Nagorno-Karabakh heating up again - Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of all-out 'war'

[bryant.coleman]

Stepanakert is a familiar name from the news of the nineties. It suffered immense damage from incessant Azeri bombardment.

It is the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and lies close to the line of control. During the last two decades, some infrastructure development took place in Stepanakert, thanks to the contributions from the Armenian diaspora in Russia and the United States. But now, the diaspora is weakening as a result of population ageing and low birth rates, while the Azeri population is exploding due to their very high birth rate.

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[galdur]

Armenia President: Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Could Lead to All-Out War
Clashes Continue Into Monday In Disputed Region

by Jason Ditz, April 04, 2016

Heavy weekend fighting continued into Monday, with reports of at least three more Azeri soldiers killed and Nagorno-Karabakh reporting that they’ve had 20 fighters killed and 72 wounded in the past three days of fighting.

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan warned a group of foreign ambassadors today that the war could have “unpredictable and irreversible consequences, right up to a full-scale war,” cautioning that both Russia and Turkey could quickly become involved.

The UN recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, but the region has had an unrecognized, Armenia-backed government since 1994. The dispute over the territory’s ownership rages throughout the Soviet era as well, with no signs of resolution.

Turkey issued a statement about the weekend fighting expressing support for Azerbaijan, while Russia’s Foreign Ministry slammed Turkey for being “one-sided.” Russia has an existing defense treaty with Armenia, and has 5,000 troops stationed there to defend them from potential incursions.

The recent flare-up came in the wake of Azeri President Aliyev’s visit to the United States. Secretary of State John Kerry met with him, and called for an “ultimate resolution” of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. Though Kerry insisted he wanted a diplomatic solution, within 48 hours fighting was raging.

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/04/04/armenia-president-nagorno-karabakh-conflict-could-lead-to-all-out-war/

[magnific61]

Armenia occupied Azerbaijan's lands in 88 war. Today time to get them back.

[galdur]

Fighting in Nagorno Karabakh: A Headache for Moscow
Russian diplomatic intervention in an area of strategic importance to Moscow is likely to prevent escalation.

Alexander Mercouris Sun, Apr 3, 2016

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/fighting-nagorno-karabakh-headache-moscow/ri13720

[bryant.coleman]

Armenia occupied Azerbaijan's lands in 88 war. Today time to get them back.

OK... here is the deal. Armenia will give back the districts of Qubadli, Zangilan and Fizuli to the Azeris. On the other hand, Turkey should give back the provinces of Kars, Ardahan, Iğdır, Ağrı, Bayburt, Erzincan, and Erzurum to the Armenians, as this region was part of the historic Armenian homeland before the Ottomans massacred them in 1915.

[galdur]

‘Sporadic Fighting’ Reported as Ceasefire Takes Hold in Nagorno-Karabakh
Situation Remains Unresolved

by Jason Ditz, April 05, 2016

Locals reported “sporadic firing” in the Nagorno-Karabakh region today, but no major fighting after Armenian and Azerbaijan officials agreed to a joint ceasefire, which seems to be ending the fighting in the territory for now.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been disputed between Armenians and Azeris for a century now. The UN recognizes the territory as Azerbaijan’s, but the de facto autonomous government is Armenia-backed. The two sides have fought several wars over the issue.

This latest fighting, which spanned the weekend and Monday, was the first major dust-up since 1994. Both sides continue to accuse the other of starting it, and dozens of people were killed in the fighting.

The ceasefire is being welcomed by a number of nations, but the situation remains,as ever, unresolved, leaving open the possibility that another war could break out at any moment, on any pretext.

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/04/05/sporadic-fighting-reported-as-ceasefire-takes-hold-in-nagorno-karabakh/

[galdur]

Nagorno-Karabakh: Fighting still ongoing amid 'ceasefire'

Published on Apr 5, 2016
Azerbaijan says sixteen of its soldiers and two civilians have been killed in fighting over a disputed region in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area controlled by ethnic Armenians. It comes as the country's Defense Ministry blamed the Armenian military for artillery attacks they say are continuing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQE9-UT_W3E

[Nemo1024]

Three trivia facts:

When after the 1917 coup d'etat Russian Empire was destroyed, Nogornyj Karabah became an independent Armenian state.

Nogornyj Karabah is the hot-spot that was firs ignited in the USSR, and the violence fanning out of there, subsequently lead to the destruction of USSR.

The name "Nagornyj Karabah" is comprised of two words. the first, "nagornyj" is Russian and means "on the mountain top" (The same as in the name of the Balkan country "Chernogoria"), the second "Karabah" is Turkic and means "black garden".

[bryant.coleman]

The Armenians seems to have lost some territory. The RNK officials are claiming that the maximum retreat from the frontline was 300 meters, but even this retreat could yield a loss of several tens of sq.km of territory. Right now the Armenians seems to be giving more importance to preserving the lives of their soldiers, rather than holding on to the territory.

