Wednesday,
Russia In Fresh Crisis Talks With Armenia, Azerbaijan
NAGORN-KARABAKH -- A serviceman of Karabakh's Defence Army fires an artillery
piece towards Azeri positions, September 28, 2020
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov again spoke with his Armenian and
Azerbaijani counterparts by phone on Wednesday as Moscow kept pressing for a
halt to fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh that raged for a fourth day.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that during his separate phone calls with
Armenia’s Zohrab Mnatsakanian and Azerbaijan’s Jeyhun Bayramov, Lavrov urged the
two sides to immediately cease fire and resume negotiations as soon as possible.
He also reaffirmed his readiness to host a trilateral meeting of the ministers
in Moscow.
Lavrov already called Mnatsakanian and Bayramov hours after the outbreak on
Sunday of the worst hostilities in the Karabakh conflict zone since 1994.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, meanwhile, that Baku will halt the
hostilities involving tens of thousands of troops and many tanks and artillery
systems if Armenia agrees to “unconditionally, fully and immediately leave our
lands.”
“This condition remains in force, and if Armenia’s government fulfills it the
hostilities will stop … and peace will come to our region,” Aliyev said during a
visit to a military hospital in Baku.
AZERBAIJAN -- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his wife Mehriban visit the
Central Military Clinical Hospital of the Defense Ministry to meet with Azeri
service members, who were wounded during clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinian said on Tuesday that Baku has failed to achieve its military
objectives in Karabakh. “I hope this will make Azerbaijan realize that there is
no military solution to this conflict,” he told a Russian TV channel.
According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Mnatsakanian discussed with Lavrov
“Turkey’s direct military-political involvement” in the continuing fighting
along the Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact” in Karabakh.
Mnatsakanian also reiterated Armenian concerns about the reported deployment in
Azerbaijan of Turkish-backed mercenaries from Syria. The Azerbaijani army denies
the presence of such fighters within its ranks.
ARMENIA -- An ethnic Armenian soldier, who was wounded in fighting with Azeri
forces over Nagorno-Karabakh, is carried on a stretcher after being transported
by a helicopter to Erebouni Medical Center in Yerevan, .
The Armenian military claimed throughout the day that F-16 fighter jets and
combat drones of the Turkish Air Force joined Azerbaijani warplanes in striking
civilian and military targets across Karabakh. Karabakh officials said three
civilian residents of the northern Karabakh town of Martakert were killed in one
of those air strikes.
Both Ankara and Baku deny any Turkish involvement in the Azerbaijani military
operations. Aliyev on Wednesday thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
for his “resolute and brotherly stance” and “tough statements” in support of
Azerbaijan.
Commenting on the Turkish role in the escalation of the Karabakh conflict,
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian military officials are “very
closely monitoring developments” and “meticulously analyzing all information”
coming from on the frontlines.
“We disagree with them [the Turks,]” Russian news agencies quoted Peskov as
saying. “As I said yesterday, one must not add fuel to the fire.”
NAGORNO KARABAKH -- A still image released 29 September by the Armenian Defense
Ministry shows an explosion during military clashes along the Line of Contact
around Karabakh.
The United States, France and other Western powers have also been trying to stop
the Karabakh war.
U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien phoned Erdogan’s top aide, Ibrahim
Kalin, as part of those efforts. The White House told RFE/RL that O’Brien
stressed the importance of restoring the ceasefire regime in Karabakh and
restarting Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations mediated by the U.S., Russia and
France.
According to Erdogan’s office, Kalin made clear that Ankara will continue to
strongly support Azerbaijan and press Armenia to “pull its troops out of the
occupied territories.”
“There is no military solution to this dispute,” O’Brien tweeted on Monday.
“This violence must stop now, before more lives are unnecessarily lost.”
Iran Wants ‘Urgent End’ To Violence In Karabakh
IRAN -- Iranian President Hassan Rohani delivers his United Nations General
Assembly speech online from the capital Tehran, September 22, 2020
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani added his voice to international calls for an
end to the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and spoke out against “any foreign
intervention in this matter” during a phone conversation with Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday.
Rouhani was quoted by his office as telling Pashinian that the region “cannot
withstand instability and a new war."
"It is important for us to stop this conflict and we expect the two countries to
take a step in this direction with tact and restraint," he said, referring to
Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Rouhani said Iran has friendly relations with both South Caucasus nations and
stands ready to play “any constructive role” in easing tensions between them.
"We wish an urgent end to the conflict and we should all seek to resolve issues
in the region through politics and international norms," he added.
The Iranian president was also reported to say: “Any foreign intervention in
this matter will not only not help resolve the problem but also prolong … the
situation and make it more complicated.”
It was not clear if he referred to Turkey’s vehement support for Azerbaijan
which has led Armenia to accuse Ankara of participating in the continuing
fighting on Azerbaijan’s side.
The official Armenian readout of the phone call said Pashinian discussed the
“direct Turkish involvement” with Rouhani. “Prime Minister Pashinian presented
some details of that,” it said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called his Armenian and
Azerbaijani counterparts following the outbreak on Sunday of the large-scale
hostilities along the Karabakh “line of contact” adjacent to Iran. Zarif
reportedly urged both sides to restore the ceasefire regime and resume peace
talks.
