2023-09-20 12:02:20
After two days of fighting in the separatist area of Nagorno Karabakh, Azeri authorities and Armenian separatists have announced a ceasefire in the area. The agreement came into force at 1:00 p.m. local time (two hours less in Spain) and talks between Azerbaijani officials and the ethnic Armenian authorities of the separatist region about their “reintegration” into Azerbaijan are scheduled for tomorrow in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlaj.
The cessation of hostilities was reached through negotiations with the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the region and provides for the withdrawal of Armenian military units and equipment from Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the disarmament of local defense forces, according to authorities. region of.
The Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev, explained last night during a telephone conversation with the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, the conditions for the Baku Army to stop the “anti-terrorist” operation launched this Tuesday against the part of Nagorno Karabakh that does not controls. According to the information released by both parties after telephone contact,
Aliyev said that if armed Armenian groups “lay down their arms and surrender, anti-terrorist measures will be suspended.” In his words, Armenians living in the disputed mountain enclave “were repeatedly invited to dialogue, but each time they refused to meet. Even after anti-terrorist activities had already begun, they were once again urged to engage in dialogue.
Aliyev informed Blinken about the reasons why the offensive in Nagorno Karabakh began, pointing out that “Azerbaijani civilians and soldiers were victims of the explosions of mines installed by the Armed Forces of Armenia (…) whose troops fired at the positions of the Azerbaijani Army.” with mortars and light weapons of different calibers,” says the press service of the Presidency of Azerbaijan.
military objectives
Likewise, the Azerbaijani leader assured Blinken that his troops “are locally deactivating only legitimate military targets of the enemy. “Civilians and civilian infrastructure are not targets of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.” For his part, the US Secretary of State, according to the press release, “expressed his concern about the prevailing situation, called for a halt to hostilities and affirmed that Washington supports direct dialogue between Baku and the Armenians living in the Karabakh region.” ».
In addition to the United States, the UN, the European Union and Russia had asked Baku to stop the current military operation underway and urgently begin negotiations to end the dispute. Armenians have reported the death of 27 people, including two civilians, and more than 200 wounded during the day on Tuesday due to shelling and shooting by the Azerbaijani Army.
This new outbreak of violence between Armenians and Azerbaijanis provoked protest rallies last night in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, against the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinian, whom they call weak-minded, and against Russia, whose peace contingent deployed in the area , in the opinion of the protesters, has done nothing to prevent Azerbaijan’s “aggression.”
The crowd surrounded the Armenian Government building, trying to get inside, and also the Russian Embassy in Yerevan, which was completely blocked. The riots caused injuries among protesters and police officers. Pashinián assured without providing further details that “there are calls to carry out a coup d’état” from different parts of the country.
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