South Caucasus
Azerbaijan shells Nagorno-Karabakh: States demand an immediate end to the hostilities
Watch the video: Azerbaijan launches major attack on Armenian exclave Nagorno-Karabakh.
After weeks of increasing tensions, Azerbaijan has launched a military offensive against the Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is also claimed by Armenia. The Defense Ministry in Baku said on Tuesday that it was an operation against terrorists. The aim is to ensure the disarmament and withdrawal of formations of the Armenian armed forces and to neutralize their military infrastructure. Armenia called in Russian peacekeepers to help. The European Union called for a halt to hostilities and declared its willingness to mediate in the conflict. The open confrontation follows a months-long war of nerves over Nagorno-Karabakh. In the exclave, which is predominantly inhabited by Armenians, the situation of the population deteriorated noticeably after activists, with the approval of the Azerbaijani government, blocked the only road connection to Armenia. Armenia has been fighting with Azerbaijan over the Caucasus region for decades. According to international opinion, Nagorno-Karabakh, which is predominantly inhabited by Armenians, belongs to Azerbaijan, from which it broke away in 1991.
In the South Caucasus, authoritarian Azerbaijan is attacking the Armenian-inhabited Nagorno-Karabakh region. After several hours there were apparently many dead, including civilians. The federal government is appealing to the attackers.
According to local information, the Azerbaijani military operation in the South Caucasus cost the lives of more than two dozen people in the affected Nagorno-Karabakh region within hours. “As of 8 p.m., there are 25 victims, including two civilians, as a result of the comprehensive terrorist attack by Azerbaijan,” wrote the human rights commissioner of the internationally unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), Gegam Stepanyan, on Tuesday evening on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. In addition, at least 138 people were injured in the conflict region, including 29 civilians. Residents from six places were brought to safety from Azerbaijani shelling.
Authoritarian-run Azerbaijan began its broad military operation to conquer Nagorno-Karabakh in the morning. Azerbaijan’s government spoke of “localized anti-terror operations” in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian troops in the disputed region must disband and give up their weapons, the “illegal regime” must dissolve, demanded the Azerbaijani presidential administration. She proposed talks “with representatives of the Armenian population of Karabakh” in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh.
Azerbaijani forces were trying to advance deep into the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, pro-Armenian forces said. Accordingly, the Azerbaijani armed forces used artillery, rockets and combat drones. According to the separatists, six towns were evacuated because of the attacks. In a televised speech, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke of an “operation with ground troops” by Azerbaijan that had the aim of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” against the Armenian population in the region.
Scholz: “Acts of war must end immediately”
Although Nagorno-Karabakh is located on Azerbaijani territory, the majority of the population is Armenian. The two former Soviet neighboring countries have been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. In the most recent war in 2020, the Azerbaijani army, which was well-equipped with oil and gas revenues, had already conquered large parts of Karabakh.
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Azerbaijan has been criticized internationally for its violent actions. The federal government, for example, demanded an immediate end to the military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh from the leadership in Baku. “Armenia and Azerbaijan are now in a very critical situation, and that is why it is very clear to us that these acts of war must end immediately,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the sidelines of the UN general debate in New York. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock demanded: “Azerbaijan must stop the shelling immediately and return to the negotiating table.” The US government was also “deeply concerned” about the current developments and called on Azerbaijan to immediately stop hostilities.
France is seeking an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the Azerbaijani military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The French Foreign Ministry in Paris announced this on Tuesday. France is coordinating closely with its European and American partners to provide a strong response to the unacceptable offensive, it said. Armenia had already called on the UN Security Council to take action.
France called on Azerbaijan to immediately end its offensive. No pretext could justify such a unilateral action that threatened thousands of civilians.
According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh called on the conflicting parties to “immediately stop hostilities.”
Azerbaijan with support from Turkey
Azerbaijan, however, received support from Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country supported steps to “protect Azerbaijan’s regional integrity.”
Turkey, which is also Islamic, is considered Azerbaijan’s protecting power, while Christian Orthodox Armenia traditionally relies on the support of Russia, which also has its own soldiers stationed in the region. Now, however, Moscow needs its fighters primarily for its own war of aggression against Ukraine. Observers had therefore already feared that Azerbaijan could use this unstable situation for military action. Even before the latest shelling began, the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was catastrophic because Azerbaijan blocked Armenia’s only access to the exclave – the so-called Lachin corridor.
Violent protests against the government broke out in Armenia’s capital Yerevan on Tuesday evening, with some clashes with the police. The demonstrators demanded more decisive action from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and support for the Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh.