October 5, 2020
Fresh call for ceasefire as Nagorno-Karabakh conflict escalates
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The foreign ministers of the US, France and Russia condemned Monday the "unprecedented and dangerous escalation of violence" between Armenia and Azerbaijan, calling for the parties to institute a ceasefire.
In a joint statement the top officials stressed "unconditionally that recent attacks allegedly targeting civilian centers - both along the Line of Contact and on the territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia outside the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone - and the disproportionate nature of such attacks constitute an unacceptable threat to the stability of the region."
"The Ministers call once again upon the conflicting parties to accept an immediate and unconditional ceasefire," the ministers of what is called the OSCE Minsk Group said.
The OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia and the US – was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail. A cease-fire, however, was agreed upon in 1994.
Neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia, which supports the breakaway region, has shown any sign of backing down so far.
Azerbaijan celebrates partial retreat of Nagorno-Karabakh forces
Armenia’s Defense Ministry said that the forces of Nagorno-Karabakh successfully implemented a “tactical trick” on Monday, which allowed it to deliver significant losses to Azerbaijan’s military.
According to the ministry, the fighters imitated retreat from their battle positions in one of the key areas on the contact line. And when the Azerbaijani soldiers moved in to occupy the ground that they thought was abandoned, they walked straight into a trap.
The Azerbaijani unit was subject to intensive artillery fire and lost some 200 soldiers before fleeing, the Armenian side insisted.
Almost simultaneously with the Armenian announcement, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev tweeted that his country’s military had “liberated” three villages in Nagorno-Karabakh and gained control of several strategic heights in the region. Aliyev called the Nagorno-Karabakh campaign “successful” for Baku.
Armenia wants Washington to explain if it supplied Turkey with F-16s to aid Azerbaijan
Armenia’s prime minister wants clarification from the US about the sale of F-16s to Turkey, claiming the advanced jets are bombing civilians amid the 'existential' battle with Azerbaijan over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkey and Azerbaijan strongly denied the claims, but the rebuttals have not prevented Armenia from raising the issue of Ankara's perceived involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh fighting with its major NATO ally, the United States.
Last Thursday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a telephone conversation with US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, the New York Times reported on Monday. Washington “needs to explain whether it gave those F-16s [to Turkey] to bomb peaceful villages and peaceful populations,” Pashinyan told the Times.
According to the Armenian leader, O'Brien “heard and acknowledged” his grievances and promised to arrange a separate phone call with President Donald Trump. That conversation did not take place, however, as Trump announced he had tested positive for Covid-19 shortly afterward.
The Turkish Air Force, one of the largest within NATO, is in possession of an estimated 245 F-16C/D aircraft assembled locally by Turkish Aerospace Industries.
Russia neutral on Karabakh despite Armenia’s hopes, Aliyev says
“Armenia was hoping to get Russia's support but Russia acted appropriately and chose to not choose sides, and it has been neutral on the issue since,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Monday.
“Armenia is still trying to pull Russia onto its side, but it won't succeed,” he said, adding that the region was internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory and that Armenia was an occupying force.
Despite its disadvantaged position and the fact that virtually every country recognizes Armenia as an occupier, the country's lobby groups continue their smear campaigns, according to Aliyev.
Turkish mission slams LA mayor's remarks supporting Armenia
The Turkish mission in Los Angeles Sunday blasted the city mayor for supporting the Armenian community over ongoing tensions in the Upper Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, accusing him of "misinforming the public".
Turkish Consul General Can Oguz urged the local administrators to remember that "they need to take into account the sensitivities and safety of the Turkish Americans of Los Angeles. They should also take pride in serving this honorable community.
"Furthermore, rather than misinforming the public by spreading unsubstantiated and manipulated reports about Turkey's relations with Azerbaijan, the leaders of this city would be acting more responsibly and would be in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions, if they also called for an immediate and unconditional end to the illegal occupation of the Azerbaijani territories. This continued illegal occupation despite several UN resolutions is the main source of instability in the region," he said.
Oguz's remarks came in response to Mayor Eric Garcetti who said Sunday on Twitter: "L.A. is proud to be home to the largest Armenian diaspora. We stand with the people of Armenia.”
Pakistan denies it army is fighting alongside Azerbaijan against Armenia
Pakistan Foreign Office has refuted as speculative and baseless a media report claiming Pakistani army fighting alongside Azerbaijani forces against Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh.
Responding to queries about the media report, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said such reports are irresponsible.
Reiterating Pakistan’s position on the issue, he said Pakistan is deeply concerned over the deteriorating security situation in Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The spokesperson said the intensive shelling by Armenian forces on civilian populations of Azerbaijan is reprehensible and most unfortunate. This could compromise peace and security of the entire region.
He said Armenia must stop its military action to avoid further escalation.
The spokesperson said Pakistan supports Azerbaijan’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh, which is in line with the several unanimously adopted United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Armenia & Azerbaijan accuse each other of shelling
cities as fighting enters second week
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Heavy fighting continued on Sunday, as the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh entered its second week. With both Armenia and Azerbaijan making opposing claims of escalations by the other side.
Baku reported that Azerbaijan’s second-largest city, Ganja, was hit by Armenian missile strikes, while Yerevan insisted that Azeri forces shelled, Stepanakert, the major population centre in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia and Azerbaijan carried out artillery and missile strikes throughout the day, with the intensity of the conflict showing no signs of winding down, according to media reports. Civilian areas were damaged as a result, both sides alleged.
Armenian armed forces launched a missile attack against the Azerbaijani city of Mingachevir late Sunday, Baku presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev said. The industrial city plays a key role in the area, due to its reservoir and key power plant.
Armenia also hit the Khizi-Absheron region near Azerbaijan’s capital Baku with mid-range missiles, according to Daly Sabah.
Separatist leader Harutyunyan seriously wounded
Arayik Harutyunyan, the separatist leader of the so-called "Artsakh Republic," has been seriously injured after Azerbaijani military hit the bunker he was hiding in, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's aide Hikmet Hajiyev said in a statement after Armenia's attacks against the country's second-largest city Ganja.
"First of all, Arayik Harutyunyan, you are not at the forefront of the battle. You were hiding in a bunker. But Azerbaijani Armed Forces hit you in the bunker you were hiding in. After a missile strike, Arayik Harutyunyan has been seriously wounded," he said during a press conference.
Harutyunyan is the so-called "president" of the proxy state set up by Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh. The area under separatist control is not recognized as a sovereign nation by any country on earth including Armenia, which fears such a move will stoke a fully-fledged war with Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan liberates key Jabrayil province
Azerbaijani military has liberated the key province of Jabrayil in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense says in a statement citing local sources.
According to the statement, the villages of Böyük Mercanlı, Maralyan and Şeybey have also been freed from Armenian occupation.
Azerbaijan's second-biggest city, Ganja, came under heavy missile attacks by Armenian forces. In statements posted on its website, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said Ganja, a city in the country's west, and several other civilian areas were under fire from rockets and shelling.
"Indiscriminate missile attacks are launched against Ganja, Füzuli, Tartar and Jabrayil cities of Azerbaijan from the territory of Armenia. Ganja is the second biggest city of Azerbaijan. 500.000+ population," President Ilham Aliyev's aide Hikmet Hajiyev said in a tweet.
Intense hostilities have been raging between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops for a week, marking one of the worst escalations in the history of the decades-long dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh was a designated autonomous region within Azerbaijan during the Soviet era. It claimed independence from Azerbaijan in 1991, about three months before the Soviet Union’s collapse. A full-scale war that broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1992 killing an estimated 30,000 people.
By the time the war ended in 1994, Armenian forces not only held Nagorno-Karabakh itself but substantial areas outside the territory’s formal borders, including Jabrayil, the town Azerbaijan claimed to have taken on Sunday.
Fighting broke out on September 27, when Baku and Yerevan accused each other of cross-border aggression. Both sides introduced martial law and conscription calls, deploying heavy weaponry to the frontline.
This week, the leaders of France, Russia, and the US – members of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group – called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities between the relevant military forces.”
Armenia says ready to work towards ceasefire as
Nagorno-Karabakh fighting enters into sixth day
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Armenia has said it is prepared to work with international mediators to reach a ceasefire with Azerbaijan as the two rivals fight over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, where fierce clashes spilled into a sixth day.
On Thursday, leaders of Russia, France and the United States — co-chairs of the so-called Minsk Group, which was set up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1992 to resolve the conflict — issued a joint statement calling for an immediate cease-fire and “resuming substantive negotiations ... under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.”
Armenia “stands ready” to engage with France, Russia and the United States, who co-chair the OSCE group of mediators to the conflict, “to re-establish a ceasefire regime”, the Armenian foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.
However, the statement added that “this aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh will continue to receive our strong and resolute response”.
The development came after ethnic Armenian officials in the breakaway Nargorno-Karabakh region reported another 54 military casualties among Armenian-backed troops, bringing the death toll to 158 soldiers, Al Jazeera reported.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said late Friday “the Minsk Group, in its many statements, underlined the unacceptability of the status quo. However, acting regardless of this, Armenia aims to strengthen the status quo regime based on occupation.”
Azerbaijan foreign minister statement went to say: To date, Armenia has not complied with the requirements of numerous decisions adopted by international organizations, including, first of all, those reflected in the UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of 1993, regarding the withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan. On the contrary, acting in an atmosphere of impunity, Armenia is undertaking new acts of aggression against Azerbaijan. The political and military leadership of Armenia bears full responsibility for the existing situation in the region.”
While Armenia’s statement marks the first sign that dialogue could be possible, Turkey’s foreign minister said that for Azerbaijan to agree to a ceasefire, Armenia must withdraw its forces.
Speaking at a joint news conference with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio, Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday that the deadlock “encourages Armenia to attack and illegally settle Armenian people to territories of another country”.
“If the international community wants to do something about Upper Karabakh, they should get Armenia to leave Azerbaijani lands at once,” Cavusoglu said, adding that Turkey will support any effort in this direction.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Azerbaijan a “brotherly state” on Friday and said its offensive in the separatist region aimed “to defend its own lands and to liberate Nagorno-Karabakh, which is under occupation.”
“With all our capability and all our heart, we will continue to be by Azerbaijan’s side," Erdogan said, speaking at the opening of a hospital in the town of Konya in central Turkey. “God willing, this struggle will continue until Nagorno-Karbakh is saved from occupation.”
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with the Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan by phone for the third time this week, and both “expressed serious concern” about reports that fighters from the Middle East were involved in the conflict, the Associated Press reported.
“Vladimir Putin once again emphasized the necessity of immediate cessation of hostilities and resumption of politico-diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict, in line with the statement by presidents of countries that co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group,” the Kremlin's readout of the call said.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Thursday that fighters from Syria and Libya were being deployed to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict and that it was “deeply concerned” by the development.
“Fighters of illegal armed groups including from Syria and Libya are being deployed to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict zone in order to directly take part in fighting,” the AFP quoted the foreign ministry as saying.
“We are deeply concerned by these processes which not only escalate tensions in the conflict zone further but create long-lasting threats to security for all countries in the region.”
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America (www.journalofamerica.net) email: asghazali2011 (@) gmail.com
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
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