Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis (2021–present)" in English language version.
...the border areas between Armenia's Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces, and Azerbaijan's newly established East Zangezur region have become militarised front lines.
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian officially inaugurated the consulate on Friday, making Iran the first country to establish a diplomatic mission in the [Syunik] province that is sought by Baku and Ankara.
While Azerbaijan maintains that Armenia provoked the latest fighting, geolocation of some of the footage recorded since Tuesday strongly indicates incursions by Azerbaijani armed forces inside Armenia proper.
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian officially inaugurated the consulate on Friday, making Iran the first country to establish a diplomatic mission in the province that is sought by Baku and Ankara.
A soldier was reportedly killed in the process, prompting a military operation by Azerbaijan dubbed "Revenge".
So long as talks appear stalled, Azerbaijan will likely turn to small-scale violations of the cease-fire to seize tactically advantageous areas in Nagorno-Karabakh, or similar actions along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Baku has used this strategy on multiple occasions since the cease-fire was signed in November 2020 to force diplomatic progress by simultaneously demonstrating and increasing its leverage.
Sev Lake with its eastern, western and southern shores is located in the territory of the Armenian SSR -
Sev Lake with its eastern, western and southern shores is located in the territory of the Armenian SSR –
There was little doubt who started the fighting. Azerbaijan initially claimed that it was merely responding to Armenian "provocations" – a claim echoed by its ally, Turkey – but largely dropped this rhetoric in the following days in favor of other justifications.
'Many Armenians believe there will be a spring offensive by Azerbaijan. If this doesn't happen, our mission is already a success,' Markus Ritter, the German head of the monitoring mission, told Germany's Deutsche Welle broadcaster this week.
...in the Soviet years it was not clear through which part of the forest the Armenian-Azerbaijani border passes. 'At that time, during the Soviet years, none of the adults knew the border. We knew roughly that this was a forest. We entered, but we didn't know 10–20 meters. Is it their territory that we take out wood from, or is it our territory?' ...The friendship between Inner Hand and the neighboring Azerbaijani Kyollu Razdara is in the past, now the residents of Inner Hand are anxiously following the movement of the Azerbaijanis approaching the village.
About 10 days ago, the Azerbaijani military put up five new tents and fortified them in the administrative area of Nerkin Handi, informed the administrative head of the village, Khachatur Baghdasaryan. 'They entered the administrative territory of the village, descended 800–900 meters from their position to our territory. There are five tents, and they are digging trenches.'
Local government officials and farmers said Tegh lost a large part of its agricultural land and pastures. Some of them said that the Azerbaijani military made bigger territorial gains than is admitted by official Yerevan.
Azerbaijani troops advanced several kilometers into Armenia's Gegharkunik and Syunik provinces on May 12–14.
Azerbaijani forces continued to occupy on Monday a strategic hill near the Lachin corridor seized by them at the weekend, further complicating Nagorno-Karabakh's communication with Armenia and the outside world...the high ground occupied by Azerbaijani soldiers overlooks the barely passable bypass road leading to the Armenian border.
Azerbaijani troops redeployed on Thursday morning to more parts of the Lachin district adjacent to the Armenian border, blocking the old [Lachin] corridor section.
...starting from May 12, the armed forces of Azerbaijan invaded the territory of the Republic of Armenia in at least three directions and actually entrenched themselves at a depth of several kilometers.
Even one of his military operations, the one that attacked Karabakh in August this year, was code-named "Revenge." Aliyev says that he does not want revanchist forces to come to power in Armenia, but if one looks at what he does, it seems that he is working very hard for just that. His discourse is not one of a victorious statesman ready to turn the page, but a vengeful leader – just look at the trophy park in Baku, or the statues of iron fists representing Azerbaijani military might put up on every occasion...
The attack on September 12, 2022 also undermined the earlier Azerbaijani official line about territorial integrity and international law. Listening to Aliyev's speeches over the last decade, we can detect a slide from a legalist discourse to a discourse emphasizing a primordial struggle between two ethnic groups. At least for the last ten years Aliyev has asserted that "we will return to our ancient lands – to Yerevan, Goyche and Zangezur."
The international analytics emphasized the important role of Russia in the post conflict period
Azerbaijan said there were Armenian "provocations", a claim which cannot be verified. Eyewitnesses describe heavy shelling of military targets and civilian infrastructure in, amongst other places, the village of Sotk and the resort town of Jermuk, whose civilian population was evacuated.
On 18 March, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev declared that 'Armenia must accept our conditions' if Armenians wish to 'live comfortably on an area of 29,000 square kilometers.'
