YEREVAN, Armenia — Fighting between Armenian-backed troops and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region flared for a second day on Sunday after clashes killed dozens, drawing international calls for an immediate ceasefire.
Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians, has run its own affairs with heavy military and financial backing from Armenia since a separatist war ended in 1994.
But the situation along the tense “contact line” has deteriorated in past weeks and a fresh eruption of violence on Saturday left multiple dead on both sides.
The Nagorno-Karabakh military said its troops were attacked by Azeri forces at 0600 (0200 GMT) on Sunday morning.
“The enemy continued aggressive military action, using rocket artillery and armored vehicles,” the military said in a statement. “The army is taking necessary measures to suppress the enemy’s aggressive attack offensive.”
The Armenian-backed side and Azerbaijan have both reported civilian casualties and accused each other of violating the 1994 ceasefire, a sign that the two-decade-old conflict which has left some 30,000 people dead is far from a peaceful resolution.
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Moscow said Baku was willing to discuss a compromise with Yerevan once Armenian troops ended an occupation of what he said was 21 percent of his country’s territory.
“For 22 years there have been attempts for a peaceful resolution to this conflict. How many are possible? We are ready for a peaceful resolution to this issue, but if the peaceful route is not chosen, then we will take the military route,” Ambassador Polad Bulbuloglu told the Govorit Moscow radio station.
Crisscrossed with pipelines and sandwiched between the Caspian and Black seas, stability in the southern Caucasus is a major strategic objective for Azerbaijan and other large oil and gas producers in the region.
World top oil producer Russia - which maintains a garrison of troops, jets and attack helicopters in northern Armenia - has been a key mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and moved on Saturday to suppress the renewed violence.
President Vladimir Putin urged the warring sides to immediately observe the ceasefire while Russia’s foreign and defense ministers talked by phone with their Armenian and Azeri counterparts.
The Azeri presidential press service said Turkey, the other major power along with Russia in the region, had voiced support for Baku’s actions, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.
The United Nations said it was concerned about the reported use of heavy weapons in the conflict and civilian casualties. — AFP
