New bombings precede the “brave steps” towards peace of Armenia and Azerbaijan

First modification: 07/11/2022 – 23:58

This Monday, November 7, Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of new border bombings. According to the Armenian Ministry of Defense, “units of the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire (…) against Armenian positions in the eastern sector of the border” on Sunday night, as announced in a statement.

For its part, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry accused the Armenian forces of firing “with light weapons of different calibers” against the Baku positions. Neither side reported casualties.

These accusations took place while the foreign ministries of the two countries are in Washington to try to end the conflict. The talks were organized under the auspices of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who reported at the start of the meeting that the two countries were taking “courageous steps” for peace.

“What we are seeing now are real and courageous steps by both countries to put the past behind us and work towards lasting peace,” Blinken said.

The secretary of state added that the United States, “as a friend of both Armenia and Azerbaijan, is committed to doing everything possible to support these efforts” for peace.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been vying for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region since the 1990s. After going to war again in 2020, the conflict revived this September. More than 280 people lost their lives.

mediator contest

Moscow considers that this area of ​​the Caucasus is part of its zone of influence and is afraid of Western mediation initiatives. In late October, Russian President Vladimir Putin returned to the center of the conflict and brought the belligerents together in Sochi for a new round of negotiations.

At the end of the summit, Baku and Yerevan pledged “not to resort to force” as well as to “resolve all disputes solely on the basis of recognition of mutual sovereignty and territorial integration.” Promises quickly forgotten.

For its part, Europe is also trying to maintain a mediating role in the conflict. On October 7, the European Union announced the dispatch of a “civilian mission” to Armenia, along the border with Azerbaijan, to help delineate the borders.

“The mission will start in October and will last for a maximum of two months. The objective of this mission is to build trust and, through its reports, contribute to the border demarcation commissions,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol announced today. Pashinian, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, French Head of State Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel.

Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey has also made mediation efforts, and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recently met with Aliev and Pashinian in Prague.

A conflict that resumed in September

At the center of the dispute is the delimitation of the border and, especially, the question of the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh area, a mountainous region located between the two countries, and which has changed hands many times in history.

The region, which has a majority of Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s with the help of Yerevan, in a first war that left more than 30,000 dead.

In 2020, both countries re-entered armed clashes that ended with more than 6,000 dead and an Armenian military defeat, followed by a Moscow-sponsored peace agreement. However, several clashes have taken place since then despite the presence of Russian troops, both in Nagorno-Karabakh and on the border.

These clashes on Monday could be the start of new fighting or just a way to put pressure on each other amid talks in Washington.

With AFP and Reuters