Unrecognised, undemarcated or otherwise contested borderlines are used as instruments by Russian and Azerbaijani forces, respectively, to destabilise, create 'new realities', and enforce concessions. Everyday livelihoods in the conflict zones are violently disrupted as a result: villagers can no longer safely access farmlands, schools, water resources, relatives or religious sites.
The following week saw a reconfiguration of road links and military positions in the Lachin Corridor, with Azerbaijani forces constructing a new military post, taking control of strategic heights, ignoring Russian calls to return to their original locations, and seizing land in Armenia around the new road leading from the villages of Tegh and Kornidzor towards Karabakh.
In an ironic twist, the unarmed European observers in Armenia and the armed Russian peacekeepers have begun to look alike, both preventing full-scale warfare but unable to fully contain Baku's ambitions. The 'Russian peacekeepers,' political scientist Nerses Kopalyan commented sharply, 'function more like an impotent observation mission than an armed contingent.'
At least 50 square kilometres of Armenian territory are now reported as occupied by Azerbaijani forces.
The blockade [of Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh] is, therefore, not an isolated act but one occurring in the context of a war...that Azerbaijan unilaterally began in September 2020 and that has as its aim the takeover of historic Armenian lands in the Republic of Artsakh and in the Republic of Armenia along with the forced displacement ("ethnic cleansing") of the Armenian populations in Azeri-acquired territory.
Azerbaijan has denied entering Armenian territory, but satellite images clearly show Azerbaijani positions inside Armenia, with forwarded military posts, roads and vehicles.
A #CivilNetCheck visual investigation confirmed, through the study of satellite imagery, that the new road leading to the Azerbaijani positions was built last May. This means that the advance by the Azerbaijani troops into Armenia was concealed from the public for nearly a year.
Azerbaijan took control of swaths of territory around Nerkin Hand, a strategically located border village, during its September 2022 attack on Armenia.
Constant threats to the life and security of the population living in border villages fuelled a sentiment of fear, disrupting their daily lives and undermining the full enjoyment of their human rights...As indicated in the 2021 Memorandum, a number of Armenian citizens have been arrested and detained by the Azerbaijani military forces along the border for alleged illegal border crossings since the outbreaks of hostilities in 2020.
This is now the second time ever that Moscow has accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire, after it called out Baku for its actions on 26 March.
Azerbaijani media outlets, including ones close to the government, as well as a prominent Azerbaijani parliamentarian, have called for Azerbaijan to take control of more land along its border with Armenia. Some describe the move they are advocating as defensive, while others appear to see it as additional leverage for negotiations with Armenia.
The move [installation of a checkpoint] has increased the blockade of Nagorny Karabakh...A checkpoint on the border would give Azerbaijan the ability to stop any cars travelling between Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh.
Some open source estimates put it at a total of 145 square kilometers (56 square miles) whereas others indicate 127 square kilometers (49 square miles).
While Azerbaijan has claimed that this new round of fighting was set off by Armenian "provocations" along the border, it is a pretext that few take seriously.
It has been a long-established pattern that some kind of fighting breaks out and demands the world's attention precisely when Baku is unhappy with the pace of negotiations with Armenia to resolve the conflict.
It is the first time that Azerbaijan has struck targets in large numbers inside Armenian territory; most fighting between the two sides has previously taken place in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory.
...Azerbaijan launched a series of unprecedented attacks against targets inside southern Armenia this week...
All along Armenia's newly militarized eastern border, fearful villagers have stopped using some land that they had previously employed for cultivation or pasture. Incidents of shooting and cattle rustling have become common over the past two years, some resolved through Russian mediation, some not.
For the Armenians who live in the border regions, the effects have been manifold. They have lost access to farmland or pastures they used to use; many have sold, slaughtered, or relocated livestock as a result. Some human residents have moved away, as well, fearing for the future here.
For the Armenians who live in the border regions, the effects have been manifold. They have lost access to farmland or pastures they used to use; many have sold, slaughtered, or relocated livestock as a result. Some human residents have moved away, as well, fearing for the future here.
...many older residents of Syunik from the generation socialized in Soviet times have active and even pleasant memories of Azerbaijani friends and colleagues.
The main road connecting the cities of Goris and Kapan in Armenia's Syunik region runs alongside – and in some cases across – the de facto (though not yet formally delineated) Azerbaijani border.
Both sides have said that Soviet maps should form the basis for the future delineation...
All this has placed Syunik in the spotlight. Often referred to as "the backbone of Armenia," it is a vital transportation node not only to Nagorno-Karabakh, but to the southern border with Iran. That is one of only two open international borders Armenia has now; the other being Georgia to the north. The borders to the west (Turkey) and east (Azerbaijan) have been closed since the First Karabakh War of the early 1990s.
[President Aliyev said] 'In the absence of border delimitation, no one can claim where the border passes.'
