In response to escalating tensions, Armenia has declared universal universal mobilization and martial law. The same measures were previously taken by the Nagorno-Karabakh government, which is not recognized by anyone. According to most of the world’s countries, including the Czech Republic, its territory belongs to Azerbaijan de jure, but it is de facto controlled by local Armenians. Karabakh means Black Garden in Azerbaijani.
According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense, the Armenian armed forces began shelling army positions along the entire line of the disputed territory and the nearby villages around 06:00 local time.
The Armenian army said it had shot down two enemy helicopters, several drones and destroyed another of its military equipment. The Azerbaijani side has denied this information. Baku also rejects information that it would attack civilian targets.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense later reported that its forces had gained control of six villages, four in the Fuzuli district and two in the Jebrail district, which are de facto under the administration of Nagorno-Karabakh. “During the counterattack by the Azerbaijani army, a number of occupied villages and strategic ridges were liberated,” TASS quoted the ministry as saying. However, Armenia denied the information about the control of the municipalities and called it a provocation.
According to Armenian human rights activists, two people – a woman and a child – died in the Azerbaijani shelling. Baku says several Azerbaijani civilians have been killed. Nagorno-Karabakh reports ten soldiers dead, Reuters reported, but said the figures had not yet been verified.
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Concerns, challenges and offers of help
The European Union has expressed concern about the situation and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, has called on the warring parties to start negotiations immediately. The need for dialogue and the end of military action was also emphasized by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Pope Francis also called for an end to the violence in the Caucasus. According to TASS, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke about the situation to his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, and Moscow called for a ceasefire.
In the conflict, Turkey has traditionally sided with Azerbaijan’s populated population and has urged Armenia, with which it has historically had very poor relations, to end its aggressive actions against its neighbor. Earlier, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Turkey was willing to provide assistance to Azerbaijan.
“We will offer Azerbaijan help in the form it wants,” Ankara told TASS. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu and his Russian counterpart discussed the situation by telephone. According to the TASS agency, they agreed on the need to end the fighting as soon as possible and stabilize the situation.
There has long been a dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Armed conflict broke out in 1988, and Nagorno-Karabakh, with the support of Armenia, broke away from Azerbaijan in a bloody war that claimed an estimated 30,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of refugees. At present, the enclave and the adjacent Lachin Corridor are under the military control of Armenia, while Azerbaijan considers the territory to be occupied.
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