The Azerbaijani artillery unit fires in the zone of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Picture 1992
Military conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic parties and experts have called the largest after freezing war 1994 year. The situation is complicated by the quarrel between Moscow and Ankara
On the night of April 2 in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began large-scale military operations. Parties to conflict have reported dozens of dead soldiers, civilian deaths and two downed helicopters the Air Force of Azerbaijan.
version of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia
An armed clash between Karabakh and Azerbaijani forces began on the night of April 2, a source in the Ministry of defense of Armenia to “Interfax”. He said that the country’s armed forces shot down the helicopter, which belongs to the Air Force of Azerbaijan. According to the Armenian side, the Azerbaijani military with tanks, artillery and air forces tried to penetrate deep into the defensive line of Defense of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Army.
A spokesman for the Armenian Defense Minister Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that in the course of the collision both sides suffered losses, but lost more troops from the Azerbaijani side.
In the middle of the day the press service of the defense Army of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic reported that there are fights for the entire length of the line of contact, particularly active measures are on the south (Hadrut) and northeast (Martakert) directions. According to some data the Karabakh side, it managed to bring down the south-east two tanks and two drone opponent. On the outskirts of the locality Leonarh special forces of Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army was discovered and destroyed by reconnaissance-sabotage group of the enemy, which, leaving the killed, retreated (reported by the Armenian Defense Ministry).
A source in the Ministry of the unrecognized Nagorno Defense -Karabahskoy Republic (NKR), told “Interfax” that, according to preliminary operational data, killed between 40 and 50 soldiers of Azerbaijan. “The information is checked, but at the moment comes this figure,” – said
The agency “Sputnik-Armenia” reports about the death of one teenager and wounding two in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh
<.. p> on the background of intensification of the conflict in Armenia began to spread rumors about the mobilization, which has denied in his Facebook spokesman of the Ministry of defense of Armenia Hovhannes Artsrun.
Azerbaijani version
The Azerbaijani defense Ministry said that the country’s military acted in response to the offensive of the enemy activities. As a result of counter-attack of the Azerbaijani army in the frontline the breakthrough the front line of defense of the Armenian army, released several strategic heights and settlements, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
Six Armenian tanks were destroyed in the fighting, 15 gun mounts and reinforced engineering structures, killed and wounded more than a hundred soldiers of Armenian Armed Forces, leads the agency Trend press service department. Killed 12 soldiers of Azerbaijan, was hit by one Mi-24 helicopter, and was damaged by a mine one tank.
The biggest clash in 20 years
first Deputy defense Minister of Armenia David Tonoyan said that the enemy has taken the unprecedented 1994 action.
While this is the largest wave during the entire period, from May 1994, agrees Sergei Markedonov, an assistant professor of foreign Regional Studies and foreign policy RSUH. “The number of incidents is growing more than one year, today’s situation is not a sudden aggravation. In 2014, for the first time with frozen conflict helicopter was shot down (knocked Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army helicopter), in early December last year, the tanks were first used. We are seeing increasing violence strap. The most dangerous thing is that the clashes are not just along the border of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan, but also along the border with Armenia “, – says Markedonov. “I have long refrained from speaking about the war, yet we see attacks, destruction of military equipment, people are dying, but not open frontal collision” – indicates expert
The Karabakh conflict, the efforts in 1987-1988, grew into a full-scale military clashes in 1991- 1994. They have led to the de facto independence of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan. Baku considers the territory that occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, occupied. In 1994, the parties signed the Bishkek protocol on ceasefire. The conflict has since remained unresolved at the contact line of the armed incidents occur regularly. Negotiations on a peaceful settlement are carried out by the OSCE Minsk Group line, co-chaired by Russia, the US and France. The entrance is also in Belarus, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Turkey.
The peace process
last year, the negotiation process has intensified, particularly in the autumn in Baku and Yerevan visited the Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. At the end of his visit to Yerevan, “Kommersant” wrote that one of the variants of the peace plan, which is currently being discussed, is as follows: Armenians returned to Azerbaijan control of most of the trapped them Azerbaijani territories around Karabakh, but at the same time retain the Lachin corridor, providing connectivity mountainous republic with Armenia, and perhaps another corridor.
Baku, according to the plan, does not officially recognize Karabakh’s separation, but agrees not to solve the problem by military means. Guarantee this could serve as a placement in the conflict zone of international peacekeepers (the UN and the CSTO), and the demilitarization of the return to Azerbaijan areas.
Call of Moscow
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was the first international leaders condemned the escalation of the situation. Putin called on the parties to an immediate ceasefire and exercise restraint, according to the day of his press secretary, Dmitry Peskov. He recalled that in recent years have launched a number of efforts to resolve the conflict. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence of Russia Sergey Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu April 2 held talks with his counterparts in Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Russia is an ally of Armenia, including the agreement of the Collective Security Organization (CSTO) in Gyumri It is a Russian military base. However, Moscow is selling arms not only Armenia but also Azerbaijan, which causes dissatisfaction with Yerevan. In meetings with President Ilham Aliyev, President Putin calls his country’s relations with “friendly” and “confidence».
«Everything should be resolved through negotiations. Actions of the Azerbaijani side in this case lead to an aggravation of the situation and the conflict “, – said the CSTO press secretary Vladimir Zainetdinov” Interfax-AVN “. Armenia this year chairs the CSTO.
Aggravation unprofitable
Now neither Russia nor the United States nor the EU do not need defrosting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Markedonov: “Key players will do everything possible to stop it, not in their interest complication agenda when congestion other issues»
«The most dangerous thing is that Nagorno Karabakh can. become another field of real confrontation between Russia and Turkey, “- he warns an expert on political processes in post-Soviet countries, Arkady Dubnov. Ankara headed by such decisive leader like Erdogan, can not fail to support their allies in Baku, and this, in turn, can not but provoke a reaction in Moscow, which is Armenia’s ally, he says.
The conflict escalated during the absence of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev in their countries. Both were in Washington, where he participated in the Nuclear Security Summit at the invitation of US President Barack Obama. There was the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to the Armenian media, preparing meeting between Sargsyan and Aliyev. However, it did not take place. Nevertheless, all three had separate meetings with the US-led
Start military action may be due to the absence of the President, said Dubnov:. History knows cases when someone from the opponents attempt by force of arms to check the possibility of the opponent to resist and a willingness to stand up its allies, in case of success, the President will be satisfied, and if that fails, you can blame everything on the organizer. At the line of contact are no independent observers to get objective information from the zone is impossible, experts say. “The aggravation started precisely because on the line of contact is not reliable, independent information sources, whose presence would have warned against such brutal actions”, – he concluded.
No comments:
Post a Comment