After 2020, two countries of the former Soviet republics, Armenia and Azerbaijan, got involved in a deadly conflict on Monday. 100 people from both sides were killed in the clash on Tuesday. Reuters reported that the country was again involved in two new conflicts on Wednesday.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told parliament the small, landlocked country has appealed to the Moscow-led Joint Security Treaty Organization to help restore its territorial integrity after the Azerbaijani offensive.
“If we say that Azerbaijan carried out aggression against Armenia, it means that they managed to establish control over some territories,” Russian news agency Tass quoted Pashinyan as saying.
Pashinyan claims 105 Armenian soldiers have been killed since the offensive began, including in the spa town of Jermuk. The city was known throughout the former Soviet Union for its hot springs.
Both Yerevan and Baku blamed each other for the violence that erupted on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan on Tuesday, and Russian President Vladimir Putin called for calm.
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Parir Hovhannisyan told Reuters on Wednesday that the deadly clashes could escalate into a war. Because the Russian military is now focused on attacking Ukraine in the former Soviet Union’s second major armed conflict.
A full-blown conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan would risk drawing in Russia and Turkey. Also, the war in Ukraine is disrupting energy supplies as well as destabilizing an important corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas.
Baku reported 50 military casualties in the first day of the war. Two civilians have been injured since the clashes began, Wednesday said.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said, ‘At the moment our positions are being shelled periodically. Our units are taking necessary response measures.’
Armenia’s defense ministry denied shelling Azerbaijani positions. They claimed that Wednesday’s fight had subsided by midday.
(September 14)