Following the attack, some Azerbaijani pro-government sources suggested, in what appeared to be a coordinated information campaign, the creation of a 'buffer zone' along Armenia's border with Azerbaijan. "…a safe zone, so to speak, a 'buffer zone,' should be created near the border of Azerbaijan,' according to an analysis in the pro-government report.az.
'A safety zone, that is, a 'buffer zone,' must be created,' said military analyst Uzeir Jafarov in a separate piece on Report.az. '…I believe that the 'buffer zone' should be created in such a way that Armenia does not pose a threat…'
The ongoing tension, and the current authorities' inability to keep it under control, is no doubt harming Pashinyan and his Civil Contract party ahead of the June 20 vote. That makes it improbable that the authorities are deliberately stoking the tension.
The blockade lasted for nearly 48 hours and was resolved with the help of Russian border guards, which patrol the Armenian side of the border.
Armenia's defense ministry reported attacks, starting around midnight September 13, targeting cities all along the southern part of Armenia's border with Azerbaijan, including Vardenis, Sotk, Artanish, Ishkhanasar, Goris and Kapan.
[President Aliyev] repeated accusations that Armenia had started the fighting of September 12, a claim for which Baku has not offered any evidence.
Tehran has been expressing its support for Armenia's territorial integrity in other ways. Iran announced that it is opening a consulate in the southern Armenian city of Kapan and appointed a consul in August, which was a "clear signal" to Baku, analyst Salar Seifaldini told the Iranian newspaper Donya-e Eqtesadi.
Iran's foreign ministry similarly called on 'both sides' to stop shooting, and offered its own mediation services.
The next day, Azerbaijan's MFA responded, saying that due to improving weather this spring, Azerbaijani border forces deployed "in the positions of our country".
New Azerbaijan, the official newspaper of the ruling party, published a similar commentary on July 4 under the subhead '[Armenian] provocations lay the groundwork for Revenge 3'...Another attack just two weeks ago was christened Revenge 2 by pro-government media because it followed an incident where an Azerbaijani soldier was wounded...
After the war in Ukraine, when air, land and sea communications between Russia and Europe have been suspended, Moscow is strongly interested in opening communications through Armenia in order to obtain additional routes of communication with Turkey.
On 12 May 2021, troops from Azerbaijan temporarily entered the territory of Armenia, which amounts to a violation of the territorial integrity of Armenia and of international law
...September 2022 saw the worst hostilities since 2020, with nearly 300 soldiers (an estimated 200 Armenians and 80 Azerbaijanis) killed in an Azerbaijani incursion into Armenian territory – allowing Azerbaijani troops to take control of new positions deep inside Armenia – and at least 7 600 civilians displaced from the Armenian provinces.
Whereas Russia's alleged readiness to guarantee the security of Armenia has proven to be non-existent, as demonstrated by its lack of response to Azerbaijan's continuous attacks even in the light of Armenia's attempt to resort to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO); [The European Parliament] Recalls that the clauses of the CSTO were not activated either during the 2020 war or in September 2022, despite Armenian requests; encourages Armenia, in order to ensure better protection of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, to consider the possibility of diversifying its partnerships and potential security alliances with its regional and Euro-Atlantic partners, as its long-standing reliance on Russia and its allies in the CSTO has proved insufficient.
On 12 May 2021, troops from Azerbaijan temporarily entered the territory of Armenia, which amounts to a violation of the territorial integrity of Armenia and of international law
In February 2022, Azerbaijan signed a 'declaration on allied interaction' with Russia, just 2 days before the full-scale invasion [of Ukraine] – including military cooperation and the possibility of 'providing each other with military assistance.'
Armenia and Azerbaïdjan confirmed their commitment to the Charter of the United Nations and the Alma Ata 1991 Declaration through which both recognize each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. They confirmed it would be a basis for the work of the border delimitation commissions
The subject of territorial integrity between Armenia and Azerbaijan is moot. If anything, the Azerbaijani leadership's territorial claims on almost the entirety of Armenia's territory, including its capital Yerevan, and its periodic incursions, and the 2022 invasion and occupation of Armenian territory constitute threats to Armenia's territorial integrity –– not Azerbaijan's.
The latest Azerbaijani attack...resulted in...the occupation of some 60 square kilometers of Armenian territory within two days.
Since the end of the Second Nagorno Karabakh War, Azerbaijan has regularly violated the ceasefire agreement, provoking firefights with Armenia along the border.
Armenian civilians of Nagorno Karabakh and surrounding regions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border are threatened by Azerbaijan's military and face violence if they try to leave Armenian territory within disputed areas.
