The Iranian president warned on Wednesday that fighting between Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces in the South Caucasus could lead to a regional war as the death toll from the 11th hostilities rose.
More than 300 people have now been killed’
in new fighting in and around the mountainous siege of Nagorno-Karabakh, which
belongs to Azerbaijan under international law but is ruled by a population and
ethnic Armenians.
Azerbaijan says Azerbaijan cities outside
the conflict zone have also been’ attacked in the deadliest fighting in more
than 25 years, bringing the fighting closer to the region from where pipelines
carry Azeri gas and oil to Europe. Take away
Iran, which borders Armenia and
Azerbaijan, has raised concerns with both former Soviet republics that Azerbaijan's
closest ally, Russia, which has a defense pact with Armenia, could be embroiled
in the conflict. Is.
"We must be careful that the war
between Armenia and Azerbaijan does not become a regional war," Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised remark.
"Peace is the basis of our work and
we hope that stability in the region will be restored peacefully."
"Iran will not allow the states to
send terrorists to our borders under various pretexts," he said.
In a new call for a ceasefire, Russian
President Vladimir Putin said in a televised interview that the incidents were
a tragedy and that Moscow was deeply concerned.
The head of Russia's SVR Foreign
Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, said on Tuesday
that the conflict was attracting people he described as Middle Eastern
mercenaries and terrorists.
Nagorno-Karabakh could be a launchpad for
Islamist militants to enter Russia and other states in the region, Naryshkin
said.
Turkey has denied involvement in the
conflict, denying allegations made by French President Emmanuel Macron and by
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that Turkey has used Syrian jihadists to fight
the conflict. Has been’ sent.
"Terrorist Attack"
But reiterating the allegations in a
commentary to Sky News, Armenian Prime Minister Nicole Pashinyan said on
Wednesday that Turkey's and Azerbaijan's actions during the conflict amounted
to a "terrorist attack."
"I have no doubt that this is a
policy to continue the Armenian genocide and restore the Turkish Empire," Pashinyan
said.
Between 1915 and 1923, about 1.5 million
Armenians were killed’ under Ottoman rule.
Turkey admits that many Armenians living
in the kingdom during World War I were killed’ in clashes with Ottoman forces,
but contradicts the figures and denies that the killings were systematic and
racist. Were killed’.
Nagorno-Karabakh said the total number of
military deaths since September 27 was 280, with 40 more killed. According to
him, 19 fighters have also been killed’ and several others injured, including
fighter jets and drones. Artillery and tanks, and extensive damage.
The Azeri prosecutor's office says 28
Azerbaijanis have been killed’ in the renewed fighting. Azerbaijan has not
disclosed information about its military casualties.
Mediation efforts led by Russia, France
and the United States have failed to stop the intermittent fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh,
which broke away from Baku's control in the 1991-94 war that killed nearly
30,000 people. Were
Putin said he was in constant contact with
Pashinyan and Russia's TASS news agency reported that Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev had also spoken to Putin on the phone.
Drawing further diplomatic conclusions
from the conflict, Athens said it had recalled its ambassador to Azerbaijan
following "baseless and aggressive" allegations by the Azerbaijani
government that Greece tolerated militants on its soil.
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