Azerbaijan said on Thursday that it had managed to gain full control of the border with Iran.
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Nagorno-Karabakh, which was part of the Azerbaijani SSR during the Soviet era but has been a “de facto” independent Armenian republic since the early 1990s, is controlled by Armenian forces backed by Yerevan.
To date, Armenian forces have also controlled seven surrounding areas, including much of Azerbaijan’s border with Iran.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Twitter today that Azerbaijani forces had regained control of the entire border with Iran with the capture of the Agbend settlement.
Since the resumption of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh on 27 September, Azerbaijan has repeatedly boasted of military success and occupied territories, and the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikols Pašinjans on Wednesday acknowledged that Armenia is in a difficult situation.
Baku has never hidden its desire to regain control of Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven surrounding areas.
Although Azerbaijan has not controlled Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the USSR, it considers the Armenian region to be its territory. Nagorno-Karabakh is also considered by the international community to be part of Azerbaijan, and no country has recognized the region as an independent state.
Independence Kalnu Karabakh declared in 1991. Its secession from Azerbaijan contributed to the outbreak of war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. About 35,000 people lost their lives in the war, and more than a million people in both countries were forced to flee their homes.
Political scientists believe that Baku will not only have enough military means to regain full control of Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven surrounding areas, but that diplomatic opportunities also seem to be exhausted for the time being.
Pashinyan has rejected a diplomatic solution and both sides are strengthening their positions.
The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet separately with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, but hopes for a lasting ceasefire are low.
The two sides agreed twice this month to abide by the ceasefire, and on both occasions the agreement was terminated shortly after its entry into force. As a result, these ceasefires have had almost no effect.
Yerevan has announced that 874 Armenian soldiers and 36 civilians have died in the fighting. Baku reports that 63 civilians have been killed, but the number of soldiers killed has not been revealed.
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