Azeri leader says he will fight 'to the end' if Nagorno-Karabakh talks with Armenia fail [Post #166]

[Firebat]

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: US-brokered ceasefire frays soon after starting

Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of violating the latest ceasefire over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, minutes after it came into effect on Monday.

The US-brokered ceasefire had been announced in Washington on Sunday.

Two other ceasefires agreed earlier this month over the conflict were broken almost immediately.

Fighting erupted on 27 September around the mountainous enclave. The conflict has intensified again in recent days.

The "humanitarian ceasefire" was announced on Sunday in a joint statement released by the US, Armenian and Azerbaijani governments.

It came into effect at 08:00 local time (04:00 GMT) on Monday.

The announcement followed discussions between US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov. The US state department said agreement was reached following intense negotiations.

US President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday to congratulate those involved.

However, within minutes of the ceasefire coming into effect, Azerbaijan accused Armenian forces of shelling the town of Terter and nearby villages in "gross violation" of the agreement.

Armenia's defence ministry said Azerbaijani artillery had fired on military positions in various parts of the front line after the ceasefire agreement had begun.

In a post on Facebook, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan insisted his country "continues to strictly adhere to the ceasefire regime".

Hikmet Hajiyev, a spokesman for the Azerbaijani president, said Armenia was trying to "preserve the status quo based on occupation", adding: "The Azerbaijani side is exercising restraint."

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54686284

 

[ElRaja]

seems like azerbaijan has taken control of a significant amount of territory in the south of karabakh, armenia would find it difficult to supply fighters if azerbaijan takes control of lacin

https://caucasus.liveuamap.com/

 

[Markhor]

I'm surprised too actually. Their economy doesn't seem to be great maybe that's why? Interestingly in the last war Israel also supported Azerbaijan

I understand Israel supporting Azerbaijan defeating a breakaway independence movement given their stance on Palestinian independence.

Less clear is Iran's position. They seem to walking a tightrope as nearly 25% of their population are Azeri. However they're reluctant to appear supportive of ethnic Azeri nationalism, and Azerbaijan in the past apparently supported Azeri separatism in Iran, hence their alleged support for Armenia in the past.

And the Iranians obviously are leery of Azerbaijan's links with Israel.

 

[Firebat]

Armenia says Karabakh forces quit town as U.S.-backed ceasefire appears to fail

YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) - Armenia acknowledged overnight that Nagorno-Karabakh forces had withdrawn from a strategic town between the enclave and the Iranian border, an apparent military gain for Azerbaijan as a new U.S.-brokered ceasefire failed to end a month of fighting.

Azerbaijan, an ally of Turkey, has been trying since to recapture Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region populated and ruled by ethnic Armenians. The worst fighting in decades in the area has killed hundreds of people and risks sucking Turkey and Russia into a regional conflict.

Armenian defence ministry official Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a news conference late on Monday that ethnic Armenian forces had given up the settlement of Gubadli south of the enclave “to avoid unnecessary losses”, but the situation was “not critical”.

Azerbaijan’s military gains could make a diplomatic solution more difficult. It and Turkey reject any proposed solution that allows Armenians to remain in control of the enclave. Armenia says it will not withdraw from territory it views as part of its historic homeland, where the population needs protection.

The two countries agreed to a ceasefire on Sunday when their foreign ministers separately met U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington. But the truce seems to have had little impact; two previous ceasefires brokered by Russia were largely ignored.

Localised battles were taking place along several parts of the front line on Tuesday morning, the Nagorno-Karabakh defence ministry said in a statement. Azerbaijan’s defence ministry described fighting concentrated in three frontline areas.

“The situation in the conflict zone remained relatively stable and tense throughout the night. Artillery duels continued in some areas,” Nagorno-Karabakh’s defence ministry said.

It said in a statement that shells had landed in the towns of Martuni and Martakert, as well as villages in the northern part of Askeran region.

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said in a statement that its military positions and settlements near the front line had been fired upon and that combat continued mainly in the Khojavend, Fizuli and Gubadli regions.

The OSCE Minsk Group, formed to mediate the conflict and led by France, Russia and the United States, is scheduled to meet the Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers in Geneva on Oct. 29. Turkey has demanded a bigger role in the mediating body.

Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hami Aksoy said late on Monday said that “goal-oriented talks in line with U.N. Security Council resolutions and international laws” were needed for talks involving the Minsk Group to yield results.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...acked-ceasefire-appears-to-fail-idUSKBN27C16A

 

[Firebat]

Armenia, Azerbaijan trade fresh accusations of Karabakh attacks

YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) - Armenia and Azerbaijan once more accused each other of bombing residential areas on Saturday, in defiance of a pact to avoid the deliberate targeting of civilians in and around the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Shelling was reported by both sides within hours of the latest agreement to defuse the conflict, reached after talks in Geneva between the two countries’ foreign ministers and envoys from France, Russia and the United States.

