Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region for three decades (Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS / AFP)
Four Armenian soldiers were killed by Azerbaijani fire on Wednesday in Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region disputed by Armenia and Azerbaijan. Yerevan warned of a “risk of destabilization” as both sides seek a settlement to the conflict under the auspices of Azerbaijan and the United States.
“Units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire overnight with artillery and drones on Armenian positions” in Martouni and Martakert districts, the separatists’ “Defence Ministry” said in a statement on Twitter on Wednesday.
“Four soldiers were killed as a result of this new provocation by Azerbaijan,” the same source said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan subsequently warned of a “high risk of destabilization in the South Caucasus”.
“I call on the international community to take practical steps to ensure the rights and safety of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said on Twitter.
The day before, it was the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry that accused “illegitimately armed Armenian detachments on the territory of Azerbaijan (…)” of opening fire on the positions of the Azerbaijani army in the “Aghdam” region, injuring one person Azerbaijani soldier.
A historic power in the region but whose influence is disputed, particularly since the conflict in Ukraine began, Russia said on Wednesday it was “concerned”.
“We are concerned and call on the parties (…) to de-escalate the situation,” Russian diplomacy spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the press, calling on Baku and Yerevan to “settle all issues through peaceful means.”
The violence comes as Washington, for its part, started new negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday to find a solution to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, therefore met separately with his Armenian counterparts Ararat Mirzoïan and Azerbaijani Djeyhoun Baïramov on Tuesday before bringing them together.
The talks will take place behind closed doors and are expected to last until Thursday.
Peace “at your fingertips”?
“We continue to believe that peace is within reach and that direct dialogue is key to resolving outstanding issues and achieving a lasting and dignified peace for both parties,” Defense Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday.
The USA had already brought the two ministers together in Washington at the beginning of May. Talks have also taken place in Brussels and Moscow in recent weeks.
Since December, Yerevan has accused Baku of impeding supplies to the breakaway Karabakh region by blocking an important route, the Lachin Corridor, and thus causing bottlenecks.
In mid-June, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused Baku of pursuing a policy of “ethnic cleansing” in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is predominantly inhabited by Armenians.
Baku, which defends setting up a checkpoint for security reasons, says civilian transports can circulate freely through the Lachin Corridor.
But the Armenian branch of the Red Cross last week accused Azerbaijan of blocking access to Nagorno-Karabakh amid growing concerns over the humanitarian situation there.
Azerbaijani and Armenian separatists, supported militarily by Yerevan, clashed in two wars, one at the breakup of the USSR, the other in the fall of 2020.
During the first attack, which killed 30,000 people, the separatists took control of Nagorno-Karabakh and the buffer zones around that mountainous area.
During the second conflict, which claimed 6,500 lives, Azerbaijan took over these buffer zones and much of Nagorno-Karabakh.
A Moscow-brokered ceasefire was followed by the deployment of a contingent of Russian peacekeeping forces, but tensions remain high and negotiations to sign a peace treaty have stalled.
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