War Armenia-Azerbaijan Border Conflict - Chronicles of the latest outbreak of violence.

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At least 16 killed in Armenia-Azerbaijan border clashes
UN urges calm after Azerbaijani general killed in fighting involving artillery and drones

At least 16 people, including an army general, have been killed in fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan forces in the worst outbreak of hostilities in years.

Skirmishes on the volatile border between the two south Caucasus nations began on Sunday. Azerbaijan said it has lost 11 service personnel and one civilian in three days of fighting, and Armenia said four of its troops were killed on Tuesday.

The two neighbours have been locked in conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan that has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war there ended in 1994. International efforts to settle the conflict have stalled.

Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have frequently engaged in clashes. The current skirmishes appear to mark the most serious spike in hostilities since 2016 when scores were killed in four days of fighting.

The latest incident began when Armenian and Azerbaijani troops exchanged fire in the northern section of their border. Officials in both countries blamed each other for starting the fighting and said sporadic shelling had continued.

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said two senior officers were killed in fighting on Tuesday along with five other service personnel.


Armenian officials claimed Azerbaijani drones launched an attack on the town of Berd, targeting civilian infrastructure. The defence ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said one of the drones was shot down.

Stepanyan also claimed the Azerbaijani military used civilians as shields, placing artillery close to the village of Dondar Gushchu in the Tovuz district about 6 miles from the border.

The Azerbaijani military denied losing a drone and in turn claimed that its forces shot down an Armenian drone and destroyed an Armenian artillery system and its crew.

As hostilities continued, Armenia also accused Azerbaijan of launching cyberattacks on Armenian government websites.

The Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, on Monday accused Azerbaijan of provoking the clashes and warned that it would “bear responsibility for the unpredictable consequences”. The Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev, denounced what he described as “another provocation of Armenia” and vowed to protect Azerbaijan’s national territory.

Turkey, which has close ethnic and cultural ties with Azerbaijan, has voiced strong support for its government in the conflict.

The US and Russia, which co-chair the Minsk group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that has tried to negotiate a settlement of the conflict, have condemned the violence and called for restraint.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, had separate calls with his counterparts in Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow was “deeply worried” about the fighting and stands ready to mediate.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, also expressed worry. His spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said in a statement that the UN chief “urges an immediate end to the fighting and calls on all involved to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation and refrain from provocative rhetoric”.
 
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Claims and counter claims about Drones being shot down.
Armenia says it shot down Azerbaijani drone as fierce border clashes continue into third day (VIDEO)

Hermes 900.jpg
{ FILE PHOTO: An Armenian soldier near the border with Azerbaijan, in Armenia. 2015. © AFP / Karen Minasyan; inset Elbit Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle }

The Armenian military has claimed it downed an advanced Azerbaijani drone amid ongoing border clashes. The flare-up has already led to casualties on both sides, with the South Caucasus neighbors blaming each other for the spat.

“Armenian air defense units hit a drone of the Azerbaijani armed forces, which is used as a fire control system,” Armenia’s Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said on Tuesday, sharing footage of the incident on Facebook.

The drone is said to be an Israeli-made Elbit Hermes 900, a medium-sized multirole UAV. Azerbaijan is believed to have as many as 15 such machines in its inventory.

The Azerbaijani military, for its part, denied losing a drone, and claimed that its own forces shot down an Armenian UAV and destroyed an artillery system. It shared videos of artillery strikes on Armenian positions, yet no proof for the UAV claim was provided.

The fierce clashes erupted over the weekend and continued into Tuesday morning. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry accused Armenia of violating a 1994 ceasefire dozens of times and of shelling Azerbaijani positions with mortars and grenade launchers.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry, however, said the fighting started after Azerbaijani soldiers tried to cross the border and later shelled Armenian positions using tanks and mortars.

Both sides have acknowledged casualties in the ongoing clashes, with Azerbaijan confirming a major-general and a colonel were killed in the skirmishes. Baku also said it lost several servicemen and a civilian in shelling along the northern part of the border. Armenia, for its part, confirmed four casualties among its officers on Tuesday.

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Why a country would want to take a bit of land that ethnically isn't compatible with the rest of your lot is beyond me. More so when there's a country that wouldn't mind nomming up those folk and being embraced by the new guy all for the better as well. Between these dafties and Ukraine, a lot of fighting over years of waste a'coming.
 
Pro-War Protesters in Azerbaijan
www.bbc.com

Azerbaijan protests demand war after Armenia clash

Thousands marched in the capital Baku and some attacked the parliament after clashes with Armenia.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
Azerbaijan protesters demand war after Armenia clashes
{There is a video of Riot truck breaking up protesters, but I can't grab it with youtube-dl, so here is the embed link:

Azerbaijan protesters demand war after Armenia clashes - BBC News

Thousands marched in the capital Baku and some attacked the parliament after clashes with Armenia.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
}

Thousands have demonstrated in Azerbaijan calling for war after recent deadly clashes with neighbouring Armenia.

