THREE KILLED IN ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN FIGHTING AHEAD OF CLINTON VISIT
Europe Online Magazine
http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/three-killed-in-armenia-azerbaijan-fighting-ahead-of-clinton-visit_213631.html
June 4 2012
Moscow (dpa) - Three Armenian soldiers died in fighting with
Azerbaijani forces on Monday, as US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton was scheduled to tour Caucasus region nations.
The clash took place 125 kilometres north-east of the Armenian capital,
Yerevan, after border troops fired on "Azerbaijani infiltrators,"
an Armenian Defence Ministry statement said.
The statement said "several" more Armenian troops had been wounded
in the exchange of fire, which "repelled" the encroaching Azerbaijanis.
Azerbaijan denied the incident took place.
Clinton was scheduled to arrive in the Armenian capital later Monday
for talks with President Serzh Sargsyan on regional security.
The discussions are expected to focus on Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic
Armenian separatist territory inside Azerbaijan that has been supported
by Yerevan since the early 1990s.
A dispute over the territory's status has stymied relations between
Armenia and Azerbaijan for decades.
Armenia is a strategically important region, lying along gas routes
from the energy-rich Caspian Sea region to Europe, and is a close
partner of Iran and Georgia.
Armenia sees itself as increasingly threatened by its authoritarian,
oil-rich neighbour Azerbaijan, with which it fought a war in
the 1990s. An estimated 30,000 people died in that war over
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Clinton was planning to visit Georgia on Tuesday, Azerbaijan on
Wednesday and Turkey on Thursday, a US State Department statement said.
Europe Online Magazine
http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/three-killed-in-armenia-azerbaijan-fighting-ahead-of-clinton-visit_213631.html
June 4 2012
Moscow (dpa) - Three Armenian soldiers died in fighting with
Azerbaijani forces on Monday, as US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton was scheduled to tour Caucasus region nations.
The clash took place 125 kilometres north-east of the Armenian capital,
Yerevan, after border troops fired on "Azerbaijani infiltrators,"
an Armenian Defence Ministry statement said.
The statement said "several" more Armenian troops had been wounded
in the exchange of fire, which "repelled" the encroaching Azerbaijanis.
Azerbaijan denied the incident took place.
Clinton was scheduled to arrive in the Armenian capital later Monday
for talks with President Serzh Sargsyan on regional security.
The discussions are expected to focus on Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic
Armenian separatist territory inside Azerbaijan that has been supported
by Yerevan since the early 1990s.
A dispute over the territory's status has stymied relations between
Armenia and Azerbaijan for decades.
Armenia is a strategically important region, lying along gas routes
from the energy-rich Caspian Sea region to Europe, and is a close
partner of Iran and Georgia.
Armenia sees itself as increasingly threatened by its authoritarian,
oil-rich neighbour Azerbaijan, with which it fought a war in
the 1990s. An estimated 30,000 people died in that war over
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Clinton was planning to visit Georgia on Tuesday, Azerbaijan on
Wednesday and Turkey on Thursday, a US State Department statement said.