France’s Macron Deplores Turkey’s ‘Dangerous’ Rhetoric On Karabakh
LITHUANIA -- French President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech as he is granted an
honorary doctorate of the University in Vilnius,
French President Emmanuel Macron criticized on Wednesday Turkey’s “warlike”
statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying that they are encouraging
Azerbaijan to continue hostilities in the conflict zone.
“I have noted Turkey’s political declarations [in favor of Azerbaijan] which I
think are inconsiderate and dangerous,” Macron told a news conference in Latvia.
“France remains extremely concerned by the warlike messages Turkey had in the
last hours, which essentially remove any of Azerbaijan’s inhibitions in
reconquering Nagorno-Karabakh. And that we won’t accept,” he said, according to
the Reuters news agency.
Macron also said he will discuss the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin
on Wednesday evening and with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday. The
French leader spoke with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev by phone earlier this week.
Ankara rejected the criticism and accused France of siding with Armenia in the
Karabakh conflict. “France’s solidarity with Armenia is tantamount to supporting
Armenian occupation in Azerbaijan,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying.
Turkey -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Azerbaijan's Foreign
Minister Jeyhun Bayramov (L) and Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov in Ankara,
August 11, 2020.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip has blamed Armenia for the latest escalation and
voiced strong support for Azerbaijan’s military operations in Karabakh.
Successive Turkish governments have unconditionally backed Azerbaijan throughout
the conflict.
Macron also said that Paris has no proof at this stage of direct Turkish
involvement in the large-scale fighting along the Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of
contact” around Karabakh which broke out on Sunday.
Armenia accuses the Turks of participating in the continuing hostilities on the
Azerbaijani side with fighter jets, combat drones, military instructors and even
pro-Turkish Islamist fighters recruited in Syria. It says that the Turkish
involvement is destabilizing the entire region.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Servicemen of Karabakh's Defence Army wave while riding in
the back of a truck on the way to the town of Martakert, .
The Armenian Foreign Ministry insisted on Wednesday that one of the Turkish F-16
jets shot down an Armenian warplane in Armenia’s airspace on Tuesday. It said
that this and other Turkish warplanes deployed in Azerbaijan in early August
“have been providing air support” to Azerbaijani army units fighting in Karabakh.
“We strongly condemn Turkey’s provocative actions and demand the immediate
withdrawal of the Turkish armed forces, including the air force, from the
conflict zone,” the ministry added in a statement.
Ankara denies downing the Armenian Su-25 aircraft. The Azerbaijani Defense
Ministry has also dismissed the Armenian claims.
The Armenian Defense Ministry expressed on Wednesday readiness to provide the
international community with evidence in support of the claims.
UN Security Council Urges Halt To Karabakh Fighting
• Heghine Buniatian
The United Nations Security Council meets at United Nations Headquarters in
Manhattan, New York, U.S., February 28, 2020.
The United Nations Security Council called late on Tuesday for an immediate end
to hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and unconditional resumption of
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.
The council said after a closed-door session in New York that its 15 member
states “strongly condemn the use of force and regret the loss of life and the
toll on the civilian population.”
“Security Council members voiced support for the call by the [UN] Secretary
General on the sides to immediately stop fighting, de-escalate tensions and
return to meaningful negotiations without delay,” it said in a statement.
“Security Council members expressed their full support for the central role of
the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and urge the sides to work closely with them for
an urgent resumption of dialogue without preconditions,” added the statement.
The Minsk Group is co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France, three of
the council’s five permanent members. The mediating powers have also expressed
concern about the dramatic escalation of the Karabakh conflict in separate
statements made in recent days.
The Security Council meeting was reportedly initiated by Estonia. Armenia’s and
Azerbaijan’s ambassadors to the UN did not attend it. The council had not
discussed the Karabakh dispute since 1993.
Yerevan and Baku blame each other for the outbreak early on Sunday of
large-scale fighting along the “line of contact” around Karabakh which has left
dozens and possibly hundreds of soldiers dead.
In separate interviews with a Russian TV channel aired earlier on Tuesday,
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
also accused each other of obstructing peace process.
“The Armenian prime minister publicly declares that Karabakh is [part of]
Armenia, period. In this case, what kind of negotiating process can we talk
about?” Aliyev said.
Pashinian stated, for his part, that the Azerbaijani offensive in Karabakh has
failed. “Azerbaijan’s armed forces … have failed to achieve their objective,” he
said. “I hope this will make Azerbaijan realize that there is no military
solution to this conflict.”
The hostilities continued on the night from Tuesday and Wednesday and in the
following hours. Both sides reported heavy artillery fire at northern sections
of the “line of contact.”
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in the morning that Armenian forces are
shelling the Goranboy district just north of Karabakh. Karabakh’s
Armenian-backed army said, meanwhile, that Azerbaijani warplanes and drones are
firing rockets at its frontline positions in the mountainous area.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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