Protesters marched through the capital Baku demanding the government fully deploy the army, with some even entering the national parliament.

Security forces responded with water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowds.

The recent border fighting has killed at least 16 people.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan were part of the Soviet Union before its collapse in the 1990s.

Since then they have been stuck in an unresolved conflict over a piece of disputed territory called Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but controlled by ethnic Armenians.

The latest deadly flare up in fighting - far to the north of Nagorno-Karabakh - has prompted an international response.

Russia and the US have called for calm. On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said his country was "deeply concerned" by the violence and called for "immediate de-escalation" and a resumption of peace talks.

On Tuesday, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would not hesitate to defend Azerbaijan.

What happened in Baku?
Thousands gathered in Baku's Azadliq Square on Tuesday night waving the national flag and calling for the government to mobilise troops and retake Nagorno-Karabakh.

Demonstrators yelled "Karabakh is Azerbaijan!" and "Mobilisation!" as they marched through the city toward the national assembly. Some called for the head of the armed forces to resign.

A small group of protesters entered the building, reportedly smashing windows and chandeliers inside before they were removed by security forces. Police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowds outside.

Protesters 1.jpg
{Some demonstrators even entered the national parliament, prompting condemnation from the government}

This was the largest public gathering in the country for years, with some media reports estimating up to 30,000 people taking part.

Officials condemned the protesters' actions. On Wednesday, the interior ministry said seven people had been arrested for "mass riots" and "resistance or use of force against a government official", and a full investigation is under way. Seven officers were injured, a statement said.

Mass gatherings are currently banned in Azerbaijan in a bid to control the spread of the coronavirus.

What's happening on the border?
Fighting broke out over the weekend involving tanks and artillery. On Wednesday, however, defence officials from both countries said there had been no fresh fighting overnight.

Both sides accuse each other of shelling civilian areas on the border between Tavush in north-eastern Armenia and the Tovuz district in Azerbaijan.
Border Image.png

At least 11 Azeri soldiers and one Azeri civilian were killed, according to Azerbaijan. Armenia has reported that four of its soldiers have died, including two officers.

Azerbaijan's military said it had destroyed an Armenian fortification and artillery and had inflicted casualties on "hundreds" of Armenian troops. Armenia denied suffering any casualties on that scale.

Tensions last flared into conflict in 2016, with the countries clashing over the disputed territory for four days. The BBC reported from both sides of the fighting.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has long been trying to mediate a settlement of the conflict, with diplomats from France, Russia and the US - making up the OSCE Minsk Group - trying to build on the ceasefire.

Azeris mourn death.jpg
{ Azeris have publicly mourned those who died in the border fighting }
 
According to Youtuber "Bald and Bankrupt" when he was at Baku Station about to board the train he called "The Coronavirus Express" to Georgia to take another train to Armenia, you probably shouldn't even utter the place name "Armenia" in Azerbaijan if you value your safety.


(Yes, this was not too long before he got COVID-19 which put him in hospital for weeks.)
 
Last bit for now:
Russian military helicopters spotted along Armenian-Turkish border
Gunship.jpg

Russian military helicopters were spotted flying close to the border between Armenia and Turkey right after Turkish foreign minister strongly condemned a deadly Armenian attack on Azerbaijani troops.

According to the Sputnik Armenia, no patrolling is carried out in this area.

Turkey on Monday warned Armenia to respect the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, noting that Ankara will stand with Baku “with all it has.”


In a televised live interview with national broadcaster TRT Haber, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu strongly condemned a deadly attack by Armenian armed forces on Azerbaijani troops.

Cavusoglu’s remarks came shortly after four Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in a border clash with Armenian troops on Sunday.

He called on Armenia to “pull its head together” and said that Turkey stands with Azerbaijan “with all it has.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement also called on the conflicting parties to exercise restrain, and establish a cease-fire.

“The Russian Foreign Ministry expresses serious concern over the sharp escalation of the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on July 12…” the statement said, offering condolences to the bereaved.

Moscow said further escalation is “unacceptable” as it threatens regional security, and expressed readiness to provide any assistance in easing the tensions.

It is worth noting that Russia has military contingent in Armenia at military base in Gyumri.

Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, has been illegally occupied since 1991 through Armenian military aggression.

