New clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh; US says Turkey makes situation worse
YEREVAN/BAKU: Armenian and Azeri forces fought new clashes on Friday, defying hopes of ending practically three weeks of preventing over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Turkey for inflaming the scenario by arming the Azeris. The worst outbreak of violence within the South Caucasus since Armenia and Azerbaijan went to struggle over the enclave within the 1990s, the preventing dangers making a humanitarian catastrophe, particularly if it attracts in Russia and Turkey.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan however populated and ruled by ethnic Armenians. Turkey has elevated navy exports sixfold this yr to its shut ally Azerbaijan. Russia is near each side however has a defence pact with Armenia. News company RIA reported the Russian navy had began deliberate navy workout routines within the Caspian Sea.
There had been additional indicators on Friday {that a} Russian-brokered ceasefire agreed final Saturday to permit the perimeters to swap detainees and the our bodies of these killed had all however damaged down. Armenia and Azerbaijan every accused the opposite of launching assaults, and every stated it had the higher hand.
Armenian defence ministry official Artsrun Hovhannisyan stated Azerbaijan had carried out artillery bombardments of Nagorno-Karabakh from the north, “with total disregard for the humanitarian truce”. He added that Azeri forces had been repelled and had suffered vital losses.
Azerbaijan`s defence ministry stated Nagorno-Karabakh forces had been compelled to retreat and Azeri forces retained the benefit alongside the road of contact that divides the perimeters. Reuters couldn’t independently confirm these stories. Baku additionally accused Yerevan of a missile assault on Ordubad in Nakhchivan autonomous province, a area which belongs to Azerbaijan however is surrounded by Armenia and Iran. Armenia denied such an assault.
The Nagorno-Karabakh defence ministry reported 29 extra navy casualties, bringing to 633 the variety of servicemen killed since preventing broke out on Sept. 27. The area`s ombudsman stated civilian deaths now totalled 34. Azerbaijan doesn’t disclose navy casualties. The Azeri prosecutor-general`s workplace stated 47 civilians had been killed and 222 wounded.
CRITICISM OF TURKEY
The hostilities, near pipelines in Azerbaijan that carry gasoline and oil to international markets, are stoking concern in Europe and the United States that Turkey and Russia, already at loggerheads over Syria and Libya, will likely be dragged in. Pompeo stated Turkey had worsened the battle, calling for a diplomatic decision, fairly than “third-party countries coming in to lend their firepower to what is already a powder keg of a situation,” he advised broadcaster WSB Atlanta.
Azerbaijan`s overseas ministry stated Pompeo`s remarks weren’t in step with official U.S. authorities statements on the battle. “These remarks also do not correspond to the status of the United States as one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,” it stated, referring to the committee created by the OSCE safety watchdog to mediate in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ankara accuses Armenia of illegally occupying Azeri territory. Armenia says Turkey has inspired Azerbaijan to pursue a navy resolution to the battle, placing Armenian civilians at risk. Armenia`s overseas ministry stated Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan had spoken by telephone with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, asking the worldwide neighborhood to “neutralise” Azeri actions which he stated posed “an existential danger of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh”.
Meanwhile, Iran tweeted that its overseas minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had provided the Azeri aspect Teheran`s assist with the peace course of.
ECONOMIC DAMAGE
The battle between the 2 former Soviet republics threatens to additional injury their economies, already hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and, in Azerbaijan`s case, weak oil costs. With 43,280 COVID-19 instances, Azerbaijan stated it might shut secondary faculties and shut the underground rail system within the capital Baku between Oct. 19 and Nov. 2.
Armenia stated on Friday its caseload had risen to 61,460. In projections drafted earlier than preventing began, the World Bank predicted Armenia`s economic system would shrink 6.3% this yr, whereas anticipating Azerbaijan to contract 4.2%.
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