Azerbaijan said on Sunday that the Armenian army had shelled its second city, Ganja, in connection with the fighting in the South Caucasus that began a week ago.
Armenia has denied that it has directed
"anyway" to fire at Azerbaijan, but the leader of an Armenian armed
Nagorno-Karabakh militia inside Azerbaijan said his forces had destroyed a
military airport in Ganja. have done.
In addition, there is a risk of a
full-scale war between the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
which could drag on other powers. Azerbaijan supports Turkey, while Armenia has
a defense agreement with Russia. Fighting between Azeri and ethnic Armenian
forces, which began a week ago, has intensified in the past two days and has
spread beyond the deviant region of Karabakh.
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov
said that "arson from Azerbaijani territory to Azerbaijan is clearly
provocative and has expanded the area of hostility."
Ganja, with a total population of 335,000,
is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Kyrgyz capital, Stepanakert,
and 80 kilometers from the Armenian city of Vardenis. Earlier, Azerbaijan
accused Armenia of firing on its territory from Vardenis, but Yerevan denied
it.
Armenia says Azerbaijan has used the Ganja
airport as a base for its warplanes to carry out bombing raids on
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh leader Arayik Harutyunyan
said his forces would target Azeri cities.
"From now on, permanent military
units based in Azerbaijan's major cities have become targets of the defense
forces," he said.
Heavy accidents
The death toll from last week's fighting
has risen to hundreds, although it is impossible to get exact figures.
Armenia says Azerbaijan's air force and
long-range missiles hit the town of Karabakh, Stepanakert and Martakert.
Each side accused the other of targeting
civilians.
Ignoring calls for a ceasefire from
Russia, the United States, France and the European Union, the opposition has escalated
hostilities over the weekend, as well as escalating aggressive rhetoric.
Armenia said on Saturday it would use
"all necessary means" to protect ethnic Armenians from invasion by
Azerbaijan, and its prime minister has fought the 20th-century war against
Ottoman Turkey.
Azerbaijan said on Saturday that its
forces had taken control of a village. Armenia acknowledged that ethnic
Armenian fighters were under pressure in some places and said the situation on
the ground fluctuated. Arriving.
Clashes are the worst since the 1990s,
when nearly 30,000 people were’ killed. He expressed international concern
about stability in the South Caucasus, where pipelines have supplied Azeri oil
and gas to world markets.
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