries to Karabakh.

Baku’s security services said two civilians had died in the district of Khojavend and four police officers were killed in another mine explosion en route to the site.

Their vehicle hit “a mine laid on a tunnel road under construction by illegal Armenian armed groups,” a statement said.

Azerbaijan said the incident took place “in the zone of temporary deployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent,” despatched by Moscow in 2020 as part of a ceasefire deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan said the police officers were killed on the road to Azerbaijani-controlled Shusha, recaptured from separatists in 2020.

In the six-week 2020 war, Azerbaijan regained control of key areas of Karabakh, including the culturally revered town of Shusha.

But other parts of the region, including the main city of Stepanakert, remain under the control of Armenian separatists.

Azerbaijan said the road to Shusha was built after it captured pockets of land from Armenia in 2020.

“During the construction of the road, the area along the route was cleared of mines,” Baku said.

Karabakh is heavily mined. Over the last three decades, hundreds of Azerbaijanis have been wounded or killed by landmines laid by Armenian forces.

Azerbaijan said Tuesday more than 300 of its nationals have been wounded or killed by mines since 2020.

Both Azerbaijani and Armenian militaries used them during a bloody conflict in the early 1990s.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that landmines were the main obstacle impeding the return of displaced people to territories retaken from Armenian separatists in 2020.

The Armed Forces of Armenia are not participating in the military operations in Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh, Ani Bandalyan, press secretary of Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response to a statement of Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“In response to the call of the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Armenia and Azerbaijan to “immediately stop military operations, and return to the path of political-diplomatic settlement,” we would like to inform that the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia are not participating in the military operations.

The Republic of Armenia has always been committed to resolving all existing issues exclusively through political and diplomatic means, with appropriate proposals,” she said.

Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijan՛s Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.

Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy selling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children.

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