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We'll have to see if anything else comes out of this. The "good news" is that these guys are at each other's throats so often that more articles for a thread like this will show up fairly regularly.
 
sasazuka said:
According to Youtuber "Bald and Bankrupt" when he was at Baku Station about to board the train he called "The Coronavirus Express" to Georgia to take another train to Armenia, you probably shouldn't even utter the place name "Armenia" in Azerbaijan if you value your safety.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=C5TNecidRD0

(Yes, this was not too long before he got COVID-19 which put him in hospital for weeks.)
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Yeah, can mind him saying stuff like that when he was training it through the region. Didn't know he got a visit from corona-chan, poor bald bugger.

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Edit:

Find it kinda funny how this barely mentioned on the bbc website, basically need to hunt for any article and even then it's not really all that detailing.
 
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For some context: Armenia normally has Russia's backing, but their relationship has cooled since they elected their own sort of mini-Poroshenko in 2018. I wonder if the Azerbaijanis feel empowered now and/or if Turkey is giving them tacit support.
 
Oh boy, has it come time for the traditional election year/political scandal big offensive where the azeris get the shit kicked out of them, but still claim victory, cause they were able to hold on to the 3 square meters of captured land?
 
Alba gu brath said:
Why a country would want to take a bit of land that ethnically isn't compatible with the rest of your lot is beyond me. More so when there's a country that wouldn't mind nomming up those folk and being embraced by the new guy all for the better as well. Between these dafties and Ukraine, a lot of fighting over years of waste a'coming.
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Oil? Fresh water source? Multivitamin berries growing only on that side of the mountain??
 
Alba gu brath said:
Why a country would want to take a bit of land that ethnically isn't compatible with the rest of your lot is beyond me. More so when there's a country that wouldn't mind nomming up those folk and being embraced by the new guy all for the better as well. Between these dafties and Ukraine, a lot of fighting over years of waste a'coming.
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First, as somebody else mentioned above -resources the land in question might provide.
Next, we have strategic value (cf: Russia and Finland’s dispute over Karelia, or any other border region).

You might also take into account patriotism - if you keep giving bits of your country to regional entities, how silly and pathetic will your nation look? And more importantly, where does it stop?

If you relinquish the claim on one border region, what’s stopping others from seceding too? And why not split that region into smaller territories while you’re at it? After all, there are over 50 different “ethnicities / nationalities” in the Caucasus alone. I’m sure at least several inhabit that stretch of land (just as in Abxhasia and South Ossetia, two fellow separatist regions in Georgia).

The issue with the Caucasus is - too many different ethnicities unwilling and unable to cohabitate, and where unrest keeps being encouraged by extreme nationalists, while governments try to keep a tight leash (and often fail) on a disjointed patchwork of peoples that identify as ethnicities first, and citizens later.

With Russia and the omnomnoming of the Donbass along with Crimea, it was a PR move by Putin to boost his popularity ratings at home and try to reclaim a bit of might. Hell, there was even a song made by some government officials called “Uncle Vova (nickname for Putin), we’re with you”, with lyrics that went something like: “we’ll take Alaska back next”.
So in that case, it was really just a power move by Daddy Putin. And Ukraine won’t let go because that would be “losing”, even though the region itself isn’t the most valuable in Ukraine ever since heavy industrial production went into decline.
 
Azovka said:
The issue with the Caucasus is - too many different ethnicities unwilling and unable to cohabitate, and where unrest keeps being encouraged by extreme nationalists, while governments try to keep a tight leash (and often fail) on a disjointed patchwork of peoples that identify as ethnicities first, and citizens later.
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Yeah, pretty much my point. It's just been such a cluster feck since the first world war, why they haven't just tried to get everyone to a table and line out the borders and transfer the citizens that won't fit with the rest is beyond me. Happened with Pakistan and India's partition, not exactly the best example with the ethnic cleansing that happened before and during, but ya get the message. Otherwise you've got this simmering pot that is constantly on the boil.
 
Alba gu brath said:
Yeah, pretty much my point. It's just been such a cluster feck since the first world war, why they haven't just tried to get everyone to a table and line out the borders and transfer the citizens that won't fit with the rest is beyond me. Happened with Pakistan and India's partition, not exactly the best example with the ethnic cleansing that happened before and during, but ya get the message. Otherwise you've got this simmering pot that is constantly on the boil.
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The India-Pakistan borders are mostly bot through mountains, and the split was fairly clear-cut between Muslims and Hindus.

Thr Caucasus is like a much worse version of Turkey-Greece, but with scores of languages and old, old parochial disputes. Azerbaijan is the latecomer, and they've been there for a millennium at least. You'd have to ask people to leave their inbred mountain village where they've been since the Late Bronze Age and move to a village owned by the people who got caught fucking goats in the reign of Trajan.
 
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