World leaders have been quick to condemn this weekend’s fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, with Russia, the USA and the EU calling for an immediate ceasefire. Some regional actors, such as Turkey and the Collective Treaty Security Organisation, have apportioned blame. The fighting, violating a truce which had been observed over the Easter and […]
Clashes on the line of contact of Karabakh-Azerbaijan opposing armies continue. Another tank has been destroyed by the Defence army during the military operations in the north-eastern direction, a MM-21 (Grad) multiple rocket launcher has been destroyed in the northern direction, 1 unit engineering techniques, 1 unmanned aerial vehicle has been destroyed in Martakert direction. Further information on developments on the frontline will be provided in the upcoming press releases.”
“I have a following statement to make: all out the conflict is clearly not in interest of either Armenia or Azerbaijan, but what happened a couple of days ago strongly resembles a trademark Russian provocation, this time directed against Azerbaijan and Turkey, which is harming Armenia as well. I always knew that Putin would use a lame duck status of the US administration for stirring up a major trouble.”
“First, as just noted, renewed armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia causes a new headache for Turkish President Erdogan, which Putin has been keen to do since Turkey shot down a Russian military aircraft on November 24 that was violating Turkish airspace. Second, the violence erupted just one day after Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan met separately with U.S. Vice President Biden in a meeting many observers hoped would reenergize the Minsk Group. Instead, the worst clashes since the war in the early 1990’s occur simultaneously with this promising meeting in the White House on the margins of a larger gathering hosted by President Obama, whose invitation Russian President Putin refused to accept. “
The Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army is ready to discuss the cease-fire proposal in the context of the recovery of the initial positions.
Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan had a phone conversation on April 3 with the Iranian Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Hossein Dehghan, 168.am was informed by the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Ministry of Defense.
Igor Nazaruk was told that such statement does not correspond to the spirit of the Armenia-Belarus relations and opposes the commitments of CSTO and other international organizations, is detrimental to the peace process and encourages the use of force in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process.
Armenia First Deputy Defense Minister noted in his speech that the Armenian side is ready for any kind of development and if necessary – up to direct military support for NKR protection.
“It is regrettable that the weight of human casualties for Turkey is measured by national identity. With such racist statements Turkey encourages the continuation of actions by the aggressor against the self-determined Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. And this fits into the logic of policy implemented by the current leadership of Turkey, the result of which is to spread the wave of instability, terrorism and bloodshed both within Turkey and beyond its borders.” he said.
The situation all along the Line of Contact between the Karabakh-Azerbaijani opposing forces continues to remain tense. The most intense battles are taking place in the northeastern and southeastern directions.