The agreement with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group fell short of what would have been a fourth ceasefire since fighting began on Sept. 27. The death toll in the worst fighting in the South Caucasus for more than 25 years has surpassed 1,000 and is possibly much higher.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but is populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians. About 30,000 people were killed in a 1991-94 war in the region.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Emergency and Rescue Service said the central market in Stepanakert, the enclave’s largest city, had come under fire and that large parts of it had been burned.

Shushan Stepanyan, spokeswoman for the Armenian defence ministry, also said several civilians had been wounded in attacks on the strategic city of Shushi, 15 km (9 miles) to the south of Stepanakert.

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry denied both accusations. It said that the regions of Terter, Aghdam and Aghjabedi had come under artillery fire, as had Gubadli, a town between the enclave and the Iranian border that was taken by Azeri troops this week.

More than 1,000 fighters from the Nagorno-Karabakh army have been killed. Azerbaijan has not disclosed its military casualties, while Russia has estimated as many as 5,000 deaths on both sides.

Three ceasefires have failed to halt the fighting, the most recent brokered in Washington last Sunday by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The OSCE Minsk Group said Armenia and Azerbaijan had also agreed to exchange the bodies of fighters and to provide within a week lists of detained prisoners of war, with the aim of an eventual exchange.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...accusations-of-karabakh-attacks-idUSKBN27G0D3

 

[Firebat]

Azeri leader says he will fight 'to the end' if Karabakh talks fail

BAKU/YEREVAN (Reuters) - Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday his troops would “go to the end” should negotiations fail to result in an agreement by ethnic Armenian forces to withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Aliyev, speaking during a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in the Azeri capital Baku, also said Armenia had “no basis” to request Russian military assistance in the conflict.

Further shelling was reported by Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces in and around Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday. The death toll in the region’s worst fighting in more than 25 years has already surpassed 1,000 and is possibly much higher.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but is populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians.

The conflict has brought into sharp focus the increased influence of Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, in a former Soviet region considered by Russia to be within its sphere of influence. Russia also has a security alliance with Armenia.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has asked Russia to outline the extent of the support it could expect from Moscow.

In response, Russia’s foreign ministry said on Saturday it would provide “all assistance required” should the conflict spill onto “the territory of Armenia” - land that is outside the current conflict zone.

Aliyev, quoted by state news agency Azertag, said he wanted to resolve the conflict through negotiations that would result in the withdrawal of ethnic Armenian forces.

“Otherwise,” he said, “we will continue by any means to restore our territorial integrity and ... we will go to the end.”

Azerbaijan’s advances on the battlefield since fighting began on Sept. 27 have reduced its incentive to strike a lasting peace deal and complicated international efforts to broker a truce. Three ceasefires have failed to hold.

The ethnic Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh military said that missiles been targeted at the town of Martuni, the village of Karin Tak and the city of Shushi, just 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the enclave’s largest city, Stepanakert.

Armenia’s defence ministry said a second militant from Syria had been captured on the battlefield. Azerbaijan has previously denied the presence of foreign fighters.

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said its army units in Tovuz, Gadabay and Gubadli had come under shelling overnight. Combat on Sunday was concentrated in Aghdere, Aghdam, Gubadli and Khojavend - the Azeri name for Martuni.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s army says 1,166 of its soldiers have been killed since Sept. 27 and the office of Nagorno-Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman said the civilian death toll was 45.

Azerbaijan, which does not disclose its military casualties, says 91 civilians have been killed. Russia has estimated as many as 5,000 deaths on both sides.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-the-end-if-karabakh-talks-fail-idUSKBN27H1C2

 

[msaaim89]

Latest maps show Azerbaijan has taken a lot of land in the south and a quite a chunk in the north. Very little in the east though with the terrain being very rough.

A lot of nations will be watching with interest with relation to the weapons being used, noticably the major advantage of drones.

 

[sweep_shot]

Armenia, Azerbaijan exchange blame for new attacks as fighting continues

Fighting over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh entered a sixth week Sunday with Armenian and Azerbaijani forces blaming each other for new attacks.

Nagorno-Karabakh officials accused Azerabaijan of targeting the towns of Martuni and Martakert with military aviation and firing missiles at the town of Shushi. Explosions were also heard in Stepanakert, the region’s capital, officials said.

Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry rejected the accusations of targeting civilian settlements and accused Armenian forces of firing at the positions of the Azerbaijani army on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The ministry also said Armenian forces shelled settlements in the regions of Terter and Aghjabedi of Azerbaijan.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war there ended in 1994. The latest outburst of hostilities began Sept. 27 and has left hundreds — if not thousands — dead, marking the worst escalation of the decades-old conflict between the two ex-Soviet nations in over quarter century.

According to Nagorno-Karabakh officials, 1,166 of their troops and 45 civilians have been killed. Azerbaijani authorities haven’t disclosed their military losses, but say the fighting has killed at least 91 civilians and wounded 400. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, according to Moscow’s information, the actual death toll was significantly higher, nearing 5,000.

