What is behind the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict flare-up?

Dozens of Armenian troopers have reportedly been killed in renewed border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

An Azerbaijani soldier fixes a nationwide flag on a lamp put up within the city of Lachin [File: Karen Minasyan/AFP]

Dozens of Armenian troopers have reportedly been killed in renewed border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, within the worst preventing seen for the reason that hostile enemies have been embroiled in a 2020 warfare over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh area.

After a number of hours of fierce border preventing in a single day on Tuesday, Armenia appealed to world leaders for assist, saying Azerbaijani forces have been attempting to advance on its territory.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has demanded from world leaders “an satisfactory response” to “Azerbaijan’s aggressive acts”.

Russia, Armenia’s closest ally, stated it had satisfied the historic rivals to conform to a speedy ceasefire.

What occurred?

• Armenia stated that Azerbaijani forces “launched intensive shelling, with artillery and large-calibre firearms, in opposition to Armenian navy positions within the path of the cities of Goris, Sotk, and Jermuk” shortly after midnight.
• Azerbaijan’s defence ministry accused Armenia of “large-scale subversive acts” close to the districts of Dashkesan, Kelbajar and Lachin on the border, including that its military positions “got here below hearth, together with from trench mortars”.
• Elnur Mammadov, Azerbaijan’s deputy overseas minister, stated: “Armenia has been shelling Azerbaijani navy positions for a number of weeks now. That shelling has been intensified over the previous few days. Armenia has began amassing heavy weaponry and armaments alongside the deemed border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. What occurred in a single day is a large-scale provocation by Armenian navy in opposition to Azerbaijani positions in addition to the shelling of worker and civilian infrastructure.”
• In response to Pashinyan, 49 Armenian troopers have been killed, with the quantity anticipated to rise.
• Azerbaijan didn't point out whether or not it had suffered any navy losses.

How did world leaders react?

• Turkey, a detailed ally of Azerbaijan, instructed Yerevan to “stop its provocations” in opposition to Baku, with overseas minister Mevlut Cavusoglu saying on Twitter that the nation ought to as an alternative “concentrate on peace negotiations and cooperation” with its neighbour.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Washington was deeply involved about stories of the assaults, and urged “an finish to any navy hostilities instantly”, including that “there might be no navy resolution to the battle”.
• Russia stated it was “extraordinarily involved” by the uptick in preventing.
• Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, stated the bloc was “able to make efforts to forestall additional escalation”, including that there was “no various to peace and stability within the area”.

Has a ceasefire been reached?

• Russia’s overseas ministry stated it succeeded in brokering a truce that started at 9am Moscow time (06:00 GMT). “We count on that an settlement reached on account of Russian mediation on a ceasefire … will probably be carried out in full,” the ministry stated in an announcement.

What’s the background of the battle?

• On the coronary heart of the battle between the previous Soviet republics is the extremely contested Nagorno-Karabakh area, the place two wars have been fought over within the Nineties and extra not too long ago, in 2020.
• The enclave is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory, however it's populated with ethnic Armenians who both wish to secede or be a part of Armenia.
• Azerbaijan considers ethnic Armenians to be illegally occupying their land.
• At the very least 30,000 folks have been killed within the battle following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, after ethnic Armenian separatists broke away from Azerbaijan.
• The six-week warfare in 2020 over Nagorno-Karabakh killed at the very least 6,500 folks and ended with a Russian-brokered truce.
• Below the deal, Armenia ceded swaths of territory it had managed for many years and Moscow deployed about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to supervise the delicate ceasefire.