Tweet
ARMENIA VOWS `GRAVE CONSEQUENCES` AFTER HELICOPTER DOWNED
Zee News, India
Nov 12 2014
Last Updated: Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 02:10
Baku: Armenia threatened `grave consequences` Wednesday after
Azerbaijani forces shot down a military helicopter, sparking fears
of a major escalation in the conflict over the disputed region of
Nagorny Karabakh.
The downing of the helicopter belonging to the army of the breakaway
ethnic Armenian region is the most serious incident on the Karabakh
border since a 1994 ceasefire ended a bloody war that cost 30,000
lives.
Armenian media reported that the helicopter`s three crew members were
all killed.
"A MI-24 combat helicopter attempted to attack positions of the
Azerbaijani army near (Karabakh`s) Agdam district," Azerbaijan`s
defence ministry said in a statement.
"The helicopter has been shot down by the Azerbaijani army," it said,
adding that the wreckage fell on territory held by ethnic Armenians.
Yerevan vowed that Baku will face "grave consequences", fuelling
fears that the incident might seriously undermine a shaky peace.
"This is an unprecedented escalation and the consequences for
Azerbaijan will be grave," Armenia`s Foreign Ministry spokesman,
Artsrun Hovannisyan, told AFP.
"Azerbaijan`s claim that the Armenian helicopter attacked its positions
is not true. Examination of the wreckage will prove that the helicopter
carried no weapons," he added.
The OSCE Minsk Group of mediators in Karabakh peace talks expressed
its "very serious concern" about the "drastic incident, the first of
its kind since the ceasefire agreement was reached".
"Today`s events remind us of the volatility of the Nagorny Karabakh
conflict and the urgency to intensify efforts to find a lasting
settlement," the group, which is co-chaired by France, Russia and
the United States, said in a statement.
The separatist defence ministry in Karabakh confirmed that its
helicopter was downed by Azerbaijani forces "while conducting a
training flight as part of military drills", adding that a firefight
began after the incident and was continuing.
"The enemy is continuing to fire intensively in the direction of the
site of the incident with small arms of various calibre," it said.
Since Thursday, Karabakh forces have been conducting joint drills with
Armenia coordinated by the Armenian army chief-of-staff.Two decades
after a ceasefire agreement ended their bitter war over Karabakh,
Azerbaijani and Armenian forces regularly exchange fire across their
frontier and along the Karabakh frontline.
Last August saw an unprecedented spiral of violence with more than
20 troops killed from both sides in the deadliest clashes since an
overall ceasefire was agreed.
Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan seized the mountainous region,
which is mainly inhabited by ethnic Armenians, from Azerbaijan in a
war in the 1990s.
Despite years of internationally mediated negotiations, the two
sides have not yet signed a final peace deal, with Karabakh still
internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
Oil-rich Baku, whose military spending exceeds Armenia`s entire state
budget, has threatened to take back the region by force if negotiations
do not yield results.
Armenia, which is heavily armed by Russia, says it could crush any
offensive.
Last month Europe made a fresh push to end the festering conflict.
Germany`s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited both
countries in October to facilitate a negotiated solution to the
conflict.
French President Francois Hollande also hosted leaders from Armenia
and Azerbaijan for Karabakh talks but the meeting ended without any
breakthrough.
Tensions between Baku and Moscow-allied Yerevan are escalating as
Russia confronts the West over Ukraine, where government forces are
battling pro-Russian separatists.
"What happened in Ukraine has had a direct impact" on the Karabakh
conflict, a source in Hollande`s entourage said in October, adding
that Russia`s annexation of Crimea "exacerbated the climate".
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/armenia-vows-grave-consequences-after-helicopter-downed_1498123.html
Zee News, India
Nov 12 2014
Last Updated: Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 02:10
Baku: Armenia threatened `grave consequences` Wednesday after
Azerbaijani forces shot down a military helicopter, sparking fears
of a major escalation in the conflict over the disputed region of
Nagorny Karabakh.
The downing of the helicopter belonging to the army of the breakaway
ethnic Armenian region is the most serious incident on the Karabakh
border since a 1994 ceasefire ended a bloody war that cost 30,000
lives.
Armenian media reported that the helicopter`s three crew members were
all killed.
"A MI-24 combat helicopter attempted to attack positions of the
Azerbaijani army near (Karabakh`s) Agdam district," Azerbaijan`s
defence ministry said in a statement.
"The helicopter has been shot down by the Azerbaijani army," it said,
adding that the wreckage fell on territory held by ethnic Armenians.
Yerevan vowed that Baku will face "grave consequences", fuelling
fears that the incident might seriously undermine a shaky peace.
"This is an unprecedented escalation and the consequences for
Azerbaijan will be grave," Armenia`s Foreign Ministry spokesman,
Artsrun Hovannisyan, told AFP.
"Azerbaijan`s claim that the Armenian helicopter attacked its positions
is not true. Examination of the wreckage will prove that the helicopter
carried no weapons," he added.
The OSCE Minsk Group of mediators in Karabakh peace talks expressed
its "very serious concern" about the "drastic incident, the first of
its kind since the ceasefire agreement was reached".
"Today`s events remind us of the volatility of the Nagorny Karabakh
conflict and the urgency to intensify efforts to find a lasting
settlement," the group, which is co-chaired by France, Russia and
the United States, said in a statement.
The separatist defence ministry in Karabakh confirmed that its
helicopter was downed by Azerbaijani forces "while conducting a
training flight as part of military drills", adding that a firefight
began after the incident and was continuing.
"The enemy is continuing to fire intensively in the direction of the
site of the incident with small arms of various calibre," it said.
Since Thursday, Karabakh forces have been conducting joint drills with
Armenia coordinated by the Armenian army chief-of-staff.Two decades
after a ceasefire agreement ended their bitter war over Karabakh,
Azerbaijani and Armenian forces regularly exchange fire across their
frontier and along the Karabakh frontline.
Last August saw an unprecedented spiral of violence with more than
20 troops killed from both sides in the deadliest clashes since an
overall ceasefire was agreed.
Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan seized the mountainous region,
which is mainly inhabited by ethnic Armenians, from Azerbaijan in a
war in the 1990s.
Despite years of internationally mediated negotiations, the two
sides have not yet signed a final peace deal, with Karabakh still
internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
Oil-rich Baku, whose military spending exceeds Armenia`s entire state
budget, has threatened to take back the region by force if negotiations
do not yield results.
Armenia, which is heavily armed by Russia, says it could crush any
offensive.
Last month Europe made a fresh push to end the festering conflict.
Germany`s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited both
countries in October to facilitate a negotiated solution to the
conflict.
French President Francois Hollande also hosted leaders from Armenia
and Azerbaijan for Karabakh talks but the meeting ended without any
breakthrough.
Tensions between Baku and Moscow-allied Yerevan are escalating as
Russia confronts the West over Ukraine, where government forces are
battling pro-Russian separatists.
"What happened in Ukraine has had a direct impact" on the Karabakh
conflict, a source in Hollande`s entourage said in October, adding
that Russia`s annexation of Crimea "exacerbated the climate".
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/armenia-vows-grave-consequences-after-helicopter-downed_1498123.html