Over 130,000 residents have been displaced since the fighting flared up, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF reported Wednesday.

Roman Aloverdyan, a 46-year-old cattle owner, said he left his home in the Nagorno-Karabakh village of Karmir Shuka when his family got evacuated. He took scores of his sheep with him and headed toward Armenia on foot.

“What do I feel? We are leaving our home… Of course, it hurts. I have no words,” said Aloverdyan, who has been on the road for about a week and has at least half a week more of walking ahead of him.

The fighting has continued after three cease-fires failed to hold and despite calls for peace from around the globe.

In the most recent attempt to defuse tensions, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met Friday in Geneva for a day of talks brokered by Russia, the United States and France, co-chairs of the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that tries to mediate the conflict.

The talks concluded with the two sides agreeing they “will not deliberately target civilian populations or non-military objects in accordance with international humanitarian law,” but the agreement was quickly challenged by reports of shelling of civilian settlements.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said to end hostilities Armenian forces must withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh. He repeatedly criticized the Minsk Group for not producing progress and insisted that Azerbaijan has the right to reclaim its territory by force since international mediators have failed.

Azerbaijani troops, which have relied on strike drones and long-range rocket systems supplied by Turkey, have reclaimed control of several regions on the fringes of Nagorno-Karabakh and pressed their offensive into the separatist territory from the south.

On Thursday, Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist leader said Azerbaijani troops had advanced to within 5 kilometres (3 miles) of the strategically located town of Shushi just south of Stepanakert, which sits on the main road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

Aliyev met Sunday with the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Baku and said if negotiations don’t secure Armenia’s withdrawal, “we will continue to restore our territorial integrity by any means and, as I said, we will go to the end.”

Turkey, which has thrown its weight behind Azerbaijan in the conflict, has sought to take a more prominent role in the peace talks — something Armenia has vehemently opposed.

In the meantime, another call for peace came from the Vatican. Speaking Sunday to several hundred people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis urged the faithful not to forget what’s happening in Nagorno-Karabakh, “where armed clashes follow fragile truces, with a tragic increase in victims, the destruction of homes, of infrastructure, of places of worship, with a massive involvement of the civilian population.”

Francis renewed his strong appeal to the leaders of both sides in conflict to “stop the bloodshed. May they not think of resolving controversies with violence but commit to sincere negotiations.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/7435450/nagorno-karabakh-fighting-continues/.

 

[Bigboii]

Latest maps show Azerbaijan has taken a lot of land in the south and a quite a chunk in the north. Very little in the east though with the terrain being very rough.

A lot of nations will be watching with interest with relation to the weapons being used, noticably the major advantage of drones.

View attachment 103607
Armenians using the weapon I mentioned

Ok so after looking around I found out that tanks are obsolete in modern warfare

So with the help of Turkish drones Azeris destroyed Armenian tanks before going on the offensive
than Azeri tried a tank assault but Armenians destroyed these tanks with the help of their Russian made AT Kornett ATGM (basically modern RPG)

Surely newer generation of military schools and generals are watching this war closely

add tanks

 

[Firebat]

Nagorno-Karabakh region says military death toll rises to 1,177

YEREVAN (Reuters) - The region of Nagorno-Karabakh has lost 11 more soldiers in fighting with Azeri forces, taking its military death toll to 1,177 since the clashes erupted on Sept. 27, the region’s defence ministry said on Monday.

Fighting has surged to its worst since the 1990s, when about 30,000 people were killed.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...litary-death-toll-rises-to-1177-idUSKBN27I1JB

 

[msaaim89]

Territorial changes:

 

[Firebat]

Putin discusses Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in phone call with Macron, Kremlin says

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

The Kremlin said the leaders expressed serious concern over the large-scale clashes between ethnic Armenian and Azeri forces in the region and the involvement of fighters from Syria and Libya in the conflict.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...e-call-with-macron-kremlin-says-idUSKBN27N0H5

 

[msaaim89]

Armenia being pushed back with Azerbaijan attacking a key supply road.

https://ibb.co/FwpmC90

 

[Firebat]

Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan 'takes key town' in Armenia conflict

Azerbaijan has captured a key town in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to the country's president.

Ilham Aliyev announced in a televised address on Sunday that Azerbaijani forces had taken Shusha, known as Shushi in Armenian.

Armenia however denied the town's capture and said fighting was ongoing.

Capturing the strategically important town would be a major victory for Azerbaijan in the ongoing conflict over the disputed territory.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but is governed by ethnic Armenians backed by the Armenian government.

A war between the two countries over the region ended in 1994 with a truce but no peace deal.

Fresh fighting erupted in September, with each side blaming the other for the outbreak in violence.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54862180

 

[Firebat]

Armenia reports battles around strategic city in Nagorno-Karabakh

YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) - Armenia reported heavy fighting around a strategic city in Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday, a day after Azerbaijan said it had captured it in a major breakthrough after six weeks of bloodshed.

