loading…
Armenia accused Azerbaijan of carrying out large-scale aggression in Nagorno Karabakh. Photo/France 24
YEREVAN – The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Azerbaijan of carrying out massive aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. The statement came after Baku announced local counter-terrorism measures in the disputed region.
Armenia condemned its rival for the latest developments and the “mass crimes” it claims Azerbaijan committed during hostilities three years ago. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement noted that escalation in the region in 2020 also occurred in September.
“Azerbaijan has carried out ethnic cleansing against the Armenian people living in Nagorno-Karabakh,” according to the ministry’s statement, and claimed that Baku felt impunity due to its open admission of its actions as quoted by RT, Wednesday (20/9/2023).
Earlier, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced it had launched an operation against what it claimed were Armenian military assets deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan denies the presence of such units in the contested territory.
Baku has vowed to only attack military targets and claims that it is trying to thwart large-scale provocations by the Armenian side.
Nagorno-Karabakh split from Azerbaijan in the final days of the Soviet Union. The region’s largely ethnic Armenian population fought a major war for independence in the 1990s and maintains close ties with Yerevan.
The 2020 conflict was the second major clash over Nagorno-Karabakh, and ended with Azerbaijan taking control of most of the previously lost territory. The Moscow-brokered ceasefire, which ended hostilities, paved the way for the deployment of Russian peacekeepers to the disputed region.
Baku claims it is currently seeking to enforce the terms of a trilateral agreement with Yerevan and Moscow regarding peacekeeping missions and that the commander of Russian forces stationed in the region has been informed of such intentions.
But Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the warning came minutes before the military action began.
(ian)
