The condemnations are – almost – unanimous. The fighting initiated on Tuesday in Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan, three years after a war which led to a military rout of Armenia, have already left 29 dead and are causing concern among the international community. Paris and Rome condemned Azerbaijan, which remains supported by Turkey, while Moscow called on all actors to “immediately cease bloodshed, end hostilities and stop civilian casualties.”
The resumption of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan took place on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, with France calling for an “emergency” meeting of the Security Council to take note of an offensive “ illegal” and “unjustifiable” carried out by Baku. This meeting could take place “in the coming days”, two diplomatic sources told AFP, speaking on Thursday.
Tuesday evening, the Azerbaijani presidency called on the troops of Nagorno-Karabakh – a secessionist territory of Azerbaijan predominantly populated by Armenians – to lay down their arms, a sine qua non condition for the start of negotiations. “The illegal Armenian armed forces must raise the white flag, surrender all weapons and the illegal regime must dissolve. Otherwise, anti-terrorism operations will continue to the end,” she said.
The presidency proposed, in the event of capitulation, talks “with representatives of the Armenian population of Karabakh in Yevlakh”, an Azerbaijani town 295 km west of Baku. Before that, the authorities in this region had called for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations.
At least 29 dead
Since Tuesday, fighting has left at least 29 people dead. The separatists reported 27 deaths, including two civilians, and more than 200 injured, while around 7,000 residents of 16 localities were evacuated.
Azerbaijan, for its part, reported that two civilians had died in areas under its control. In the town of Choucha, a construction worker died from shrapnel, and another civilian died in Agdam district. Separatists claim that several towns in Nagorno Karabakh, including its capital Stepanakert, are targeted by “intensive shooting”, which also targets civilian infrastructure.
The clashes take place “along the entire contact line” of this territory and the Azerbaijanis are using “artillery”, rockets, attack drones, planes, they said. Sixty Armenian positions were conquered there, Baku announced in the evening.
As for Armenia, which denounced a “large-scale aggression” for the purposes of “ethnic cleansing”, it assured that it had no troops in Nagorno Karabakh, suggesting that the separatists were alone against the Azerbaijani soldiers.
Armenia considers that it is up to Russia, guarantor of a ceasefire dating from 2020 with peace forces on the ground, to act to “stop Azerbaijani aggression”. The 2020 conflict resulted in a military rout of Armenia which had to cede ground to Azerbaijan in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian Prime Minister under pressure
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced Tuesday morning the launch of “anti-terrorist operations” after the death of six Azerbaijanis in a mine explosion on the site of a tunnel under construction between Shusha and Fizouli, two towns in Nagorno-Karabakh. under the control of Azerbaijan.
It was a group of separatist “saboteurs” who planted these explosive devices, according to its security services. “The failure of the international community to act is at the origin of the Azerbaijani offensive,” denounced the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh.
Tensions have been growing for months around this territory which has already been at the heart of two wars between Yerevan and Baku. The first lasted from 1988 to 1994, that of fall 2020 ended after six weeks.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian accused the Azerbaijanis of wanting to “drag Armenia into hostilities”. Pashinian, whom the opposition accuses of having been responsible for the defeat three years ago, at the same time denounced calls for a “coup d’état” in his country, where clashes took place between demonstrators calling him a “traitor” and demanding his resignation from the police in front of government headquarters.
As for Turkey, which described as “legitimate” the concerns that led the Azerbaijanis to embark on military action, it also urged the “continuation of the negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia”.