Latest! Reached a ceasefire agreement!
According to Agence France Presse, the Armenian armed forces in the Nagorno Karabakh region announced on September 20th that they will cease fire and lay down their weapons, marking the end of military operations carried out by the Azerbaijani army in the region.
According to reports, the Armenian authorities in the Naka region issued a statement on social media stating, "After mediation by the Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in the Naka region, an agreement has been reached to completely cease hostilities from 13:00 on September 20, 2023."
The report also stated that Azerbaijani officials and Armenian authorities in the Nakar region will hold peace talks in the Azerbaijani city of Yevrah on the 21st.
According to Reuters citing the Russian International Telegraph Agency, the Armenian armed forces in the Naka region have agreed to the ceasefire terms proposed by the Russian peacekeeping forces.
The report states that this ceasefire agreement means that the Armenian armed forces will disband and hand over all heavy weapons.
According to the Russian Sputnik News Agency, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced that it had agreed to suspend the "anti-terrorism operations" in the Naka region at 13:00 local time on September 20.
The Russian Sputnik News Agency quoted the Armenian state news agency as saying that 32 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the one-day conflict in Naka.
The Armenian state news agency stated, "As of now, the shelling incident in the Naka region has resulted in 32 deaths and over 200 injuries. The casualties are all civilians."
No matter how tense the situation in Naka is, what do all parties say
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense launched a military operation in the Nagorno Karabakh region on the 19th. Armenia, which has a dispute with Azerbaijan over the Naka region, claims not to have participated in the conflict. The Russian side said it is in contact with both Asia and Afghanistan, urging a resolution of the dispute through negotiations.
The situation is escalating again
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense issued a statement on the 19th, saying that "anti-terrorism operations" were launched in the Naka region on the same day, and the targets were "limited to military targets". It has informed Russia and Türkiye of relevant plans.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense stated that the Albanian military has used precision guided weapons to strike frontline positions and military facilities in the Naqa region, and has taken over 60 military outposts, destroying up to 20 military vehicles.
A diplomatic advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that in the Naqa region, the Albanian ground forces have already torn through several defensive lines.
According to reports from the Armenian community in the Naka region, the largest city in the Naka region, Stepanakte, was heavily shelled. The Albanian army used fighter jets, artillery, missiles, and drones in the battle, killing 27 people, including civilians, and forcing over 7000 local residents to relocate.
On September 29, 2020, in Tatar, near the Naka region of Azerbaijan, a villager passed by a wall covered in bullet holes. Shen Jizhong
The Armenian side stated that the Asian side did not deploy troops in Naka and did not participate in the conflict on the 19th, resulting in a "stable" situation on the Asia Arab border.
On the 19th, demonstrations broke out in the Armenian capital Yerevan, and protesters demanded that the government take action to retaliate against Azerbaijan. According to TASS, many protesters also gathered outside the Russian Embassy in Armenia on the same day.
Multiple appeals for restraint
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova denied on the 19th that the Russian side had learned of Azerbaijan's military operation in Naka in advance, stating that the Russian side only informed the Russian side "a few minutes" before the operation.
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President, said that the Russian side is deeply concerned about the sudden escalation of the situation and the emergence of hostile actions in the Naka region, and is in contact with both the Asian and Arab sides in an attempt to "bring them back to the path of resolving conflicts through political and diplomatic means.".
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on Azerbaijan to cease military operations and return to the negotiating table.
French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nicol Pashnian. France demands an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Naqa.
This is a photo taken on September 29, 2020, of a house damaged during the conflict in the Tatar region of Azerbaijan near the Nagorno Karabakh border. Shen Jizhong
The Naqa region is located in the southwest of Azerbaijan, and its residents are mostly Armenians. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the issue of ownership of the Naka region. Although the two countries reached a comprehensive ceasefire agreement in 1994, they have been in a hostile state due to the Naqa issue, and armed conflicts have occurred from time to time. The previous round of full-scale conflict occurred in September 2020 and lasted for 6 weeks. Under the mediation of Russia, both sides agreed to a ceasefire and agreed to the deployment of Russian peacekeeping personnel in Naka.
