Brussels meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh

Brussels meeting on Nagorno Karabakh
full screen Crowds of anxious people have gathered near the city of Stepanakert, the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense Via AP/TT

Envoys from Azerbaijan and Armenia are meeting today in Brussels. The meeting takes place after Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive in the Nagorno-Karabakh region last week.

The Brussels meeting is the first since the offensive began and is chaired by Simon Mordue, chief diplomatic adviser to European Council President Charles Michel.

Azerbaijan and Armenia, along with France and Germany, will be represented by their national security advisors at the meeting.

On Monday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Azeri exclave of Nachitjevan.

Since Azerbaijan launched its offensive against the region, which is mainly populated by ethnic Armenians, last week, Erdogan has repeatedly expressed support for Azerbaijan’s military.

So far, over 13,000 residents have fled the region to Armenia, according to Armenian authorities.

Sida announces that the Swedish organization is providing SEK 15 million in support to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to meet the refugees’ most urgent aid needs.

Nagorno-Karabakh is within the formal borders of Azerbaijan, but is in practice a breakaway region under the wing of Armenia.

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