"But their true intention is to "connect the Turkic world," according to the Azerbaijani ambassador to Turkey, Rashad Mammadov. Mammadov's words reek of Pan-Turkism, the ideology behind the Armenian Genocide. As seen in Artsakh, attempts to create a New Ottoman Empire will cost thousands of Armenian lives"
...in September 2022, Azerbaijan launched its latest, unprovoked assault on sovereign Armenian territory, with intensive shelling.
...on March 26, 2023, Azerbaijani troops crossed the line of contact to launch an operation to cut off a dirt road that was providing some relief from the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, in violation of the 2020 cease-fire statement
Azerbaijani forces have continued to torture, displace, extrajudicially kill, and forcibly "disappear" ethnic Armenian soldiers and civilians, both inside of Nagorno-Karabakh and in sovereign Armenia, in violation of the ceasefire agreement and international law.
At midnight on Tuesday Azerbaijan launched the largest attack on the Republic of Armenia (unrelated to the line of contact of Nagorno Karabakh) in the entire history of the conflict between these two countries.
After the operation on September 13–14, the armed forces of Azerbaijan were deployed at the main strategic heights in the direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border...Today, from these strategic heights, we see with our own eyes the cities of Garakils (Vanadzor), Kafan (Kapan), Goris, Istisu (Jermuk).
It is enough to look at the continuous pattern of diverse threats, ranging from military to economic, made by the Aliyev regime to understand who the aggressor is and what the goals are. For example, Aliyev recently threatened full-scale war with Armenia if the country tries to pursue any international discussions or negotiations about the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and the thousands of Armenians who still live in their indigenous lands under the protection of the Russian peacekeeping force.
Azeri soldiers routinely fire on Armenian farmers as they tend to their crops, disrupting their daily lives.
The Lemkin Institute has been raising the alarm about the numerous and growing red flags for genocide against Armenians in the South Caucasus since 2021. An increasing number of NGOs and organizations dedicated to the study and prevention of genocide have also spoken out about this threat, as evidenced by numerous reports and statements…This genocide may already be taking place in the territory of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh…It may also be planned against Armenians in the Republic of Armenia.
Of particular concern to the Lemkin Institute is the very real threat of genocide that is going unaddressed: Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly threatened the sovereign Republic of Armenia (even suggesting that its capital, Yerevan, is historic Azeri land) and pushing — with its ally Türkiye — for an illegal so-called "Zangezur Corridor" through Armenia's Syunik.
Any redrawing of the borders is a red line for Iran, Zarif said.
...on May 12, Azerbaijani troops entered the Lake Sev region in the Syunik region of Armenia. In total, about 600 enemy soldiers turned out to be on the territory of the republic.
The Azerbaijan Cybersecurity Center, furthermore, is also in close contact with Google, and as a result of their mutual agreement, they have already achieved success. Asadov stressed that the addition of new Azerbaijani names to Google Maps was carried out due to their efforts.
The September clashes were the most serious armed incident between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the 2020 Karabakh war...however, this time the clashes took place along their shared southern border (not the contested region).
The September clashes were the most serious armed incident between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the 2020 Karabakh war...however, this time the clashes took place along their shared southern border (not the contested region).
This doesn't look convincing, and everyone understands that this was a contrived excuse. No Azeri officials have provided any evidence to substantiate the incursion.
'Whatever will happen there, the border will be where we say it should be. They [the Armenians] know that we can do it. No one will help them, not the retired French policemen from Europe, not others, not anyone else', said Aliyev, apparently referring to the EU Monitoring Mission in Armenia.
During the two-day war, Azerbaijani forces took control of several positions within Armenia that they still hold.
The Russian Defence Ministry said Azerbaijani troops had 'breached' the line of contact in violation of the 9 November ceasefire agreement, which brought an end to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. They said Azerbaijani forces had taken up new positions near Shusha.
The Azerbaijani 'eco-activists' blocking the Lachin Corridor near Shusha (Shushi) have suspended their action following the installation of an Azerbaijani border checkpoint on the corridor. According to identical articles published across Azerbaijani state and pro-government news websites on Friday afternoon, the eco-activists said they were 'very happy with the establishment of a border control mechanism', which they reportedly said would 'ensur[e] transparency, rule of law and safety of traffic on the road'.
Azerbaijani government and media have used 'Revenge' titles for military operations against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh since the end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh war.
National Security Council head Armen Grigoryan has said that Armenia is formally in the process of applying for Russian assistance to 'protect the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia' within the framework of a 1997 bilateral agreement.
Azerbaijan has now occupied roughly 50 square kilometres of Armenian territory since the 2020 conflict.
Azerbaijan has now occupied roughly 50 square kilometres of Armenian territory since the 2020 conflict.
