Tweet
Reuters
Jan 27 2015
OSCE urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to stop clashes
By Margarita Antidze
TBILISI Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:44pm IST
Jan 27 (Reuters) - Europe's main security and rights watchdog urged
Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday to stop renewed fighting along their
border and around the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Violence that has intensified since the start of this year underlines
the risk of broader conflict in the South Caucasus, a region
crisscrossed by oil and gas pipelines.
Armenia-backed forces seized Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding
Azeri districts in the early 1990s. Repeated efforts to secure a
lasting end to hostilities have failed despite mediation led by
France, Russia and the United States.
The fresh skirmishes affect the border between the two former Soviet
republics and around Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region within
Azerbaijan that is controlled by its majority ethnic Armenian
population.
Sporadic clashes between the two countries have thwarted international
efforts to end a conflict that broke out over Nagorno-Karabakh in the
final years of the Soviet Union and killed about 30,000 people.
"I would like to urge the sides to ensure a full ceasefire and
cessation of hostilities," Ivica Dacic, the Serbian foreign minister
and currently the rotating chairman of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, said in a statement.
"I deplore the upsurge in acts of violence resulting in loss of lives,
and I call on the sides to demonstrate responsibility and avoid steps
that would lead to further escalation."
Armenia and Azerbaijan gave conflicting death tolls and disputed who
was to blame for the recent spike in violence.
The Azeri Defence Ministry said three of its own and 17 Armenian
soldiers had been killed. Nagorno-Karabakh separatists put the death
toll at 10 Armenian and 26 Azeri soldiers.
Oil-producing Azerbaijan, host to global majors including BP , Chevron
and ExxonMobil, frequently threatens to take the mountain region back
by force, and is spending heavily on its armed forces.
Armenia, an ally of Russia, says it would not stand by if
Nagorno-Karabakh were attacked. (Additional reporting by Hasmik
Lazarian in Yerevan and Nailia Bagirova in Baku, Writing by Margarita
Antidze; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/01/27/armenia-azerbaijan-osce-idINL6N0V63T420150127
Jan 27 2015
OSCE urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to stop clashes
By Margarita Antidze
TBILISI Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:44pm IST
Jan 27 (Reuters) - Europe's main security and rights watchdog urged
Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday to stop renewed fighting along their
border and around the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Violence that has intensified since the start of this year underlines
the risk of broader conflict in the South Caucasus, a region
crisscrossed by oil and gas pipelines.
Armenia-backed forces seized Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding
Azeri districts in the early 1990s. Repeated efforts to secure a
lasting end to hostilities have failed despite mediation led by
France, Russia and the United States.
The fresh skirmishes affect the border between the two former Soviet
republics and around Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region within
Azerbaijan that is controlled by its majority ethnic Armenian
population.
Sporadic clashes between the two countries have thwarted international
efforts to end a conflict that broke out over Nagorno-Karabakh in the
final years of the Soviet Union and killed about 30,000 people.
"I would like to urge the sides to ensure a full ceasefire and
cessation of hostilities," Ivica Dacic, the Serbian foreign minister
and currently the rotating chairman of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, said in a statement.
"I deplore the upsurge in acts of violence resulting in loss of lives,
and I call on the sides to demonstrate responsibility and avoid steps
that would lead to further escalation."
Armenia and Azerbaijan gave conflicting death tolls and disputed who
was to blame for the recent spike in violence.
The Azeri Defence Ministry said three of its own and 17 Armenian
soldiers had been killed. Nagorno-Karabakh separatists put the death
toll at 10 Armenian and 26 Azeri soldiers.
Oil-producing Azerbaijan, host to global majors including BP , Chevron
and ExxonMobil, frequently threatens to take the mountain region back
by force, and is spending heavily on its armed forces.
Armenia, an ally of Russia, says it would not stand by if
Nagorno-Karabakh were attacked. (Additional reporting by Hasmik
Lazarian in Yerevan and Nailia Bagirova in Baku, Writing by Margarita
Antidze; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/01/27/armenia-azerbaijan-osce-idINL6N0V63T420150127