People celebrated in the streets of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, on Sunday when President Ilham Aliyev announced his country’s forces had taken Shusha, which sits on a mountain top overlooking Nagorno-Karabakh’s main city, Stepanakert.

Armenia denied the mountain enclave’s ethnic Armenian forces had lost control of the city Armenians call Shushi, but said fighting around it was heavy.

“The combat in the vicinity of Shushi goes on. The Nagorno-Karabakh army units are successfully carrying out their mission, depriving the enemy of the initiative,” said Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan.

Emboldened by Turkish support, Azerbaijan says it has since Sept. 27 retaken much of the land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that it lost in a war over the breakaway territory which killed an estimated 30,000 people in the 1990s. Armenia denies this.

Several thousand people are feared killed in the latest flare-up of the conflict over territory which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Three ceasefires have failed in the past six weeks and Azerbaijan’s superior weaponry and battlefield gains have reduced its incentive to seek a lasting peace deal.

Shusha, or Shushi, is bordered by sheer cliffs and could serve as a staging post for an Azeri assault on Stepanakert, military and political analysts said.

Its population was predominantly made up of Azeris before the 1991-94 war, and it is culturally significant to both sides.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ategic-city-in-nagorno-karabakh-idUSKBN27P1FL

 

[the Great Khan]

add tanks

what do you do in a an environment with heavy jamming and counter munitions that can take down drones?
Tanks will always remain relevant especially in an environment that is flat. Easy to use drones to pick off single tanks etc. Also numbers matter too. You may not see the big battles like Kursk or Chawinda but tanks retain their effectiveness.

 

[MenInG]

Ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh have said they are no longer in control of the enclave’s second-biggest city, hours after denying that Azeri forces have overrun the area.

“We have to admit that a chain of failures still haunts us and the city of Shushi is completely out of our control,” Vahram Poghosyan, a spokesman for the ethnic Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh leader, said in a statement on his official Facebook page on Monday, adding that Azeri forces were closing in on the disputed region’s main city.

“The enemy is on the outskirts of Stepanakert,” he said, “and the existence of the capital is already in danger.”

Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Sevan in Armenia, said “a wave of people” had already left Stepanakert. “[The exodus] has started a few days ago. Now, certainly with this announcement, there will be more panic among the few that are still left in Stepanakert.”

Azeris celebrated on the streets of Baku on Sunday after President Ilham Aliyev said his country’s forces had taken Shusha, which Armenians call “Shushi”. Armenian officials had denied the city had been captured before Monday’s admission.

“We liberated Shusha! This is a great victory! Today may the soul of National Leader and our martyrs be praised! I felicitate you, Azerbaijan!” Aliyev tweeted.

Since September 27, Azerbaijan has retaken much of the land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that it had lost in a war for the breakaway territory which killed an estimated 30,000 in the 1990s.

Several thousand people are feared killed in the latest flare-up of the conflict about the territory which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Three ceasefires have failed in the past six weeks and Azerbaijan’s superior weaponry and battlefield gains have reduced its incentive to seek a lasting peace deal.

Shusha is bordered by sheer cliffs and could serve as a staging post for an Azeri assault on Stepanakert, military and political analysts said.

The city is culturally significant to both sides.

As fighting intensified during the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on Saturday to his Turkish and French counterparts – Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Emmanuel Macron, respectively.

Turkey is a key ally of Azerbaijan and Erdogan congratulated Baku after its claim of retaking Shusha, calling it “a sign that the liberation of the rest of the occupied territories is near”.

Turkish involvement would be key to any agreement to halt the fighting and there were reports on Sunday of a plan to agree on a ceasefire and deploy Russian and Turkish peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russia has said it would only intervene if fighting reached Armenian soil after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan formally asked Putin to begin “urgent” consultations on security assistance.

Russia, which held vast influence in the South Caucasus during Soviet times, has a defence pact with Armenia but also has good relations with Azerbaijan, a gas and oil-producing state whose pipelines have not been affected by the fighting.

Military analysts say direct Russian military involvement in the conflict is unlikely unless Armenia itself is deliberately attacked, and that Turkey will probably not step up its involvement if Azeri advances continue.

In the latest fighting, Azerbaijan’s defence ministry denied Armenian reports that its forces were shelling Stepanakert, and accused Armenian forces of firing at Azeri positions along the two former Soviet republics’ border. Armenia denied this.

Azerbaijan said positions in its Tovuz and Gadabay regions were under fire, and Armenia reported fighting in various parts of the combat zone.

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/...sha-to-azeri-forces?__twitter_impression=true

 

[JaDed]

Apparently Azerbaijan Downed a Russian helicopter and apologized also ready to pay compensation.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-armenia-azerbaijan-russia-helicopter-idUSKBN27P2HA

Guess Russia is going down lol, with Trump out and Armenia getting whooped as well

 

[Markhor]

Seems like Armenia have surrendered.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Armenia never stood a chance, Azeris may have ended this a lot sooner but were careful due to global calls for a ceasefire.

