A ceasefire has been agreed in the South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, reports the Azerbaijani state news agency Azertac, citing the Defense Ministry in Baku. The ethnic Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh also say they have agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Russian peacekeepers, which comes into force at midday. The Russian news agency Interfax had previously reported that the Armenians were laying down their weapons.
Authoritarian-led Azerbaijan began a broad military operation to retake Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday morning. If all Karabakh Armenians actually gave up, Baku would have achieved its goal. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said its own soldiers were continuing to provide humanitarian aid in the region.
At least 27 dead, more than 200 injured
On the first day of the military operation against the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is predominantly inhabited by Armenians but belongs to Azerbaijan under international law, more than two dozen people were killed. The Human Rights Commissioner of the internationally unrecognized Republic of Artsakh, Gegham Stepanyan spoke of at least 27 deaths. There were at least seven civilians among them – three women, two children and two men. More than 200 other people were injured. Other Armenian government sources say at least 32 people were killed.
According to Stepanyan, more than 7,000 residents from 16 towns were brought to safety from Azerbaijani shelling. According to local information, a major problem with the evacuation measures is the massive fuel shortage caused by a month-long Azerbaijani blockade of the region.
The two former Soviet republics have been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. The ceasefire after the last war in 2020, in which Azerbaijan, which was well-armed thanks to gas and oil revenues, had already conquered large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, was repeatedly broken. The Russian Foreign Ministry called for a halt to recent hostilities. “Due to the rapid escalation of the armed conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, we call on the parties to the conflict to immediately end the bloodshed, cease hostilities and avoid casualties among the civilian population,” said a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, as well as the state-run one, published early Wednesday morning Tass news agency reported.
Italy and Iran offer themselves as mediators
Meanwhile, in New York, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was called for Thursday, diplomatic sources said. Armenia had previously asked the committee for help. On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also met separately with his colleagues from Azerbaijan and Armenia and, according to a statement, offered Italian mediation. Iran also offered itself as a mediator.
Azerbaijan previously cited the laying down of arms and the abdication of the Armenian leadership in the conflict region as a condition for the end of the current military operation. Azerbaijan has been criticized internationally for its violent actions. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, for example, demanded: “Azerbaijan must stop the shelling immediately and return to the negotiating table.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made similar comments. In a phone call with Azerbaijan’s leader Ilham Aliyev, he stressed that there was no military solution and that the parties needed to resume dialogue, Foreign Ministry spokesman Matthew Miller said. Blinken noted Əliyev’s expressed willingness to stop military actions and hold a meeting of representatives of Azerbaijan and the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. Blinken emphasized that this must be implemented immediately.
Backing for Baku, however, came from Turkey. 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.
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.
People gathered in front of the government building in Yerevan to protest against Armenia’s Prime Minister Pashinyan.
(Photo: Vahram Baghdasaryan/dpa)
Violent protests against the government broke out in Armenia’s capital Yerevan on Tuesday evening and there were clashes with the police. According to media reports, the officers used stun grenades. The demonstrators demanded more decisive action from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and support for the Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Russian embassy in Yerevan was also surrounded by angry people. According to the Armenian Ministry of Health, 16 police officers and 18 demonstrators were injured in the city center by evening.