The European Union (EU) on Tuesday called on Azerbaijan to end its military operation in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
“Devastating news reaches us today from the former region of Nagorno-Karabakh,” wrote the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on the social network. “Azerbaijan’s military actions must stop immediately so that a sincere dialogue can be established between the Armenians of Baku and Karabakh,” he wrote.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc “condemns the military escalation” and “regrets the loss of life.”
“This military escalation should not be used as a pretext to force local residents to leave,” Mr Borrell said. “The violence must stop in order to create a favorable environment for peace negotiations and normalization.”
The EU brokered negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia aimed at securing lasting peace between the former Soviet enemies. But on Tuesday, Azerbaijan launched “counterterrorism operations” in the separatist enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, almost three years after a brief but brutal war with Armenia over the mountainous region.
Armenia on Tuesday accused Azerbaijan of “large-scale aggression” against the Armenian-populated region and said Baku was engaging in “ethnic cleansing.” “September 19 “Azerbaijan launched another large-scale aggressive (action) against the population of Nagorno-Karabakh in order to carry out its policy of ethnic cleansing,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.
Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh said Tuesday that Azerbaijani forces were trying to enter the disputed region, but their forces were “resisting.” “Azerbaijani armed forces are trying to advance deep into Artsakh,” they said in a statement, using the Armenian name for Karabakh. “The defense forces continue to resist the Azerbaijani offensive across the entire line of contact.”
An AFP journalist in the separatist stronghold of Stepanakert reported that explosions were heard in the city and that Azerbaijan said it was using “high-precision weapons on the front line and deeper.”
Armenia called on the United Nations Security Council and Russia to take measures to end the military operation launched by Azerbaijan. A statement from Yerevan’s Foreign Ministry, carried by Armenian media on Tuesday, said “clear and unequivocal measures to end Azerbaijan’s aggression” were needed.
The Baku army justifies such a move by the fact that Armenia has violated the current ceasefire. Armenia rejects these accusations, considering them a fabricated pretext.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikolas Pashinyan called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council due to the escalation. He said the Armenian army is not involved in the fighting and the situation on the border is “stable”.
“Azerbaijan has launched a ground operation aimed at ethnic cleansing of Karabakh Armenians,” N. Pashinian said on television. “I declare that Armenia is not involved in armed actions and does not have troops in Karabakh,” he said, adding: “The situation is currently stable on the entire border of Armenia (with Azerbaijan).”
Source: The Delfi