The Russians decided a long while ago, they will not get involved when the land belongs to Azeris acc to Int law.

Its best for Amerians to leave the land, head to Armenia and make peace with the Azeris. This wont happen, you will see 'terrorist' attacks in the NK region for years to come now.

 

[Pakpak]

Like I said before where people were acting like that I said something ridiculous, which was Armenia never stood a chance. Their military right now is a joke, have no airforce, have minimum tanks. Nothing basically.

 

[Giannis]

Armenia surrendered, this is huge for Azerbaijan.

 

[MenInG]

Arguments and scuffles have broken out in Armenia's parliament as protesters angry at a ceasefire deal with Azerbaijan seized control of its chamber to denounce the country's leadership.

Hundreds of people stormed the building in the capital Yerevan after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian ordered an end to six weeks of fighting with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

 

[the Great Khan]

Armenia surrendered, this is huge for Azerbaijan.

theyve taken practically the whole of NK without having to conquer every inch. Thier objectives were the 7 districts around it which practically cuts off any armenia access to NK, the russians and the turks will ensure armenia stays where it is..

 

[OldWarHorse]

It was always an uphill battle for Armenia without any external aid. Azerbaijan was simply going to be too strong for them.
Feel for the Armenians, historically a nation thats lost lots of territory around them. NK is pretty much gone as well.

 

[Giannis]

Not picking a side but from a warcraft perspective this was a very impressive campaign.

 

[Firebat]

Thousands of Armenians demand prime minister quit over ceasefire

YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) - Thousands of Armenian demonstrators, chanting “Nikol is a traitor”, demanded Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resign on Wednesday over a ceasefire that secured territorial advances for Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh after six weeks of fighting.

The ceasefire, announced on Tuesday, ended the worst fighting in the region in decades, and has been celebrated as a victory in Azerbaijan. Pashinyan has called it a disaster but said he had no choice but to sign it to stave off a defeat.

Several thousand people defied a martial law ban on street rallies to protest in the capital Yerevan, a day after protesters stormed and ransacked some government buildings.

Wednesday’s protesters, some wearing protective masks, gathered despite the arrest of a prominent opposition leader and several others at the start of the rally, and regardless of the coronavirus pandemic that has hit Armenia hard.

The ceasefire halted military action in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated by ethnic Armenians. Under the agreement, 2,000 Russian peacekeeping troops are being deployed to the region.

Since the early 1990s, ethnic Armenians had military control over all of Nagorno-Karabakh and substantial swaths of Azeri territory surrounding it. They have now lost much of the enclave itself as well as the surrounding territory.

Pashinyan said he concluded the peace deal under pressure from his army. Nagorno-Karabakh’s leader said there had been a risk of Azerbaijan taking control of the whole enclave following the fall of its second biggest city, Shushi, known by Azeris as Shusha.

“This is a big failure and disaster,” Pashinyan said on Tuesday. He said he was taking personal responsibility for the setbacks, but he rejected calls to step down.

He did not immediately respond to Wednesday’s protests.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...me-minister-quit-over-ceasefire-idUSKBN27R1EG

 

[msaaim89]

Not picking a side but from a warcraft perspective this was a very impressive campaign.

It's also alarming how someone so far away can kill you with remote control and this is only continuing to expand.

 

[JaDed]

If Israel doesn’t want you to win you ain’t winning.(everyday i give more into conspiracy theories)

 

[Giannis]

If Israel doesn’t want you to win you ain’t winning.(everyday i give more into conspiracy theories)

This has nothing to do with Israel Azerbaijan received most of their support from Turkey but funny how Israel is being given credit. Azerbaijan mainly succeeded cause it's got a larger army and more advanced army than Armenia, it has much larger population and is also an Oil rich country while Armenia is struggling economical plus it's landlocked, there are just so many factors. Even without Israeli weapons, Azerbaijan would've blown them out the water, it was a matter of time. Even the drones they used came from Turkey.

 

[JaDed]

This has nothing to do with Israel Azerbaijan received most of their support from Turkey but funny how Israel is being given credit. Azerbaijan mainly succeeded cause it's got a larger army and more advanced army than Armenia, it has much larger population and is also an Oil rich country while Armenia is struggling economical plus it's landlocked, there are just so many factors. Even without Israeli weapons, Azerbaijan would've blown them out the water, it was a matter of time. Even the drones they used came from Turkey.

If you say so

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

If Israel doesn’t want you to win you ain’t winning.(everyday i give more into conspiracy theories)

Your transition to become a Pakistani has started.

What [MENTION=150563]Giannis[/MENTION] said is true. In the modern warfare you can't do anything without a strong air force. Azerbaijan's drones were too much for Armenia. There are so many videos on Youtube, it was sad to see young Armenians getting slaughtered because of their stubborn politicians.

