Armenia, Azerbaijan Trade Accusations After New Attacks
NAGORNO-KARABAKH (Dispatches) – Armenia and Azerbaijan have again accused each other of bombing residential areas in defiance of a pact to avoid the deliberate targeting of civilians in and around the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Shelling was reported by both sides on Saturday within hours of the latest agreement to defuse the conflict, reached after talks in Geneva between the two countries’ foreign ministers and envoys from France, Russia and the United States.
The agreement with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group fell short of what would have been a fourth truce since the fighting began on September 27.
The death toll in the worst fighting in the South Caucasus for more than 25 years has surpassed 1,000.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Emergency and Rescue Service said the central market in Stepanakert, the enclave’s largest city, had come under fire and that large parts of it had been burned.
Shushan Stepanyan, a spokeswoman for the Armenian defense ministry, also said several civilians had been wounded in attacks on the strategic city of Shushi, 15km (9 miles) south of Stepanakert.
Azerbaijan’s defense ministry denied both accusations, adding that the regions of Terter, Aghdam and Aghjabedi had come under artillery fire, as had Gubadli, a town between the enclave and the Iranian border that was taken by Azeri troops this week.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but is populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians. About 30,000 people were killed in a 1991-94 war in the region.
Azerbaijan rejects any solution that would leave Armenians in control of the enclave, which it considers to be illegally occupied. Armenia regards the territory as part of its historic homeland and says the population there needs its protection.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan formally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin "urgent” consultations on providing security amid a conflict with Azerbaijan, the foreign ministry said on Saturday.
In his letter to Putin, Pashinyan said hostilities were approaching Armenia’s borders, reiterated that Turkey was backing Baku and invoked a 1997 treaty on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between Moscow and Yerevan.
Moscow’s defense pact with Armenia does not however extend to Nagorno-Karabakh, and Russia said on Saturday that "necessary” help would only be provided if the fighting reaches Armenian territory.
At the same time, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said "concrete formats” of assistance to Armenia would be discussed.
The Russian foreign ministry called on the warring sides to immediately cease fire and begin "substantive” talks.
Shelling was reported by both sides on Saturday within hours of the latest agreement to defuse the conflict, reached after talks in Geneva between the two countries’ foreign ministers and envoys from France, Russia and the United States.
The agreement with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group fell short of what would have been a fourth truce since the fighting began on September 27.
The death toll in the worst fighting in the South Caucasus for more than 25 years has surpassed 1,000.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Emergency and Rescue Service said the central market in Stepanakert, the enclave’s largest city, had come under fire and that large parts of it had been burned.
Shushan Stepanyan, a spokeswoman for the Armenian defense ministry, also said several civilians had been wounded in attacks on the strategic city of Shushi, 15km (9 miles) south of Stepanakert.
Azerbaijan’s defense ministry denied both accusations, adding that the regions of Terter, Aghdam and Aghjabedi had come under artillery fire, as had Gubadli, a town between the enclave and the Iranian border that was taken by Azeri troops this week.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but is populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians. About 30,000 people were killed in a 1991-94 war in the region.
Azerbaijan rejects any solution that would leave Armenians in control of the enclave, which it considers to be illegally occupied. Armenia regards the territory as part of its historic homeland and says the population there needs its protection.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan formally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin "urgent” consultations on providing security amid a conflict with Azerbaijan, the foreign ministry said on Saturday.
In his letter to Putin, Pashinyan said hostilities were approaching Armenia’s borders, reiterated that Turkey was backing Baku and invoked a 1997 treaty on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between Moscow and Yerevan.
Moscow’s defense pact with Armenia does not however extend to Nagorno-Karabakh, and Russia said on Saturday that "necessary” help would only be provided if the fighting reaches Armenian territory.
At the same time, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said "concrete formats” of assistance to Armenia would be discussed.
The Russian foreign ministry called on the warring sides to immediately cease fire and begin "substantive” talks.