2023-09-19 21:38:37
According to Armenian information, more than 7,000 civilians were evacuated from 16 towns after the start of the large-scale Azerbaijani military operation in the disputed Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The military operation has already cost the lives of more than two dozen people. So far, 27 deaths have been confirmed, including two civilians, according to the human rights commissioner for the internationally unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Gegam Stepanyan.
In addition, more than 200 people were injured in the conflict region, Stepanyan said on Tuesday evening on the short message service X (formerly Twitter). The evacuated people were brought to safety from communities in the Askeran, Martakert, Martuni and Schuschi regions.
As Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) told the APA, a special session of the UN Security Council will take place on Thursday at France’s initiative in view of the Azerbaijani attack. Diplomatic circles in New York reported that the emergency meeting on this issue had been called for Thursday evening (CEST). Azerbaijan’s neighboring country Armenia had previously asked the UN Security Council for help. The attacked Nagorno-Karabakh is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Armenians.
Schallenberg assesses the latest developments in the region as “very explosive and extremely dangerous. “We have now seen a massive concentration of Azeri troops for 24 hours.” There are also attacks with drones. This is very worrying and has the potential to cause a “massive “To start a fire in the South Caucasus,” said Schallenberg on the sidelines of the UN general debate.
There is a risk of a large-scale escalation, explained Schallenberg in New York. “We urgently call on Azerbaijan to de-escalate, end the military operation and withdraw its troops.” He will endeavor to hold relevant discussions at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “It is perhaps a bit cynical if this is taking place at exactly the same time that the global community is meeting in New York and working precisely to ensure that such situations do not arise,” Schallenberg continued. “But that perhaps also shows somewhere the basic problems we currently have with multilateralism and international cooperation.”
Authoritarian-run Azerbaijan began a broad military operation on Tuesday morning to conquer the region within its territory. According to local reports, 25 people had already been killed by evening.
The two former Soviet countries Azerbaijan and Armenia have been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh for years. The ceasefire after the last war in 2020, in which Azerbaijan had already conquered large parts of Karabakh, was repeatedly broken.
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