Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THREE ARMENIANS HAVE died today in fresh border clashes with Azerbaijan, according to officials, two weeks after the arch foes’ worst fighting since their 2020 war jeopardised nascent peace talks.
At least 286 people were killed from both sides during the two-day fighting earlier this month, before the United States brokered a truce.
The ex-Soviet Caucasus neighbours fought two wars – in 2020 and in the 1990s – over the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan.
Today, Armenia’s defence ministry said “Azerbaijani forces opened fire from mortars and large-calibre firearms at the eastern direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border”.
“As a result, there are three dead from the Armenian side,” the ministry said in a statement.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan tweeted that three of his troops had been killed “an attack against Armenian independence, sovereignty and democracy”.
“Withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops and deployment of an international observer mission on the Armenian territories affected by Azerbaijani occupation and bordering areas is an absolute necessity,” he wrote.
A six-week war in 2020 claimed the lives of more than 6,500 troops from both sides and ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades, and Moscow deployed about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce.
With Moscow increasingly isolated on the world stage following its February invasion of Ukraine, the United States and the European Union had taken a leading role in mediating the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation process.
Last week, the two countries’ foreign ministers met in New York for talks mediated by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
During EU-led negotiations in Brussels in April and May, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan agreed to “advance discussions” on a future peace treaty.
They last met in Brussels on 31 August, for talks mediated by European Council President Charles Michel.
The talks also focus on border delimitation and the reopening of transport links.
The issue of ensuring a land transport link between Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan and its ally Ankara via Armenian territory has emerged as the primary sticking point.
Azerbaijan insists on Yerevan renouncing its jurisdiction over the land corridor that should pass along Armenia’s border with Iran – a demand the Armenian government rejects as an affront to the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Ethnic Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The ensuing conflict claimed around 30,000 lives.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Let it go….
@HearMeNow33: Are you mad? This will be wall to wall, for a few weeks.
@Tommy Berry: True. Can’t let a chance of some shinner bashing pass them by.
@Seán Óg: says the shinnerbot
@Denis Logan: How predictable of you.
When is the Gardaí report on Charlie Flanagan potential Covid-19 breaches at Colm Horkan funeral
@tirnanog1979: no comparison and you know it
@Jane: Both funerals broke the regulations Jane and you know it.
@tirnanog1979: that would be Detective Garda Colm Horkan.
@Seán Óg: SF could have sent representatives to Mr Storeys funeral as happened with Garda Horkans funeral and I don’t think anyone could have complained. Instead SF attended the funeral en masse, traveling from all over the country to do so and gathered in a graveyard to give a graveside oration where no burial was taking place.
@Jane: Nonsense, they were as bad as each other
@Jane: Both funerals had large crowds and poor social distancing. If you admonish SF for the Storey funeral then surely you must do the same for Garda Horkan’s funeral. Your disliking of SF seems to be clouding your judgement Jane.
@Seán Óg: but only one was attending in very large numbers by political party reps from all over the country. That’s the difference.
Why is it even when SF are obviously wrong no criticism is allowed?
Why do ye want to replace a crowd that dodge questions with another crowd that dodge questions?
@Jane: Critism is allowed Jane, but the obvious point you insist on ignoring, is that critism is selective and hypocritical. As was pointed out, you cant criticise one and not the other – but in your case, you did just that.
To me, both were wrong. It would seem, that to you, there is only political captital to be made from criticising one.
@tirnanog1979: It ill behooves Shinners to comment on any Garda’s funeral —–They were responsible for quite a few in their time and indeed have been known to give rapturous acclaim to certain Garda’s murderers.
@Angela McCarthy: and you are ignoring the involvement of a political party in only one of the funerals. A political party that was involved in the making of the rules for everyone else in that jurisdiction.
@Jane: A political party? dont you mean political parties, as more than one seems to be set on debating it. but not the other.
@Angela McCarthy: not sure what you mean by that Angela. Only one party is in bother over it because only one party attended en masse. Bringing a crowd to the graveyard unnecessarily was just ridiculous.
Everyone understands that Bobby Storey was an important figure in SF and as such no one would have batted an eyelid if some of the senior politicians in SF had attended as was done with Garda Horkans funeral.
@Jane: Where did I say no criticism is allowed? People attending both funerals broke government guidelines. So don’t cherry pick your outrage Jane. Call a spade a spade.
@Seán Óg: tell you what Sean you just continue to ignore what are the obvious differences between them as I’ve pointed out above. And continue to be outraged at all and any criticism leveled at SF.
@Jane: I have criticised SF over the attendance of Bobby’s funeral. Because it was wrong to stage a funeral with those numbers in attendance. But you ignore the fact that large numbers attended the Garda’s funeral, including some politicians. Same rules for everyone Jane.
One rule for that crowd, Sur they are the “law” 8 cremations the same day and no one allowed .
@Ger Murray: who’s that crowd ?.
@Airwave81: The uniformed woman and men that lined the streets
Clear the decks, Nolan show can’t wait to ramp up the whole funeral again, rest in peace Big Bobby, a giant among men.
now could they start investigating collusion with he uvf
The usual crowd talking about people in uniforms blah, blah, blah. What I saw were people in ordinary clothes coming out to see a true republican being laid yo rest, with a quarter of a million watching online which Sinn Féin Féin set up. The PSNI have already stated that there were no problems with it. Establishmemt supporters again trying to take away from their parties failure. No bank bailout? Ha ha
Just ticking a box… Nothing will happen
have your say