Russia has called for an immediate halt to fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Azerbaijan has launched a military operation against separatist forces after months of rising tensions.
Dozens of people were killed and more than 200 injured in the fighting that broke out on Tuesday when Azerbaijan sent troops backed by artillery against separatists in the Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, but part of it is controlled by separatist Armenian authorities who say it is their ancestral homeland.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Russia’s 2,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh was evacuating civilians and providing medical aid amid the clashes.
“We urge the conflicting sides to immediately stop the bloodshed, halt hostilities and eliminate civilian casualties,” the ministry said in a statement.
The United States and France also called on Azerbaijan on Tuesday to halt its offensive against Karabakh separatists, who reported 27 people, including two civilians, had been killed and more than 200 wounded.
Azerbaijani officials in the capital Baku said fighting would continue until separatists in Nagoro-Karabakh surrendered.
“Illegal Armenian forces must raise the white flag,” Azerbaijan’s presidency said. “Otherwise, the anti-terrorist measures will continue until the end.”
In the Armenian capital Yerevan, angry protesters clashed with police as they called on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign over his handling of the situation. The country’s security council warned of widespread unrest.
![epa10870548 Armenian riot police with shields stand guard as demonstrators gather outside the government building during a protest against Azerbaijan's military actions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in central Yerevan, Armenia, September 19, 2023. The demonstrators, voicing anti-government slogans, demand the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the cessation of Azerbaijan's military operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan announced on September 19 the launch of local](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/11726551-1-1695181883.jpg?resize=770%2C576)
“There is currently a real danger of mass unrest in the Republic of Armenia,” the council said in a statement, pledging to take “effective measures” to maintain constitutional order.
More than 30 people were injured in the clashes in Yerevan, the Health Ministry said.
The latest violence in Nagorno-Karabakh comes at a time when Russia, the region’s traditional power broker, is bogged down in its war against Ukraine.
‘Illegal, unjustifiable and unacceptable’
The fighting broke out on Tuesday, just hours after Azerbaijan said four police officers and two civilians were killed in landmine explosions in Nagorno-Karabakh, which authorities blamed on separatists.
Azerbaijani forces on Tuesday pounded the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh with artillery, fighter jets and drones, according to separatist authorities, who said their stronghold of Stepanakert had been attacked and more than 7,000 people had been evacuated from 16 villages.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told reporters that Azerbaijan’s operation was “illegal, unjustifiable and unacceptable.”
“I would like to emphasize that we hold Azerbaijan responsible for the fate of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Colonna said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by telephone with Armenian Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke with Pashinyan.
I spoke today with Azerbaijani President Aliyev and urged him to immediately cease military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is crucial for Azerbaijan to de-escalate the situation to promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) September 19, 2023
I spoke today with Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan to express our deep concern about Azerbaijan’s military actions. The United States calls for an immediate end to this unacceptable military action.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) September 19, 2023
Blinken called on Azerbaijan to “immediately cease military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“It is critical for Azerbaijan to de-escalate the situation to promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” US President Joe Biden wrote on social media, repeating his request made in a phone call with Aliyev, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
The ex-Soviet rivals in the Caucasus have fought two wars over the mountainous region, in the 1990s and in 2020.
The latest offensive has raised fears that the unrest could destabilize the region.
Azerbaijan has justified the offensive army by accusing the separatists of “a high level of combat readiness”.
Russia and Turkey, which oversee a vulnerable peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh, had been briefed on the operation in Azerbaijan.
Turkey, a historic ally of predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan, which sees Christian Armenia as one of its main regional rivals, called the operation “justified” and urged “comprehensive negotiations.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Wednesday for an immediate end to the fighting.
“The Secretary General calls in the strongest terms for an immediate end to the fighting, de-escalation and stricter compliance with the 2020 ceasefire and the principles of international humanitarian law,” said Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric.