Tweet
DEADLY FIGHTING REPORTED IN KARABAKH
Radio Liberty
March 4 2008
Czech Republic
Armenia and Azerbaijan reported on Tuesday fierce fighting between
their forces stationed northeast of Nagorno-Karabakh, blaming each
other for what appears to be the most serious ceasefire violation
in months.
News reports from Baku said at least two Azerbaijani soldiers were
killed in the clashes. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry declined to
confirm or deny the information.
The Armenian side said fighting broke out there early in the morning
when Azerbaijani troops attacked and temporarily capture a Karabakh
Armenian army outpost in the area. According to Prime Minister Serzh
Sarkisian, Armenian forces went on a counteroffensive and recaptured
the position in the afternoon after the Azerbaijanis refused to
pull back.
"As of now, that position is under our control and the enemy has
fled leaving many corpses behind," Sarkisian told journalists in
the evening.
The Defense Ministry in Yerevan issued a similar statement earlier
in the day, saying that Karabakh Armenian soldiers killed several
Azerbaijani servicemen and suffered no casualties.
The Azerbaijani military came up with a diametrically opposite
version of events, accusing the Armenians of attacking its positions
north-east of Karabakh's Mardakert district. "The Azerbaijani army
is giving the Armenians a worthy response and we are fully capable of
defending the independence of our country," the army chief of staff,
Lieutenant-General Nejmeddin Sadygov, said, according to the Day.az
news services.
Both Sadygov and a spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry,
Khazar Ibrahim, linked the fighting with the post-election tensions
in Armenia. "This is a clear provocation by Armenia," Ibrahim told
RFE/RL. "They are trying to use the situation which is taking place
in Yerevan after the elections and are trying to divert the attention
of their citizens and population from the internal and domestic issues
in order to seek an external enemy."
But according to Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, it is
Baku which is striking at a moment when Yerevan is particularly
vulnerable. "We condemn this challenge, and we think that this is an
attempt by the Azerbaijani side to exploit the current situation in
Armenia," Oskanian said. "Perhaps they thought we had focused all of
our attention on our internal situation, and that this could provide
them with a psychological advantage, but this hasn't proved the case."
Radio Liberty
March 4 2008
Czech Republic
Armenia and Azerbaijan reported on Tuesday fierce fighting between
their forces stationed northeast of Nagorno-Karabakh, blaming each
other for what appears to be the most serious ceasefire violation
in months.
News reports from Baku said at least two Azerbaijani soldiers were
killed in the clashes. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry declined to
confirm or deny the information.
The Armenian side said fighting broke out there early in the morning
when Azerbaijani troops attacked and temporarily capture a Karabakh
Armenian army outpost in the area. According to Prime Minister Serzh
Sarkisian, Armenian forces went on a counteroffensive and recaptured
the position in the afternoon after the Azerbaijanis refused to
pull back.
"As of now, that position is under our control and the enemy has
fled leaving many corpses behind," Sarkisian told journalists in
the evening.
The Defense Ministry in Yerevan issued a similar statement earlier
in the day, saying that Karabakh Armenian soldiers killed several
Azerbaijani servicemen and suffered no casualties.
The Azerbaijani military came up with a diametrically opposite
version of events, accusing the Armenians of attacking its positions
north-east of Karabakh's Mardakert district. "The Azerbaijani army
is giving the Armenians a worthy response and we are fully capable of
defending the independence of our country," the army chief of staff,
Lieutenant-General Nejmeddin Sadygov, said, according to the Day.az
news services.
Both Sadygov and a spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry,
Khazar Ibrahim, linked the fighting with the post-election tensions
in Armenia. "This is a clear provocation by Armenia," Ibrahim told
RFE/RL. "They are trying to use the situation which is taking place
in Yerevan after the elections and are trying to divert the attention
of their citizens and population from the internal and domestic issues
in order to seek an external enemy."
But according to Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, it is
Baku which is striking at a moment when Yerevan is particularly
vulnerable. "We condemn this challenge, and we think that this is an
attempt by the Azerbaijani side to exploit the current situation in
Armenia," Oskanian said. "Perhaps they thought we had focused all of
our attention on our internal situation, and that this could provide
them with a psychological advantage, but this hasn't proved the case."