Original Article for Trax News by Faizah Haider
There has been an ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan dating back to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which has now escalated into the worst clashes seen in years, following four days of intense fighting.
The dispute is over the Armenian occupied Karabakh region (Nagorno Karabakh) which both countries argue is significant for their distinctive religious and cultural identities. The Karabakh region has been controlled by Armenian forces for decades, despite being recognized as part of Azerbaijan. It began in 1988 when the Karabakh Armenians demanded the Karabakh region be transferred from Soviet Azerbaijan to Soviet Armenia, which has been viewed as annexation. This began a war in the 1990’s in which 30,000 people were killed, until a ceasefire was signed in 1994; after which there has been a period of de-escalation. Many believe the root of this strong Armenian nationalism is deeply linked to the Armenian genocide, which took place in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire where 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
Fighting outside of Nagorno Karabakh is rare, but hostilities at the shared border have been at a higher fluctuation since 2018. In the most recent incident, there was an exchange of fire between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops north of the border and sporadic shelling of military positions and villages, which then led to a buildup of drone forces on both sides. Armenia claims Azerbaijan launched drone attacks on civilian infrastructure and shot down one of the Azerbaijani drones. Azerbaijan denies this and claims that they shot down an Armenian drone. These bloody clashes led to the deaths of fifteen soldiers and one civilian from both sides. There has also been accusation of cyberattacks on government websites. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan blame each other for the escalation, and neither side are looking to back down.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has declared, “we are in a state of war” as Azerbaijan has threatened to hit Armenia’s atomic power plant which is in sovereign territory and not a part of the disputed territory.
The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Turkey will “stand against any attack” made on Azerbaijan, as both countries have strong cultural ties and joint energy projects. Turkish defense industry Director also spoke in defense of Azerbaijan, in the belief the attack was actually launched against Turkey. He tweeted, “Our defense industry, with all its experience, technology and capabilities, from our armed drones to our ammunition and missiles and our electronic warfare systems, is always at the disposal of Azerbaijan!” Azerbaijan’s foreign minister has been fired over what the president calls “meaningless negotiations” with neighboring Armenia.
Both the US and Russia have condemned the fighting, with Russia offering mediation between the two countries. Russian government officials and President Putin have emphasized their concern with Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stating, “an urgent need for the parties to adhere to a ceasefire and voiced a readiness to mediate efforts.” Armenia has concerns they will not receive support from Russia, who may also act as another occupying force.
Some analysts believe COVID-19 may have been the root cause of the escalation. One possible theory suggested by Leyla Abdullayeva, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Republic of Azerbaijan is that, “the situation internally in Armenia is so bad with coronavirus, its leaders want to deviate the attention of the masses.”
Despite the pandemic, protests have taken place in Azerbaijan with the general public sentiment backing war on Armenia for undermining the peace process. In contrast Kim Kardashian who is of Armenian descent, has taken to her 179 million following on Instagram to speak out against the attacks saying, “despite an ongoing global pandemic, Azerbaijan has violated the UN’s appeal for global ceasefire by unprovoked attacks against the Republic of Armenia.”
Azerbaijan has warned the European markets about a threat to the stability of the oil and gas pipelines from the Caspian Sea due to the outbreak of hostilities at its border with Armenia, as these are taking place next to their infrastructure.
Protests have taken place in Germany, Hungary and Austria against the border attacks, and against the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh region. This occupation has been compared to that of the Israeli-Palestinian occupation, but without any peace process at all. Meaningful dialogue is needed between Azerbaijan and Armenia to create a peace process, which will require a compromise from both sides which currently is nonexistent.
