Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Azerbaijan claims to have captured 45 locations
Photo: AA/File
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While Azerbaijan claims to have captured 45 locations in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Upper Karabakh) so far, the de-facto state in the region has confirmed for the first time that it has lost territory.
The president of the "Republic of Artsakh," which was founded in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1991 and has not been recognized by any country, Araik Arutyunyan, said that Azerbaijan succeeded to move the frontline deep into the region, according to DW Turkish.
Azerbaijan's President İlham Aliyev said yesterday (October 14) on Twitter that they captured eight more villages.
Clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh began on September 27.
The darker green areas indicate the territory that Azerbaijan claims to have captured. (Map: AA)
Erdoğan and Putin spoke on the phone
In a phone call yesterday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Vladimir Putin, his counterpart from Russis, that Turkey was in favor of a permanent solution to the Azerbaijan-Armenia dispute within the framework of its status in the Minsk Group and the bilateral relations, according to the Presidency's Directorate of Communications.
Armenia, which "created a new crisis by attacking Azerbaijani territories, is trying to make its occupation lasting for nearly 30 years permanent," Erdoğan said.
The presidents also discussed the latest situation in Libya and Syria.
Pompeo called for a ceasefire
The US on Wednesday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately halt hostilities, calling for a cease-fire.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington is committed "to helping Azerbaijan and Armenia achieve a peaceful and sustainable settlement to their conflict."
"We've asked every international player to stay out of the region, not to continue to reinforce trouble, and we're working to deliver that," he told reporters at the State Department. "We're using our diplomatic toolkit to try and achieve an outcome that gets a stand down, a ceasefire, and an outcome that is a solution based on international law."
Pompeo called on Yerevan and Baku "to implement their agreed-upon commitments to a ceasefire, and stop targeting civilian areas."
The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute
Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region of approximately 4,400 square kilometers in the Caucasus between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Relations between the two former Soviet countries have been tense since 1989 over Nagorno-Karabakh, or Upper Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan populated mostly by Armenians. In 1989, the parliament of Azerbaijan removed Nagorno-Karabakh's autonomous status, which had been in place since 1923. During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Armenia began military operations into Nagorno-Karabakh in 1991. In the same year, the separatist administration in Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence. The Azeri people of the region had boycotted the independence referendum. The independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh, or Artsakh republic, is not recognized by any United Nations member state, including Armenia. Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions as well as many international organizations demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces. The OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia and the US – was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. A cease-fire was agreed upon in 1994. France, Russia and NATO, among others, have urged an immediate halt to clashes in the occupied region. During the conflict between 1988-1994, about one million people were displaced and 30,000 were killed. |
(PT/VK)