Karabakh: UN chief calls for ‘immediate cessation of hostilities’

The United Nations (UN) calls for calm in Karabakh, Azerbaijan. The organization’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” in the Armenian-populated enclave, where Azerbaijan launched a new offensive on Tuesday that has already killed 29 people.

Three years after the war that led to the military defeat of Armenia, on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, it was proposed to resume the conflict. France called for an “extraordinary” Security Council meeting to take note of the “illegal” and “unjustified” offensive led by Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, in Nagorno-Karabakh. That meeting could take place “in the coming days,” two diplomatic sources indicated.

On Wednesday morning, Russia also called for an “immediate stop to the bloodshed, an end to the fighting and a halt to civilian casualties” in a statement from its foreign ministry.

But the President of Azerbaijan responded to these requests, it seems, by dismissal. After Ilham Aliyev’s conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the American equivalent of a foreign minister, his office announced that “the head of state (Azerbaijani) confirmed that anti-terrorism measures will be interrupted if (Armenian separatists) lay down your arms and disarm.

On Tuesday evening, the president clarified that “the illegal armed forces of Armenia must raise the white flag, surrender all weapons, and the illegal regime must dissolve.” Otherwise, the anti-terrorist operation will continue until the end.” The president proposed, in the event of capitulation, to hold negotiations “with representatives of the Armenian population of Karabakh in Yevlakh,” an Azerbaijani city 295 km west of Baku.

Beggar, Armenia surrenders to Russia

Since Tuesday, the fighting has killed at least 29 people and injured more than 200. About 7 thousand residents of 16 settlements were evacuated. Azerbaijan reported that two civilians were killed in areas under its control. In the city of Chucha, a construction worker was killed by shrapnel, and another civilian was killed in the Agdam region.

The separatists claim that several cities in Nagorno-Karabakh, including its capital Stepanakert, are under “intensive shelling”, including on civilian infrastructure. Clashes are occurring “along the line of contact” in the area, and the Azeris say they have used artillery, missiles, attack drones and aircraft. Sixty Armenian positions were captured.

As for Armenia, which has condemned “large-scale aggression” for the purpose of “ethnic cleansing,” it insists that it has no troops in Nagorno-Karabakh, suggesting that the separatists are alone against Azerbaijani soldiers. Armenia believes that it is Russia, the guarantor of the ceasefire agreement from 2020 with the presence of peacekeeping forces, that must act to “stop Azerbaijani aggression.”

Armenian Prime Minister condemns threat of ‘coup d’etat’ in his country

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday morning the launch of an “anti-terrorist operation” following the death of six Azerbaijanis as a result of a mine explosion at the site of a tunnel under construction in two cities of Nagorno-Karabakh under Azerbaijani control. According to intelligence services, the explosive devices were planted by a group of separatist “saboteurs.” “The inaction of the international community lies at the heart of the Azerbaijani offensive,” the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh condemned.

Tensions around the territory, which has already become the center of two wars between the Armenian capital Yerevan and Baku, have been rising for months. The first lasted from 1988 to 1994, ending in the fall of 2020 after six weeks. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused the Azerbaijanis of wanting to “drag Armenia into hostilities.” He condemned calls for a “coup d’état” in his country, where clashes broke out between demonstrators calling him a “traitor” and demanding his resignation.

Russia said it was “concerned” about the “brutal escalation” of the situation and was trying to bring the parties “to the negotiating table.” As for Turkey, which called “legitimate” the fears that prompted the Azerbaijanis to take military action, it also called for “the continuation of the negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”