Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia leave at least 23 dead

Violence flared up between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on Sunday (September 27, 2020) and both the countries have accused each other of launching the attack and of claiming to have an upper hand in the war.

While the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the enemy started an attack and the military of Karabakh region is responding, the Defence Ministry of Azerbaijan argued that Armenia has attacked them and it has begun a “counterattack” operation.

The deadly clash have claimed at least 23 lives over a decades-long territorial dispute and threatened to draw in regional powers Russia and Turkey. The last major clash between both the countries over the region was in 2016.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked for decades in a territorial dispute over the Armenia-backed breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh.

The current clash is being seen as an outcome of the Turkey-Russia conflict, with Turkey supporting Muslim majority Azerbaijan and Russia aligning with Christian majority Armenia.

The violence was triggered by the Turkish aggression as it began attacking Russian forces along the Syrian border and in July 2020, instigated Azerbaijan to attack the Armenian forces in the Tovuz region — the junction point of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia — to give a message to Russia. Just a couple of days after the conflict, diverging from covertly supporting Azerbaijan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly declared that Turkey shall support Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia.

France, Germany and the EU urged an “immediate ceasefire”, while Pope Francis prayed for peace.

US president Donald Trump said that Washington is looking into what can be done to stop the flare-up of tensions in the disputed region. “We are looking at it very strongly. We have a lot of good relationships in that area, we will see if we can stop it,” Trump told reporters at the White House