Judge Apkarian's legal analysis sheds new light on previous facts, uncovering that a similar genocidal strategy was implemented in sovereign Armenia´s provinces of Gegarkunik, Syunik, Vayots Dzor, and Ararat in May 2021, resulting in the unlawful, forcible displacement of at least 3,000 ethnic Armenians... Today, Azerbaijan's genocidal policy continues to pose an imminent threat to other Armenians residing within Armenia's borders as well. In 2023, Aliyev stated: 'the Azerbaijani flag flied in Karabakh today . . . Today, the Azerbaijani flag flies in the Zangezur mountains. Can that human-like creature [ethnic Armenians] and his likes approach those flags? . . . One day, they may wake up to see the Azerbaijan flag above their heads.'
Over 80% of the former Soviet republic's borders have been closed for more than 30 years, stunting its economic development.
In the latest Freedom House Report, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia are among the partly-free countries, and Azerbaijan is among the not free countries. How can the leading democratic countries turn a blind eye and throw us into the arms of tyranny?
Under the agreement, confirmed by both sides and effective from 1 pm (0900 GMT) on Wednesday, separatist forces will disband and disarm and talks on the future of the region and the ethnic Armenians who live there will start on Thursday.
Under a Russian-brokered peace accord signed between Yerevan and Baku to end the conflict, the 21-kilometer section of the road will continue to be used by Armenians under the supervision of Russian border guards until Armenia can build an alternative road.
So long as talks appear stalled, Azerbaijan will likely turn to small-scale violations of the cease-fire to seize tactically advantageous areas in Nagorno-Karabakh, or similar actions along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Baku has used this strategy on multiple occasions since the cease-fire was signed in November 2020 to force diplomatic progress by simultaneously demonstrating and increasing its leverage.
If part of the territory of Armenia is to be taken and our border conditions change, that is, to have a new neighbor, it is not acceptable for us, Zolnouri said.
The claim that Armenia is producing antipersonnel mines is a recent development and has not been confirmed by non-Azerbaijani sources. Armenia has denied these claims and stated in a letter to the Security Council, dated 13 September 2022, that Azerbaijan was "disseminating false information...in preparation for launching armed aggression."
Russian peacekeepers have been notified of the latest incident, and have stated they are presently in talks with Azerbaijan to withdraw from the area, and "stop engineering work" that Azerbaijan began after taking the position.
Nagorno-Karabakh, for its part, had a reasonably competitive election in 2020 and is ranked by the watchdog group Freedom House as "partly free". The contrast with Azerbaijan could hardly be more stark.
The most severe test of the West's reaction since the 2020 war began on September 12, 2022, when Azerbaijan launched an unprovoked invasion of neighboring sovereign Republic of Armenia.
Enver's dream of physically connecting Turkey and Azerbaijan was unrealized, but the idea was not extinguished. In mid-September of 2022, Aliyev's forces shelled dozens of towns in eastern Armenia and left evidence of numerous atrocities committed in the process of the invasion.
Sev Lake with its eastern, western and southern shores is located in the territory of the Armenian SSR –
Some open source estimates put it at a total of 145 square kilometers (56 square miles) whereas others indicate 127 square kilometers (49 square miles).
Azerbaijan has now occupied roughly 50 square kilometres of Armenian territory since the 2020 conflict.
The latest Azerbaijani attack...resulted in...the occupation of some 60 square kilometers of Armenian territory within two days.
In a statement, Azerbaijan's State Security Service said it had handed over 10 Armenian soldiers who were detained on Nov. 16. It also released 10 soldiers earlier in December. On that occasion, Russia played the mediation role.
Azerbaijan has now occupied roughly 50 square kilometres of Armenian territory since the 2020 conflict.
While Azerbaijan has claimed that this new round of fighting was set off by Armenian "provocations" along the border, it is a pretext that few take seriously.
On 12 May 2021, troops from Azerbaijan temporarily entered the territory of Armenia, which amounts to a violation of the territorial integrity of Armenia and of international law
Since the end of the Second Nagorno Karabakh War, Azerbaijan has regularly violated the ceasefire agreement, provoking firefights with Armenia along the border.
This is now the second time ever that Moscow has accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire, after it called out Baku for its actions on 26 March.
It has been a long-established pattern that some kind of fighting breaks out and demands the world's attention precisely when Baku is unhappy with the pace of negotiations with Armenia to resolve the conflict.
At midnight on Tuesday Azerbaijan launched the largest attack on the Republic of Armenia (unrelated to the line of contact of Nagorno Karabakh) in the entire history of the conflict between these two countries.
The September clashes were the most serious armed incident between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the 2020 Karabakh war...however, this time the clashes took place along their shared southern border (not the contested region).
It is the first time that Azerbaijan has struck targets in large numbers inside Armenian territory; most fighting between the two sides has previously taken place in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory.
