Karabakh conflict; continued clashes, preparations for negotiations in the US

During the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a drone has crashed in the "Manjavan" region. Russia is trying to bring the conflicting parties back to the negotiating table. The foreign ministers of both sides want to meet with their American counterparts.

On Tuesday, October 20, IRNA news agency quoted Ali Amiri Rad, governor of the Khoda Afarin border city, as saying that a drone had crashed in a pasture in the village of Qara Qoch in the Manjavan district. According to the news, the incident did not cause any casualties or damage, and "military experts are investigating the ownership of the drone and its deployment area."

The border town of Khoda Afarin is 210 kilometers northeast of Tabriz, on the banks of the Aras River and on the southern side of the Nagorno-Karabakh war front between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Iranian media say that more than 60 mortar rockets have hit Khoda Afarin and “several drones” have crashed in the Iranian border area since the resumption of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.

It has been three weeks since the resumption of the war over Nagorno-Karabakh and its seven surrounding regions. On October 18, a ceasefire was established for the second time between the two sides in the war. The ceasefire was achieved through the efforts of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and in talks in Moscow with the participation of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Minsk Group is led by the United States, France and Russia, and was formed in 1992 to reduce tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh and the occupied territories surrounding it.

But the ceasefire is fragile, with both sides accusing each other of violating it. The Armenian military has suffered heavy casualties in ceasefire violations, according to AFP. Armenian officials said 43 people were killed in Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, bringing Armenia's war death toll to 772, 36 of whom were civilians.

Azerbaijan has not yet released figures on its human losses in the recent war. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said he will only announce the number of victims after the “critical phase of the crisis” has passed. But the Azerbaijani prosecutor’s office has reported 61 deaths.

UN Security Council calls for adherence to ceasefire

The UN Security Council has met again to discuss the ongoing fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus. At a meeting in New York on Monday (October 19), all 15 members of the council supported UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' appeal for the warring parties to adhere to a new ceasefire, a UN diplomat said.

According to diplomats, Russia, which currently holds the presidency of the UN's highest body, is preparing an official statement calling on Armenia and Azerbaijan to return to the negotiating table.

Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan Meet with Mike Pompeo

Reuters reported on Tuesday (October 20) that the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan plan to meet with their US counterpart Mike Pompeo in Washington on Friday (October 23). The meeting is being held in order to perhaps find a solution to end one of the heaviest battles in Karabakh since the 1990s, which has claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks.

The US State Department has not yet commented on the matter, but the scheduled meetings suggest that the consultations are planned just before the US presidential election.

The resurgence of the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia has raised concerns about the spread of conflict between regional powers Turkey and Russia, as well as the threat to the security of Azerbaijan's natural gas and oil pipelines.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region began in 1988 and escalated into military conflict in 1992. The conflict has yet to reach a peaceful resolution.

This summer (July) there were clashes between the forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia, resulting in casualties on both sides. After a pause, the fighting resumed on September 27 over the disputed territory. In a statement, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan called Armenia the initiator of the war, and the Prime Minister of Armenia accused the Republic of Azerbaijan of starting the clashes.

International efforts to peacefully resolve this conflict have so far been unsuccessful.

Source: DW