Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital, Stepanakert, and other cities in the region were attacked by “intense gunfire” shortly after the start of what Azerbaijan described as “anti-terrorism” operations. Europe calls for an immediate ceasefire.
After Azerbaijan announced a military operation in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Europeans reacted quickly. According to Armenian separatists, two civilians were killed and 23 were injured.
ADVERTISING
“Azerbaijan must “immediately” suspend its military operation in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, European Council President Charles Michel said on Tuesday.
“Azerbaijan’s military actions must stop immediately to allow for a real dialogue between Baku and the Armenians of Karabakh,” Mr. Michel stated on X (ex-Twitter).
Also the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell “condemned” the offensive Military of Azerbaijan and demanded that it be stopped immediately.
“This military escalation must not be used as a pretext to force the displacement of the local population,” Mr. Borrell also said in a statement.
For its part, French diplomacy is calling for an “emergency meeting” of the UN Security Council. Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna denounced an “illegal, unjustified, unacceptable” operation.
Armenia’s prime minister said on Tuesday that Azerbaijan had launched an armed ground operation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and wanted to “draw Armenia into hostilities,” but assured that the Armenian army was not involved in the fighting.
“Azerbaijan has launched a ground operation aimed at ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Karabakh,” Nikol Pashinian said in a televised statement, on the other hand assuring that the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the situation in Armenia were “stable.” not involved in armed actions.”
Against this backdrop of tension, Nikol Pashinian convened his Security Council as hundreds of residents began protesting outside the government headquarters in Yerevan.
Russia claimed on Tuesday that it was only warned “a few minutes” before Azerbaijan’s “anti-terror operations” began.
“Information is circulating in the media that the Azerbaijani side warned the Russian peacekeepers ‘in advance’ (…) This does not correspond to reality. The information was communicated to the Russian contingent a few minutes before the start of hostilities,” Russian diplomatic spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in Telegram.
The European Union has established and is acting as a monitoring mission on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan mediator between the two countries. These two former Soviet republics in the Caucasus have been in conflict for more than thirty years over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, a secessionist region of Azerbaijan populated primarily by Armenians.
ADVERTISING
Azerbaijan launched a military operation there on Tuesday, three years after the previous war, demanding the “complete and unconditional” withdrawal of its Armenian opponent from the disputed region.
Armenian diplomacy has a “large-scale aggression” for the purpose of “ethnic cleansing”. She also ruled that Russia, guarantor of a ceasefire from 2020 with peacekeepers on the ground, must “stop Azerbaijani aggression.”