...Azerbaijan launched a series of unprecedented attacks against targets inside southern Armenia this week...
On 18 March, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev declared that 'Armenia must accept our conditions' if Armenians wish to 'live comfortably on an area of 29,000 square kilometers.'
It is enough to look at the continuous pattern of diverse threats, ranging from military to economic, made by the Aliyev regime to understand who the aggressor is and what the goals are. For example, Aliyev recently threatened full-scale war with Armenia if the country tries to pursue any international discussions or negotiations about the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and the thousands of Armenians who still live in their indigenous lands under the protection of the Russian peacekeeping force.
'Whatever will happen there, the border will be where we say it should be. They [the Armenians] know that we can do it. No one will help them, not the retired French policemen from Europe, not others, not anyone else', said Aliyev, apparently referring to the EU Monitoring Mission in Armenia.
'Many Armenians believe there will be a spring offensive by Azerbaijan. If this doesn't happen, our mission is already a success,' Markus Ritter, the German head of the monitoring mission, told Germany's Deutsche Welle broadcaster this week.
Unrecognised, undemarcated or otherwise contested borderlines are used as instruments by Russian and Azerbaijani forces, respectively, to destabilise, create 'new realities', and enforce concessions. Everyday livelihoods in the conflict zones are violently disrupted as a result: villagers can no longer safely access farmlands, schools, water resources, relatives or religious sites.
Azeri soldiers routinely fire on Armenian farmers as they tend to their crops, disrupting their daily lives.
All along Armenia's newly militarized eastern border, fearful villagers have stopped using some land that they had previously employed for cultivation or pasture. Incidents of shooting and cattle rustling have become common over the past two years, some resolved through Russian mediation, some not.
Armenian civilians of Nagorno Karabakh and surrounding regions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border are threatened by Azerbaijan's military and face violence if they try to leave Armenian territory within disputed areas.
For the Armenians who live in the border regions, the effects have been manifold. They have lost access to farmland or pastures they used to use; many have sold, slaughtered, or relocated livestock as a result. Some human residents have moved away, as well, fearing for the future here.
...the border areas between Armenia's Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces, and Azerbaijan's newly established East Zangezur region have become militarised front lines.
...on May 12, Azerbaijani troops entered the Lake Sev region in the Syunik region of Armenia. In total, about 600 enemy soldiers turned out to be on the territory of the republic.
For the Armenians who live in the border regions, the effects have been manifold. They have lost access to farmland or pastures they used to use; many have sold, slaughtered, or relocated livestock as a result. Some human residents have moved away, as well, fearing for the future here.
...many older residents of Syunik from the generation socialized in Soviet times have active and even pleasant memories of Azerbaijani friends and colleagues.
...in the Soviet years it was not clear through which part of the forest the Armenian-Azerbaijani border passes. 'At that time, during the Soviet years, none of the adults knew the border. We knew roughly that this was a forest. We entered, but we didn't know 10–20 meters. Is it their territory that we take out wood from, or is it our territory?' ...The friendship between Inner Hand and the neighboring Azerbaijani Kyollu Razdara is in the past, now the residents of Inner Hand are anxiously following the movement of the Azerbaijanis approaching the village.
The main road connecting the cities of Goris and Kapan in Armenia's Syunik region runs alongside – and in some cases across – the de facto (though not yet formally delineated) Azerbaijani border.
Both sides have said that Soviet maps should form the basis for the future delineation...
Armenia and Azerbaïdjan confirmed their commitment to the Charter of the United Nations and the Alma Ata 1991 Declaration through which both recognize each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. They confirmed it would be a basis for the work of the border delimitation commissions
The Azerbaijan Cybersecurity Center, furthermore, is also in close contact with Google, and as a result of their mutual agreement, they have already achieved success. Asadov stressed that the addition of new Azerbaijani names to Google Maps was carried out due to their efforts.
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian officially inaugurated the consulate on Friday, making Iran the first country to establish a diplomatic mission in the [Syunik] province that is sought by Baku and Ankara.
At least 50 square kilometres of Armenian territory are now reported as occupied by Azerbaijani forces.
During the two-day war, Azerbaijani forces took control of several positions within Armenia that they still hold.
About 10 days ago, the Azerbaijani military put up five new tents and fortified them in the administrative area of Nerkin Handi, informed the administrative head of the village, Khachatur Baghdasaryan. 'They entered the administrative territory of the village, descended 800–900 meters from their position to our territory. There are five tents, and they are digging trenches.'
Azerbaijan has denied entering Armenian territory, but satellite images clearly show Azerbaijani positions inside Armenia, with forwarded military posts, roads and vehicles.
