On September 27, intense fighting began over a long-standing territorial dispute based around Karabakh, resulting in nearly 200 civilian casualties.
Since it was invaded by Armenians in the 1990s following the fall of the Soviet Union, the opposing Caucasus countries were trapped in a bitter deadlock over Karabakh.
On Wednesday, Azerbaijani prosecutors stated that Armenian forces tried an assault on the Yevlah pipeline on Tuesday at about 9 pm local time (0500GMT).
Source: https://www.theguardian.com
The BTC pipeline supplies light crude oil, primarily from the fields of Azerbaijani-Chirag-Guneshli, via Georgia, to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey for tanker export.
Azerbaijan characterized the attack as a “terrorist act” and stressed the vital function of the pipeline in the energy supplies of Europe.
After a discussion with Cavusoglu, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters that there was no possibility of a truce until Armenian forces retreated from Karabakh.
“The Armenian military forces must abandon the occupied territory of Azerbaijan,” he said.
The defense ministry of Azerbaijan and the foreign ministry of Karabakh both said war continued on many fronts on Tuesday morning.
In recent days, the fighting has escalated with the targeting of major towns, including Stepanakert, the regional capital, and Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second-biggest city.
Rising deaths
After the conflict began, the two sides have announced a total of 286 casualties, including 46 civilians, although the actual number is estimated to be much greater.
The majority of recorded casualties come from the Armenian side, which has registered 240 deaths.
Since 1991, when the Armenian military invaded Upper Karabakh, an officially acknowledged region of Azerbaijan, the relationship between the two former Soviet republics has been strained.
Multiple UN resolutions urge the removal of the occupying armies, as well as foreign organizations.
The Minsk Community of the OSCE, co-chaired by France, Russia, and the US, was established in 1992 to try, but to no avail, a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Many western nations have demanded an urgent cease-fire, including Russia, France, and the US. In the meantime, Turkey has endorsed the right of Baku to self-defense.
Since five days of fighting in the occupied Karabakh area, Armenian and Azerbaijani sides have escalated their bombing, leaving almost 130 people dead.
In occupied Karabakh, Khankendi, also known as Stepanakert, saw massive explosion and sirens sounding early on Thursday during confrontations.
Since it was invaded by Armenians in the 1990s following the fall of the Soviet Union, the competing Caucasus countries were trapped in a bitter standstill over Karabakh.
Border battles that erupted out on Sunday in occupied Karabakh culminated in the biggest fighting in decades between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com
The defense ministry of Azerbaijan said that during the night its troops had conducted out “destroying artillery strikes” against positions of the Armenian troops in the occupied areas.
“It refuted Yerevan’s allegations that one of its helicopters had been shot down, crashed in Iran and reported that fighters on the Armenian side had been” forced to withdraw from former position all over the front.
In response, the Armenian Defense Ministry claimed fighting had “intensified” in the morning after clashes at night and that Azerbaijani assaults had been repelled by its forces.
Azerbaijani prosecutor said that on Thursday morning, the Armenian bombing killed a civilian in the town of Tartar and completely destroyed the train station there. They said that the figure of wounded in Tartar by Armenian forces had increased to 55.
Both parties claim they have caused heavy military casualties on each other, saying they have killed several hundred soldiers.
After Armenia’s border breaches and attacks in the occupied Upper Karabakh, also recognized as Nagorno-Karabakh, area, Azerbaijan’s parliament proclaimed a state of war for some of its cities and areas.
No closer to ending in Karabagh Conflict
Remarks on both sides suggest that there was no nearer conclusion to the flare-up of a decades-old war that has killed hundreds of people since Sunday.
The president of Azerbaijan said the removal of Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh was the only prerequisite for the end of the separatist territory’s war.
Armenian officials claimed the presence of Turkey in the revived war and said that the behavior of its neighbors “hamper the international community’s attempts to stop the hostilities.”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, meeting with injured troops, said that Armenia must abandon occupied Karabakh “unquestioningly, fully and instantly,” which is situated within Azerbaijan and has been under the control of ethnic Armenian powers supported by the Armenian regime since 1994.
Conflicting international approaches
There are clear variations in how different countries are handling the dispute, even though international demand rises for an end to the war.
Turkey expects Armenia to totally withdraw from Karabakh, and the international community to make a strong differentiation between occupier-based and occupied countries.
France, Russia, and the U.S. are asking for an urgent truce between Azerbaijan and the Armenian powers, but are proposing a compromise focused on a swift return to talks.
“We call for an immediate ceasefire between the related armed powers,” said the French, Russian, and US leaders, serving as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Party, in a joint declaration.
read more at – What is happening in Artsakh