Azerbaijan did their homework since 90s war. They had much more money, better weapons, well thought and careful planning and, of course, real allies.

Armenia should take a step back and focus on their internal situation. As history has taught us, the rise of nationalism after losing a war can be lethal if not handled correctly.

 

[Firebat]

Corpses and burnt-out cars line Karabakh road as Russian troops deploy

SHUSHA, Azerbaijan (Reuters) - Corpses of ethnic Armenian soldiers lined stretches of a mountain road in Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday as Russian peacekeepers in trucks and armoured personnel carriers moved in after a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Russia is deploying almost 2,000 troops along with tanks and other armour to secure a truce agreed this week after a six-week war over the ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan and surrounding areas in which Turkey-backed Azeri forces captured swathes of territory.

The scale of the destruction on Friday showed how desperate the fighting had become.

One Russian column, accompanied by Reuters reporters from the Armenian border, drove past around a hundred dead ethnic Armenian soldiers strewn by the roadside.

One soldier lay prostrate in the middle of the road as the convoy laboured up a hill.

Cars, pierced with shrapnel, and vans littered the roadside as well as a burnt out tank and other damaged military vehicles. Several bodies were slumped in what looked like a bullet-riddled military ambulance. One of the dead men’s legs was bandaged up, another dead man had a tourniquet.

Several roadside gravestones were damaged, and some of the bullet-riddled vehicles bore graffiti, including Swastikas and a reference to a bloody Soviet-era outbreak of ethnic violence against Armenians in then the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.

It was not clear who had left the graffiti.

In Lachin, closer to Armenia, a group of ethnic Armenian men who said they had fought for Nagorno-Karabakh defence forces raised their hands to greet the passing Russian convoy, but said they were not happy with the peace deal.

One of them, Suren Zarakyan, 50, said he had moved to the Lachin region from Yerevan, the Armenian capital, in the 1990s after Armenians took the territory in the first war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Married with two children, he said he had raised honey bees before the war but was not sure now whether the hives were on territory which under the terms of the peace deal would now be handed to Azerbaijan.

He said he felt shame when he heard about the truce agreement, which froze the Azeri territorial gains and paved the way for Moscow’s deployment of troops in the enclave.

“I expected more from Russia and sooner,” he said. “But Russia is interested in its bases and goals. It does not matter if it’s a base in Azerbaijan or in Armenia. It is interested in not letting the Turks here.”

He said he did not want to live side by side with Azeris, but that Azeri forces, with Turkey’s help, had been stronger and drones had played a crucial role.

“They did 90% of the work,” he lamented. An abandoned truck-mounted multiple rocket launcher system sat nearby.

“We were lying low and did not see anyone. But we were bombed, bombed, and bombed. In the night, in the morning, and during the day”.

More than 4,000 people were killed on both sides, including civilians, with 8,000 wounded and tens of thousands driven from their homes, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Near the town of Kalbajar, on a different road, ethnic Armenians could be seen leaving. Trucks full of household possessions jostled with heavily-laden cars and trucks to make their way to Armenia.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...h-road-as-russian-troops-deploy-idUSKBN27T24A

 

[King-Misbah]

What is the transition period? When will the Russians leave? I realise that the districts around NK have been taken by Azeris but what about NK itself? Can someone give a concise summary. Thanks

 

[Colorblind Genius]

What is the transition period? When will the Russians leave? I realise that the districts around NK have been taken by Azeris but what about NK itself? Can someone give a concise summary. Thanks

You can't fully trust any media these days but this may be a fair report by BBC.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54882564

 

[msaaim89]

What is the transition period? When will the Russians leave? I realise that the districts around NK have been taken by Azeris but what about NK itself? Can someone give a concise summary. Thanks

Five years confirmed plus an additional five unless Armenia or Azerbaijan ask them to leave.

 

[msaaim89]

Found the below video interesting. A couple of Russian journalists following the Armenian side.

 

[The Viper]

BREAKING: National Security Service in Armenia says it has prevented an assassination attempt on it's Prime Minister.

 

[ElRaja]

Found the below video interesting. A couple of Russian journalists following the Armenian side.

thanks for that.

 

[msaaim89]

Good response

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“How do you assess what happened to Mr Assange? Is it a reflection of free media in your country?”<br><br>Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev responds to BBC reporter <a href="https://t.co/q5IakHDf6B">pic.twitter.com/q5IakHDf6B</a></p>— TRT World (@trtworld) <a href="https://twitter.com/trtworld/status/1328007297851908096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Good response

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“How do you assess what happened to Mr Assange? Is it a reflection of free media in your country?”<br><br>Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev responds to BBC reporter <a href="https://t.co/q5IakHDf6B">pic.twitter.com/q5IakHDf6B</a></p>— TRT World (@trtworld) <a href="https://twitter.com/trtworld/status/1328007297851908096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

To be fair, in Western society "the free media" is an illusion. As most news channels have their backers who set them agendas to follow.

