Nagorno-Karabakh Dispute Archives - Iran News Daily

Armenia Accused of Violating Ceasefire

reporter 1222 — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 12:52:14 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Republic of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry accused Armenia of violating the humanitarian ceasefire, stressing that Baku reserved the right to take retaliatory measures in order to protect civilians.

According to the Foreign Ministry’s statement published on its official website on Sunday, Azerbaijan “again showed its good will and based on the principles of humanism agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire since October 18.”

However, since the ceasefire’s declaration, Armenia’s Armed Forces have violated the achieved agreements several times, the ministry said, TASS reported.

“Azerbaijan was committed to humanitarian ceasefire but reserves the right to take retaliatory measures for protecting its civilian population and positions,” the ministry stated.

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Nagorno-Karabakh Truce under Violations

reporter 1222 — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 06:28:57 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – A Russian-brokered humanitarian cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh was under severe strain on Sunday, a day after it was agreed, with Azerbaijan and Armenia accusing each other of serious violations and crimes against civilians.

The cease-fire, clinched after marathon talks in Moscow advocated by President Vladimir Putin, was meant to halt fighting to allow ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijani forces to swap prisoners and war dead, Reuters wrote.

The Moscow talks were the first diplomatic contact between the two since fighting over the mountainous enclave erupted on Sept. 27, killing hundreds of people. The enclave is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians.

Both sides accused one another of breaking the cease-fire almost immediately on Saturday, and Azerbaijan gave the impression in public comments from top officials that it saw it as only a brief and temporary breathing space anyway.

On Sunday, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of heavily shelling a residential area in Ganja, its second largest city, in the early hours of the morning, and of hitting an apartment building.

Azerbaijan said nine people had been killed and 34 wounded in the attack.

A Reuters photographer saw rescue workers in Ganja carrying one dead person from the ruins of the apartment building on Sunday morning. The structure had been almost leveled. An excavator was clearing the debris.

Buildings and cars in the immediate vicinity had also been severely damaged.

Baku says more than 40 civilians had been killed and 200 injured since the start of the conflict.

The Armenian Defense Ministry called the Azerbaijani allegations about the attack on Ganja “an absolute lie” and accused Azerbaijan of continuing to shell populated areas inside Karabakh, including Stepanakert, the region’s biggest city.

Footage from Stepanakert showed a small brick house damaged by shelling, its windows shattered and its roof caved in. The Karabakh authorities said 429 servicemen had been killed since fighting erupted last month.

Azerbaijan accused Armenia of also launching an unsuccessful rocket attack on an Azerbaijani hydroelectric power station in Mingachevir. Ethnic Armenian forces in Karabakh denied the assertion.

Israeli complicity

Arayik Haratyunyan, the leader of ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, described the situation as relatively calm on Sunday morning, but said he did not know how long it would last and that the frontline remained tense.

He accused Azerbaijani forces of trying to unsuccessfully take control of the town of Hadrut, and said the process of the two sides exchanging prisoners should have started on Sunday, but that it was unclear if and when that would happen.

Haratyunyan also said Israel is a complicit in what he called Azerbaijan’s “genocidal” war.

He said Israel authorities are well aware that the Israeli-made UAVs they sold to Azerbaijan are being used for attacks on the civilian population, according to Armen Press.

“They know and they continue supplying them,” he said, adding that Israel “is also responsible for this genocide.”

Renewed fighting in the decades-old conflict has raised fears of a wider war.

The clashes have also increased concern about the security of pipelines that carry Azerbaijani oil and gas to Europe.

The fighting is the worst since a 1991-94 war that killed about 30,000 people and ended with a cease-fire that has been violated repeatedly.

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Azerbaijan, Armenia Envoys in Tehran Comment on Border Dispute

reporter 1222 — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 08:48:57 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The ambassadors of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tehran talked to Tasnim about the stances of their respective governments on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh after a flare-up of fighting in the disputed region.

The military forces of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan started a new round of clashes over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday, the heaviest fighting between the two countries in years.

While the military forces from both sides accuse each other of operations leading to the major escalation, Tasnim News Agency has held interviews with the ambassadors of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan about the fresh violence.

In a face-to-face interview, Azeri Ambassador Bunyad Hasanov voiced his country’s readiness for both political and military solutions to the conflict, stressing that Armenian forces must leave “the occupied soil of Azerbaijan”.

“We have always told Armenia that there is a peaceful solution to the conflict through dialogue provided that the armed forces leave the Azeri soil and the occupied territories, but Armenia has always taken advantage of the situation and violated the ceasefire,” he added.

He also lashed out at Armenia for targeting the ordinary people of Azerbaijan after breaching the ceasefire deal, not only in the “occupied Karabakh” but also at the border areas.

Hasanov said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was a journalist in the past, is trying to set up a show to weather the crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past four months and the problems with former allies.

The ambassador also underlined that Baku is ready for both military and political solutions to settle the crisis, saying the one and only condition to resolve the issue is for the Armenian armed forces to leave “the occupied soil of Azerbaijan”.

Also in a written interview, Tasnim asked the ambassador of Armenia questions about the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

Artashes Tumanyan said the reason for the outbreak of violence is the Republic of Azerbaijan’s “harsh and extremist stances, staying away from the peace negotiations process, and (sticking to) the idea of military settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh dispute”.

The Armenian envoy also said that the Azeri side had already defined the magnitude and area of clashes. “In fact, the military and political leadership of Azerbaijan has withdrawn from the process of peace talks and is willing to solve the problem with war.”

Armenia’s stance is clear and internationally-accepted, according to which the dispute has no military solution, the envoy added.

Asked how long the fighting may continue, Tumanyan said, “Under the conditions that a full-blown military operation is underway, it is difficult to make predictions, specifically when Azerbaijan has attacked and violated Armenian soil.”

The ambassador reaffirmed Armenia’s determination to “protect the safety of Artsakh’ residents vigorously.”

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