[Nemo1024]

The Armenians seems to have lost some territory. The RNK officials are claiming that the maximum retreat from the frontline was 300 meters, but even this retreat could yield a loss of several tens of sq.km of territory. Right now the Armenians seems to be giving more importance to preserving the lives of their soldiers, rather than holding on to the territory.

I would expect them to do so. A nation, who faced an extensive genocide throughout centuries (not least in Galicia), would tend to value human life much more.

[galdur]

They´re basically between Turks, in Turkey itself and Azerbaijan. Or that´s at least Turkic. Are the languages, Turkish and Azeri similar enough that they understand each other well?

[magnific61]

They´re basically between Turks, in Turkey itself and Azerbaijan. Or that´s at least Turkic. Are the languages, Turkish and Azeri similar enough that they understand each other well?

Yes Turkish Azeri languages are almost similar and they can understand each other very well. There are many countries in Middle Asia that use similar language. Also in Iran there are 20 million people speak in Turkish. That means Turkes doesn't only consist by Turkey

[galdur]

They´re basically between Turks, in Turkey itself and Azerbaijan. Or that´s at least Turkic. Are the languages, Turkish and Azeri similar enough that they understand each other well?

Yes Turkish Azeri languages are almost similar and they can understand each other very well. There are many countries in Middle Asia that use similar language. Also in Iran there are 20 million people speak in Turkish. That means Turkes doesn't only consist by Turkey

Yeah, the Turks came from central Asia so it stands to reason. Turkoman and later Ottoman. I didn´t realize that those Turkic languages were still almost identical. Language is very important, it´ll always draw peoples together if it´s common. Which is why for example I think it´ll be very difficult to tear Russia and Ukraine apart. It may succeed for a while but they are likely to get close again over time.

[Hirose UK]

Ohh no again.
Those 2 countries already had very big war conflict about this area, I hope they will not start again.
It's much better for them to start peace talk and try to find some peaceful solution.

There were conferences talking about the peace of these two countries in 2008 and 2010, but those didn't bring any peace, just war.

I think there's should be some proofs to claim the area, so there will be no conflict between them.

[bryant.coleman]

They´re basically between Turks, in Turkey itself and Azerbaijan. Or that´s at least Turkic. Are the languages, Turkish and Azeri similar enough that they understand each other well?

Yes Turkish Azeri languages are almost similar and they can understand each other very well. There are many countries in Middle Asia that use similar language. Also in Iran there are 20 million people speak in Turkish. That means Turkes doesn't only consist by Turkey

Azeri language is a Turkic langauge. That doesn't mean that it is the same as modern Turkish. The difference between Azeri and Turkish is similar to the difference between German and English.

And there are very few Turkish speakers in Iran. May be a few thousands. However, there are close to 15 million Azeris (especially in Qazvin and Hamadan), and a few hundred thousand Turkomans. The most important factor to remember here is that almost all of the Iranian Azeris are Shiite, thereby differing from the Salafist Turks.

[Rizla2345]

This is pretty fascinating, also the comments

Mutual Intelligibility Among the Turkic Languages

https://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/mutual-intelligibility-among-the-turkic-languages/

[magnific61]

They´re basically between Turks, in Turkey itself and Azerbaijan. Or that´s at least Turkic. Are the languages, Turkish and Azeri similar enough that they understand each other well?

Yes Turkish Azeri languages are almost similar and they can understand each other very well. There are many countries in Middle Asia that use similar language. Also in Iran there are 20 million people speak in Turkish. That means Turkes doesn't only consist by Turkey

Yeah, the Turks came from central Asia so it stands to reason. Turkoman and later Ottoman. I didn´t realize that those Turkic languages were still almost identical. Language is very important, it´ll always draw peoples together if it´s common. Which is why for example I think it´ll be very difficult to tear Russia and Ukraine apart. It may succeed for a while but they are likely to get close again over time.

Yes, Russia will live very big difficulties with its mixed turkish nations if can't manage them keeping connected itself. But in current  economical situation it doesn't seem that will able to do it. I believe that there's Russia behind new war between two states. Russia provokes Armenia for creating an opportunity to interfere. Because Baku approaches to West day by day. For example TANAP Project will push Russia to corner.TANAP will carry Caspian Sea natural gas to Europe in spite of Russia and Russia doesn't want any project in that geography without its control. You'll see that the main reason of Karabakh war is that project.

[galdur]

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that the agreement on ceasefire on the contact line in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was reached through Russia’s mediation at the meeting of senior military officials of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow.

The meeting on Tuesday was attended by the chiefs of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Najmaddin Sadigov and Yuri Khatchaturov. "At the meeting an agreement was reached on ending military operations on the contact line of forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia," the ministry said in a statement.....

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/moscow-stops-another-war-nagorno-karabakh/ri13775