A great example is the way the media sold the Iraq war. Or the way one side supported Hillary and the other one Trump.

Same corruption as 3rd world media's but on a different level.

BBC, CNN, RT or Al-Jazeera, all of them have their agendas and are biased.

 

[Firebat]

Putin, Macron discuss situation in Nagorno-Karabakh in phone call: Kremlin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday to discuss the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Kremlin said.

The two leaders said that the situation in the region had generally stabilized and that it was time to address humanitarian issues, including the return of refugees and the preservation of Christian churches and monasteries.

Russia last week brokered a ceasefire that secured territorial advances for Azerbaijan in the ethnic Armenian region, where Azeri troops have been battling ethnic Armenian forces over the past six weeks.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-karabakh-in-phone-call-kremlin-idUSKBN27W1L0

 

[Firebat]

Putin warns Armenia backing out of Nagorno-Karabakh deal would be 'suicidal'

Vladimir Putin has said it would be “suicidal” for the Armenian government to back out of a Russian-brokered ceasefire in the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, as opposition forces in Yerevan protest against the week-old truce and call for the resignation of the prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan.

In a Russian state television interview about the deal aired on Tuesday evening, Putin was asked about a new government potentially coming to power reneging on the deal. “That would be a huge mistake,” he said.

The deal, which gave Azerbaijan significant territorial concessions after launching a bloody six-week war, was seen as a capitulation in Armenia and sparked protests against Pashinyan’s government. The country’s president has demanded snap elections and his foreign minister resigned this week in a high-level departure tied to the controversial deal.

Armenian security services last week also said they had prevented an assassination plot against Pashinyan involving an opposition politician and a war veteran.

“A country that is at war or in danger of resuming hostilities, as it has always been in past years, still cannot afford to behave in such a way, including in the sphere of organising power, as to split society from within. I think this is absolutely unacceptable, counterproductive and extremely dangerous,” Putin said.

Pashinyan has said he does not plan to step down, but on Wednesday he offered a government roadmap out of the crisis to “ensure the democratic stability of Armenia”.

The 15-point plan includes assistance to those injured in the war, provisions to return Armenian refugees to Nagorno-Karabakh, and plans to modernise the military, all steps designed to appeal to those who say the government did not do enough to protect the region and its residents from Azerbaijan.

He also called for the resumption of OSCE [the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] talks including Russia, France and the US on the final status of the region, which Armenians call Artsakh. The ceasefire deal does not indicate what will happen to Stepanakert, the region’s largest city, and other territories in Nagorno-Karabakh after a Russian peacekeeping deployment is scheduled to end in five years.

Putin has a complicated relationship with Pashinyan, who rode to power in 2018 on a wave of popular and non-violent protest in Armenia. But the Russian leader played down their differences as he tries to hold together a truce that involves an entrenched conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the growing regional ambitions of Turkey, and the historic involvement of France and the US.

Russia muscled out other parties when it sent in nearly 2,000 peacekeepers to the region in its most significant deployment in the South Caucasus in a decade.

The ceasefire deal releases territories that were won by Armenia following a deadly conflict in the early 1990s. Tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians have left Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions as they prepare for territories to change hands. Many families have loaded lorries with their possessions and some have set their houses on fire upon leaving.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ut-of-nagorno-karabakh-deal-would-be-suicidal

 

[Firebat]

Construction of Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire monitoring centre has begun - Turkey

ANKARA (Reuters) - Construction work has started on a joint Turkish-Russian centre to monitor a ceasefire in the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Wednesday.

He said the centre, being built following the worst fighting in decades between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces, would be operating “very shortly”.

Azerbaijan and Armenia last month signed a Russia-brokered ceasefire for the enclave, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but mainly populated by ethnic Armenians.

Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region under the deal, which froze Azeri gains in six weeks of fighting.

Turkey has no peacekeepers in the region but said it had finalised an agreement with Russia on setting up the joint centre to monitor the ceasefire.

“An agreement was reached. There is no written obstacle to the formation of our joint observation centre there. Now, its construction is under way. Our colleagues will begin working there very shortly,” Akar said.

Turkey backs Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, and has criticised the co-chairs of the OSCE’s so-called Minsk Group for not resolving the long-running conflict in decades of mediation. The Minsk Group is led by the United States, France and Russia.

France, whose population includes from 400,000 to 600,000 people of Armenian origin, has said it wants international supervision of the ceasefire.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...itoring-centre-has-begun-turkey-idUSKBN28C1QA

 

[Firebat]

Turkey's Erdogan, at Nagorno-Karabakh parade, says Armenia needs new leaders

BAKU/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday renewed a call for a change of leadership in Armenia, as he reviewed a military parade marking that country’s defeat by Azerbaijan in a war in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Erdogan, who provided military and diplomatic backing to Azerbaijan in this year’s war, offered indirect support for opponents of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is under pressure at home to resign over his handling of the conflict.

