Azerbaijan and Armenia have resorted to decades-old fight in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. The clashes that started on Sunday have so far claimed over 200 lives, including 34 civilians.
The Foreign Policy Affairs Department of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev, has held Armenia responsible for the attacks.
He tweeted with photos of injured people and demolished properties.
Armenia’s new attack against Azerbaijan is an act of aggression and use of force. It is yet another provocation of Armenia since the Tovuz incident.
What is Nagorno-Karabakh?
Stretching between western Asia and Eastern Europe, Nagorno-Karabakh is an internationally-recognized territory of Azerbaijan but controlled by Armenian separatists. Nagorno-Karabakh has been part of Azerbaijan since the Soviet era.
When the Soviet Union was weakening in late 1980, Armenia tried to annex the region through the regional parliament’s vote. The Soviet authorities blocked the move.
The region remained in Azerbaijan’s territory but controlled by the separatists. Fighting continued for years between the two forces, claiming tens of thousands of lives until Russia brokered a deal in 1994.
By the time, most parts of the territory had gone into the control of the ethnic Armenian group, which later declared it an autonomous state called the “Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.”