A #CivilNetCheck visual investigation confirmed, through the study of satellite imagery, that the new road leading to the Azerbaijani positions was built last May. This means that the advance by the Azerbaijani troops into Armenia was concealed from the public for nearly a year.
Local government officials and farmers said Tegh lost a large part of its agricultural land and pastures. Some of them said that the Azerbaijani military made bigger territorial gains than is admitted by official Yerevan.
All this has placed Syunik in the spotlight. Often referred to as "the backbone of Armenia," it is a vital transportation node not only to Nagorno-Karabakh, but to the southern border with Iran. That is one of only two open international borders Armenia has now; the other being Georgia to the north. The borders to the west (Turkey) and east (Azerbaijan) have been closed since the First Karabakh War of the early 1990s.
Over 80% of the former Soviet republic's borders have been closed for more than 30 years, stunting its economic development.
Azerbaijani forces have continued to torture, displace, extrajudicially kill, and forcibly "disappear" ethnic Armenian soldiers and civilians, both inside of Nagorno-Karabakh and in sovereign Armenia, in violation of the ceasefire agreement and international law.
Constant threats to the life and security of the population living in border villages fuelled a sentiment of fear, disrupting their daily lives and undermining the full enjoyment of their human rights...As indicated in the 2021 Memorandum, a number of Armenian citizens have been arrested and detained by the Azerbaijani military forces along the border for alleged illegal border crossings since the outbreaks of hostilities in 2020.
[President Aliyev said] 'In the absence of border delimitation, no one can claim where the border passes.'
Azerbaijani media outlets, including ones close to the government, as well as a prominent Azerbaijani parliamentarian, have called for Azerbaijan to take control of more land along its border with Armenia. Some describe the move they are advocating as defensive, while others appear to see it as additional leverage for negotiations with Armenia.
Following the attack, some Azerbaijani pro-government sources suggested, in what appeared to be a coordinated information campaign, the creation of a 'buffer zone' along Armenia's border with Azerbaijan. "…a safe zone, so to speak, a 'buffer zone,' should be created near the border of Azerbaijan,' according to an analysis in the pro-government report.az.
'A safety zone, that is, a 'buffer zone,' must be created,' said military analyst Uzeir Jafarov in a separate piece on Report.az. '…I believe that the 'buffer zone' should be created in such a way that Armenia does not pose a threat…'
Azerbaijani troops advanced several kilometers into Armenia's Gegharkunik and Syunik provinces on May 12–14.
...starting from May 12, the armed forces of Azerbaijan invaded the territory of the Republic of Armenia in at least three directions and actually entrenched themselves at a depth of several kilometers.
Sev Lake with its eastern, western and southern shores is located in the territory of the Armenian SSR -
Sev Lake with its eastern, western and southern shores is located in the territory of the Armenian SSR –
The ongoing tension, and the current authorities' inability to keep it under control, is no doubt harming Pashinyan and his Civil Contract party ahead of the June 20 vote. That makes it improbable that the authorities are deliberately stoking the tension.
Under a Russian-brokered peace accord signed between Yerevan and Baku to end the conflict, the 21-kilometer section of the road will continue to be used by Armenians under the supervision of Russian border guards until Armenia can build an alternative road.
The blockade lasted for nearly 48 hours and was resolved with the help of Russian border guards, which patrol the Armenian side of the border.
While Azerbaijan maintains that Armenia provoked the latest fighting, geolocation of some of the footage recorded since Tuesday strongly indicates incursions by Azerbaijani armed forces inside Armenia proper.
The most severe test of the West's reaction since the 2020 war began on September 12, 2022, when Azerbaijan launched an unprovoked invasion of neighboring sovereign Republic of Armenia.
...in September 2022, Azerbaijan launched its latest, unprovoked assault on sovereign Armenian territory, with intensive shelling.
This doesn't look convincing, and everyone understands that this was a contrived excuse. No Azeri officials have provided any evidence to substantiate the incursion.
There was little doubt who started the fighting. Azerbaijan initially claimed that it was merely responding to Armenian "provocations" – a claim echoed by its ally, Turkey – but largely dropped this rhetoric in the following days in favor of other justifications.
Armenia's defense ministry reported attacks, starting around midnight September 13, targeting cities all along the southern part of Armenia's border with Azerbaijan, including Vardenis, Sotk, Artanish, Ishkhanasar, Goris and Kapan.
The September clashes were the most serious armed incident between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the 2020 Karabakh war...however, this time the clashes took place along their shared southern border (not the contested region).
Azerbaijan said there were Armenian "provocations", a claim which cannot be verified. Eyewitnesses describe heavy shelling of military targets and civilian infrastructure in, amongst other places, the village of Sotk and the resort town of Jermuk, whose civilian population was evacuated.