“We wish for the Armenian people to rid itself of the burden of leaders who console them with the lies of the past and trap them into poverty,” said Erdogan.

“If the people of Armenia learn their lessons from what happened in Karabakh, this will be the start of a new era.”

Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark peace accord in 2009 to restore ties and open their shared border after a century of hostility stemming from the World War One mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces. But the deal was never ratified, and ties have remained tense.

Erdogan issued a similar call for political change in Armenia on Sept 27, the day the six-week war in Karabakh started.

The fighting was brought to a halt last month after Russian peacekeeping troops deployed under a deal that locked in territorial gains by Azerbaijan, a close ally of Turkey.

Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but is populated and, until recently, was fully controlled by ethnic Armenians after a bloody war in the 1990s which saw them seize other outlying regions belonging to Azerbaijan too.

Erdogan, who reviewed the parade in Baku with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, said there was also now a need to hold ethnic Armenian forces accountable for what he said were their war crimes and destruction of villages, cities and mosques.

Armenian forces deny such accusations. They say Azeri forces and foreign mercenaries are the ones responsible for large-scale cultural destruction and atrocities. Baku denies that.

At Thursday’s parade, helicopters bearing the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan flew over the nearby Caspian Sea, almost 3,000 Turkish troops marched across Baku’s main square, and Azeri tanks and soldiers filed past the two men.

Aliyev paid tribute to Turkey’s support during the war.

“Erdogan supported our position, our just cause, from the very start... Taking part in this victory parade together we are again showing our unity, not only to our own peoples but to the whole world,” he said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/arm...-says-armenia-needs-new-leaders-idUSKBN28K1T3

 

[Firebat]

Armenia, Azerbaijan blame each other for deadly post-ceasefire clashes

BAKU/YEREVAN (Reuters) - Clashes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region have killed four Azeri servicemen in recent weeks, Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said on Sunday, in the first report of casualties since a Russian-brokered ceasefire accord.

Separately, authorities in Armenia said six of their servicemen had been wounded in what they described as an Azeri military offensive that took place on Saturday.

The Baku government said the clashes, which also left two Azeri servicemen wounded, had taken place in an area that fell under its control when the fighting ended on Nov. 10 and territory in Nagorno-Karabakh previously controlled by ethnic Armenians was handed over to Azerbaijan.

It said the military operation on Friday and Saturday aimed to destroy or drive out enemy forces responsible for the deadly attacks on Azeri servicemen.

Yerevan said Armenian forces had repelled attempted intrusions into territories supposed to remain under the control of the rebel province’s government, namely the Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd villages.

“The provocations of Azerbaijan continued today in the direction of the villages of Mets Shen and Hin Shen in the Hadrut region,” Armenia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

In another statement, Armenia’s defence ministry said: “negotiations between Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani servicemen are underway to resolve the situation in Hadrut and ensure the return of the parties to their former positions”.

Russian peacekeepers deployed in the conflict area have reported no major clashes but said at the weekend there had been one ceasefire violation.

Azerbaijan’s State Security Service said that “unfounded accusations against the Azeri side and the Russian peacekeepers by some Armenian leaders and media” were unacceptable.

The Armenian foreign ministry said Russian forces were not deployed in the area where the clashes broke out.

https://www.reuters.com/article/arm...r-deadly-post-ceasefire-clashes-idUSKBN28N08P

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/russian-military-armenia-reinforce-areas-near-azeri-border-agencies-2021-05-03/

Russia's military occupied two new sites in the south of Armenia near the Azeri border as an "additional security guarantee" following last year's conflict, Russian news agencies reported, citing Armenia'sacting prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan.

The move gives Moscow a bigger footprint in a region where it sent extra troops last year to keep the peace, under an agreement that ended a six-week war in which Azeri forces made far-reaching territorial gains against ethnic Armenians.

Russia is an ally of Armenia, an impoverished former Soviet republic of less than 3 million people. Moscow already has a military base in the northwest of Armenia, and sent 2,000 troops as peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave of Azerbaijan populated by ethnic Armenians, under the accord that ended last year's fighting in the area.

"Two strongholds of the 102nd Russian military base were established in the Syunik region," the Interfax news agency cited Pashinyan as saying in an address to the Armenian parliament, referring to Russia' existing base in Armenia.

"This is an additional security guarantee not only for the Syunik region but for Armenia," Pashinyan was quoted as saying.

Syunik is a strategic strip of Armenia located between Azerbaijan, the Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan, and Iran. The Armenian defence minister said in February that Yerevan wanted Russia to expand its presence and deploy troops closer to Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan has remained in office in an acting capacity after resigning as prime minister last month in a dispute with the army over blame for the outcome of last year's war, seen as a humiliating defeat. A new election is set for June 20.

He announced his resignation a day after U.S. President Joe Biden declared Armenians the victims of genocide by Turkey in World War One, recognition Armenians had sought for decades.