Azerbaijan says it needs to disarm Armenian forces, however world powers decry Baku, accusing it of imperilling safety.
Azerbaijan on Tuesday launched a army operation in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh area and demanded the full withdrawal of Armenian forces from the mountainous territory as a precondition for peace.
In current weeks, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of build up troops and decried a blockade of its solely land hyperlink to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Renewed preventing in the mountainous area comes virtually three years after a quick however brutal struggle with Armenia over the realm, in which greater than 6,000 individuals had been killed.
The area is globally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan, however has a majority ethnic Armenian inhabitants which broke from Baku’s management in the after a struggle in the early Nineteen Nineties.
Here is how world is reacting to the preventing:
Armenia
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan urged Russia and United Nations to take motion to cease the preventing.
“First of all, Russia must take steps and, secondly, we expect the UN Security Council to also take steps,” Pashinyan, whose nation is in a army alliance led by Moscow, mentioned in televised feedback.
“We must not allow certain people, certain forces to deal a blow to the Armenian state. There are already calls, coming from different places, to stage a coup in Armenia.”
Armenia’s defence ministry has denied its troops had been current in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Russia
Russia, which brokered a ceasefire in 2020 and has peacekeepers in the area, has referred to as for an finish to the preventing.
“We are deeply concerned about the sharp escalation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mentioned at a press briefing.
“The main thing is to prevent human casualties … the main thing is to convince Yerevan and Baku to come to the negotiating table,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters.
European Union
The EU condemned the escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh and referred to as on Azerbaijan to cease its army actions, the EU’s overseas coverage chief Josep Borrell mentioned in a press release.
“We call for the immediate cessation of hostilities & Azerbaijan to stop the current military activities,” he mentioned on social media platform X, previously recognized as Twitter.
The EU condemns the army escalation in Karabakh & deplores lack of lives
We name for the fast cessation of hostilities & Azerbaijan to cease the present army actions
Commitment by all sides is required to work in direction of negotiated outcomeshttps://t.co/6YK7h28Ffv
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) September 19, 2023
United Nations
United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric informed Al Jazeera that the state of affairs in Nagorno-Karabakh was “very concerning”.
“It’s very important that all the activities cease and both parties go back to a sustained dialogue to avoid any further clashes,” he mentioned.
Germany
Azerbaijan has damaged its promise by resorting to army motion in Nagorno-Karabakh, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock mentioned.
“Baku’s promise to refrain from military action was broken. Azerbaijan must immediately stop shelling and return to the negotiating table,” Baerbock mentioned on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City.
United States
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will maintain pressing talks Tuesday with all sides to finish the “egregious” operation by Azerbaijan, an official mentioned.
After the opening of an help path on Monday, “we were hopeful that we were going to be able to adapt to the longer-term issues,” a US official mentioned on situation of anonymity in line with Reuters information company, “so that makes this incident overnight particularly egregious and particularly dangerous”.
France
Paris has referred to as for an pressing UN Security Council assembly to finish the crises.
“There is no pretext that justifies such a unilateral action,” the French overseas ministry mentioned in a press release, including that it “threatens thousands of civilians already affected by a month-long illegal blockade and which runs against efforts by the international community to reach a negotiated settlement.”
Catherine Colonna, the overseas minister, mentioned Baku’s operation is “illegal, unjustifiable, unacceptable”.
“I would like to emphasise that we hold Azerbaijan responsible for the fate of Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh,” she informed journalists at UNGA in New York.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/19/world-reacts-as-azerbaijan-launches-attack-in-nagorno-karabakh?traffic_source=rss