The claim that Armenia is producing antipersonnel mines is a recent development and has not been confirmed by non-Azerbaijani sources. Armenia has denied these claims and stated in a letter to the Security Council, dated 13 September 2022, that Azerbaijan was "disseminating false information...in preparation for launching armed aggression."
[President Aliyev] repeated accusations that Armenia had started the fighting of September 12, a claim for which Baku has not offered any evidence.
After the operation on September 13–14, the armed forces of Azerbaijan were deployed at the main strategic heights in the direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border...Today, from these strategic heights, we see with our own eyes the cities of Garakils (Vanadzor), Kafan (Kapan), Goris, Istisu (Jermuk).
...September 2022 saw the worst hostilities since 2020, with nearly 300 soldiers (an estimated 200 Armenians and 80 Azerbaijanis) killed in an Azerbaijani incursion into Armenian territory – allowing Azerbaijani troops to take control of new positions deep inside Armenia – and at least 7 600 civilians displaced from the Armenian provinces.
Azerbaijan took control of swaths of territory around Nerkin Hand, a strategically located border village, during its September 2022 attack on Armenia.
The following week saw a reconfiguration of road links and military positions in the Lachin Corridor, with Azerbaijani forces constructing a new military post, taking control of strategic heights, ignoring Russian calls to return to their original locations, and seizing land in Armenia around the new road leading from the villages of Tegh and Kornidzor towards Karabakh.
...on March 26, 2023, Azerbaijani troops crossed the line of contact to launch an operation to cut off a dirt road that was providing some relief from the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, in violation of the 2020 cease-fire statement
The Russian Defence Ministry said Azerbaijani troops had 'breached' the line of contact in violation of the 9 November ceasefire agreement, which brought an end to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. They said Azerbaijani forces had taken up new positions near Shusha.
Azerbaijani forces continued to occupy on Monday a strategic hill near the Lachin corridor seized by them at the weekend, further complicating Nagorno-Karabakh's communication with Armenia and the outside world...the high ground occupied by Azerbaijani soldiers overlooks the barely passable bypass road leading to the Armenian border.
Azerbaijani troops redeployed on Thursday morning to more parts of the Lachin district adjacent to the Armenian border, blocking the old [Lachin] corridor section.
The Azerbaijani 'eco-activists' blocking the Lachin Corridor near Shusha (Shushi) have suspended their action following the installation of an Azerbaijani border checkpoint on the corridor. According to identical articles published across Azerbaijani state and pro-government news websites on Friday afternoon, the eco-activists said they were 'very happy with the establishment of a border control mechanism', which they reportedly said would 'ensur[e] transparency, rule of law and safety of traffic on the road'.
The move [installation of a checkpoint] has increased the blockade of Nagorny Karabakh...A checkpoint on the border would give Azerbaijan the ability to stop any cars travelling between Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh.
Russian peacekeepers have been notified of the latest incident, and have stated they are presently in talks with Azerbaijan to withdraw from the area, and "stop engineering work" that Azerbaijan began after taking the position.
Under the agreement, confirmed by both sides and effective from 1 pm (0900 GMT) on Wednesday, separatist forces will disband and disarm and talks on the future of the region and the ethnic Armenians who live there will start on Thursday.
In an ironic twist, the unarmed European observers in Armenia and the armed Russian peacekeepers have begun to look alike, both preventing full-scale warfare but unable to fully contain Baku's ambitions. The 'Russian peacekeepers,' political scientist Nerses Kopalyan commented sharply, 'function more like an impotent observation mission than an armed contingent.'
Whereas Russia's alleged readiness to guarantee the security of Armenia has proven to be non-existent, as demonstrated by its lack of response to Azerbaijan's continuous attacks even in the light of Armenia's attempt to resort to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO); [The European Parliament] Recalls that the clauses of the CSTO were not activated either during the 2020 war or in September 2022, despite Armenian requests; encourages Armenia, in order to ensure better protection of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, to consider the possibility of diversifying its partnerships and potential security alliances with its regional and Euro-Atlantic partners, as its long-standing reliance on Russia and its allies in the CSTO has proved insufficient.
On 12 May 2021, troops from Azerbaijan temporarily entered the territory of Armenia, which amounts to a violation of the territorial integrity of Armenia and of international law
If part of the territory of Armenia is to be taken and our border conditions change, that is, to have a new neighbor, it is not acceptable for us, Zolnouri said.
Any redrawing of the borders is a red line for Iran, Zarif said.
The international analytics emphasized the important role of Russia in the post conflict period
In a statement, Azerbaijan's State Security Service said it had handed over 10 Armenian soldiers who were detained on Nov. 16. It also released 10 soldiers earlier in December. On that occasion, Russia played the mediation role.
