Azerbaijan sent artillery and troops to Karabakh
Azerbaijan took the initiative to send troops and artillery into the Armenian-controlled region of Nagorno-Karabakh. This initiative was an attempt to bring the Karabakh region under forceful control. However, it has sparked threats of war with Armenia.
Karabakh is a mountainous area in the Southern Caucasus region. It is Azerbaijani territory internationally. However, a small portion of the region is under Armenian separatist authorities, who claim the land as ancestral territory.
Karabakh has experienced two wars, the latest one in 2020. The region has been a point of conflict since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Antony Blinken, the United States Secretary of State, claims Azerbaijan should halt all activity immediately. The recent strikes are worsening an existing condition. Baku has held a de facto blockade on the region for decades.
The European Union, France, and Germany have also condemned the actions of Baku. They pleaded with Baku to resume talks with Armenia regarding Karabakh.
Social media posts show that repeated and loud shelling was audible in Stepanakert, the capital of Karabakh. Azerbaijan calls the region Khankendi.
Hikmet Hajiyev is the Azerbaijani foreign policy advisor to President Ilham Aliyev. He claims that forces from Baku broke through Armenian lines and achieved their goals. Armenian separatists are denying these claims.
Baku states that military forces seized over 60 Armenian posts and destroyed 20 vehicles. Karabakh separatists claim that 25 individuals, including two citizens, were killed in the attack. Over 100 were injured. They evacuated villages. These claims are not verified.
It is unclear whether the attacks will promote conflicts in Armenia. Russia, Armenia’s top supporter, stated that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was too pro-West. They called for a coup to oust Pashinyan from power.
Azerbaijan claims that the targets were military.
Hajiyev states that the military forces used guided munitions to target Armenian military personnel. It was to reduce civilian deaths. Azerbaijan wishes to end a chapter of hatred and confrontation.
The defence ministry states that the military actions were to secure and disarm Armenian forces and make them withdraw from Azerbaijani territory. The military action will help restore order to the Republic of Azerbaijan.