At the origin of the latest clashes on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, there is in particular the impatience of Baku not to see decided what will be the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh despite its victory in the war of 2020.
The last days have been bloody in the South Caucasus. The fighting left at least 176 people dead, mostly soldiers, along the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, after forces from the former broke into the territory of the latter at several points.
These events are the most serious since the end of the 44 days of the “Second Nagorno-Karabakh War”, on November 9, 2020, at the end of which Azerbaijan regained control of part of the secessionist province and the all of the “occupied” territories around it.
The fighting, which had broken out on Tuesday, ended overnight from Wednesday to Thursday. thanks to the involvement of the international community said the Armenian National Security Council. Russia, the traditional mediator in this region, had announced a truce on Tuesday morning, but it had been violated for two days, the two camps accusing each other of bombardments.
Aliyev grows impatient over Nagorno-Karabakh status issue
The events of these Tuesdays and Wednesdays are all the more difficult to understand as they follow a diplomatic sequenceopened this spring, which gave a glimpse of a possible peace, recalls our regional correspondent, Regis Gente. A lasting peace, after three decades of conflict around the secessionist province of Nagorno-Karabakh, landlocked in Azerbaijan, placed under the jurisdiction of the latter by Stalin, although populated mainly by Armenians.
In the ceasefire declaration of November 9, 2020, signed following the mediation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, nothing is said about the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Vladimir Putin then explained that this very difficult question could only be decided in the indefinite future.
However, as the winner, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that the case is settled. In recent months, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, feeling that he no longer had a choice, has worked to establish peace, recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, which therefore implicitly includes Nagorno-Karabakh. . This is what worries a whole section of Armenians, several thousand of whom have made it known in the streets of Yerevan in recent evenings.
Armenia and Azerbaijan pass the buck to the UN
Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other Thursday before the UN Security Council of being responsible for the violent clashes, while the UN noted that it was unable to verify the allegations of the two parties. ” This aggression is Azerbaijan’s response to the mediation efforts of the international community “, denounced the Armenian ambassador to the UN, considering that by these “ acts of aggression “, Baku had” chose a military solution to the conflict “.
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the UN rejected all ” allegations of Armenia, accusing in return Yerevan of wanting torpedo the fragile post-conflict normalization process “. These accusations based on inventions, distortions and deceptions show that Armenia is far from respecting its international obligations “, he added.