Armenia.

[Ariel]

Is this going to be the next new hotbed ?

Hostilities break out between Armenia & Azerbaijan over long disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, both countries trade blame

Azerbaijan launched “an offensive” against Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday morning, Armenia has claimed. There have been reports of Azeri aircraft being shot down. Baku says it is taking “retaliatory measures” in the disputed region.
Long the subject of an uneasy ceasefire, hostilities have resumed along the border of the mostly Armenian-populated enclave, home to around 145,000 people, with top officials in both Armenia and Azerbaijan confirming the news. Although internationally recognised as Azeri territory, Baku has had no control over the region since 1988.

“The enemy has started an attack on Artsakh,” Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, wrote on Facebook, referring to the Armenian name for the territory. Nagorno-Karabakh forces “successfully repel(ed) the attack,” and the situation is under control, he said.

Separately, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said the military has launched “a counteroffensive operation along the entire front” in a bid to safeguard civilians and contain Armenian forces. The counterattack involves infantry and armored units supported by its air force, Baku says.

As the crisis unfolded, top officials in Baku alleged that Armenian forces have been shelling Azerbaijani Army positions and populated areas, a claim Yerevan is yet to confirm.

Leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh said Stepanakert, the region’s largest city of over 55,000 people, has also been hit by Azerbaijani artillery. “We urge the population to remain calm and take cover,” a spokesperson for Nagorno-Karabakh president wrote on Facebook.

Later on Sunday, Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan declared martial law and announced a general conscription call for all males over the age of 18. “We’re not a party of war, but we are ready for war,” he said.

Baku, meanwhile, received words of support from Turkey, which views Azerbaijan as a culturally close nation. “Azerbaijan is not alone,” Ibrahim Kalin, the Turkish presidential spokesman, wrote on Twitter, adding, “we wish God's mercy to our brothers who lost their lives in the attacks.”

There were conflicting casualty reports from both sides later in the day. Azerbaijan’s military confirmed that a combat helicopter was shot down but that its crew survived, adding there have been an unspecified number of victims among civilians. It also claimed 12 Armenian air defense systems were hit and destroyed.

Meanwhile, the Armenian Army insisted the Azerbaijani losses were much higher, amounting to two helicopters, three tanks, and three drones. “The enemy sustained casualties in manpower,” Shushan Stepanyan, the spokeswoman for the Armenian Defense Ministry, stated.

The Armenian Defense Ministry has circulated a video purportedly showing an Azerbaijani tank being hit by an armor-piercing projectile. The vehicle stops moving and is seen emitting large clouds of black smoke in the footage, which could not immediately be verified. But Baku has rejected the report.

[Ariel]

As expected.

Reports Turkey is transferring Syrian militants to Azerbaijan as hostilities against Armenia increases

Credible reports have emerged that Turkey is transferring its militant proxies based in northern Syria to Azerbaijan as tensions and skirmishes with Armenia rapidly increase.

Award winning journalist Lindsey Snell, who was once kidnapped by Turkish-backed terrorists in northern Syria and then thrown into a Turkish jail for two months after her escape from Syria, wrote on Twitter that fighters from the Hamza Division had arrived in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku via Turkey.

Earlier this year, the Hamza Division were exposed for holding naked and abused women in prison. They are made up mostly of Arabs and Turkmen, and have become a moveable proxy force for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

With the Libyan War escalating earlier this year, the Hamza Division were one of the main fighting groups transferred by Turkey to fight in the North African country on the side of the Muslim Brotherhood Government of National Accords whose United Nations mandate to rule over Libya expired in December 2017. The promise of a $2000 monthly wage was to much of a temptation for many of the Syrian jihadists, however, as Adnan, a leader of Hamza division, said in June, “Now we regret coming. The price we paid is high.”

When asked on Twitter whether most of the fighters going to Azerbaijan are coming from Syria or Libya, Snell revealed they are mostly coming from Syria but that around 70 militants had also been in Libya.

Kevork Almassian, founder of Syriana Analysis and a Syrian-born Armenian whose brother was once kidnapped by Turkish-backed jihadists, also reported that Syrian opposition sources revealed that jihadists are being offered a $600 a month salary to fight with Azerbaijan against Armenia.

Spoiler! :

However, when asked by Greek City Times about reports that Turkey is transferring Hamza Division militants from Syria to Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs flatly denied the accusations.

“The allegations are groundless and completely misleading. Recently, we observed in some foreign media a slanderous campaign against Azerbaijan, spreading absolutely groundless and fake information in this regard,” an Azerbaijani spokesperson told Greek City Times.

Rather, the Azerbaijani Foreign ministry spokesperson told Greek City Times that Armenia is “behind this fake campaign.”

“It is nothing else but desperate attempts by Armenia to divert the attention of the international community, while facing a mobilization and planning problem to recruit armed groups on a voluntary basis, including foreign mercenaries. There is no doubt that Armenia, which has recruited mercenaries and terrorists from the Middle East as part of its aggressive policy against Azerbaijan, is behind this fake campaign,” the spokesperson said.

Although Baku says that the claims that Syrian jihadists are being transferred to Azerbaijan is a “fake campaign” orchestrated by Armenia, the sources used by Snell and Almassian are from the so-called “Syrian National Army” that are armed, trained and backed by Turkey.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at loggerheads with each other over the territory of Artsakh, or more commonly known as Nagorno-Karabakh, since the Soviet Union begun collapsing in the late 1980’s.

Commissar of Nationalities for the Soviet Union in the early 1920’s, Joseph Stalin made the decision that the Armenian-majority region of Artsakh would be under the administration of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic instead of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Although Stalin promised Artsakh to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, he ultimately granted the region to the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, albeit with autonomy. This served two purposes – a continuation of the Soviet divide-and-rule strategy in the Caucasus, and a hope to turn Turkey into a socialist state by appeasing their Azeri Turkish kin.

The collapse of the Soviet Union, which resulted in the creation of 15 new countries including Armenia and Azerbaijan, created chaos throughout the Caucasus as wars broke out as a result of Stalin’s artificial borders that left ethnic groups detached from their kin.

In 1921, it was estimated that Artsakh was 94% Armenian. According to the 1989 census, Artsakh’s population was approximately 75% ethnic Armenian (145,000) and 25% ethnic Azeri (40,688). Although there was a significant increase in the Azeri population in Artsakh in the 20th Century, former Soviet Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, father of current dictator Ilham Aliyev, revealed why this occurred in 2002.

He states:

“I tried to change demographics there. Nagorno-Karabakh petitioned for the opening of an institute of higher education there. [In Azerbaijan] everybody was against it. After deliberations I decided to open one, but on condition that there would be three sectors — Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian. After [the institute] opened we no longer sent Azerbaijanis from the neighboring regions to Baku [and] instead [sent them] there. With these and other measures I tried to increase the number of Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh and the number of Armenians decreased.”

Despite these efforts of systematic demographic change, Artsakh today is 95% ethnic Armenian.

The collapse of the Soviet Union unsurprisingly led to the Artsakh War, which ended in a ceasefire on May 12, 1994 after a decisive Armenian victory led to a de facto independence for Artsakh, albeit unrecognized by no state, including Armenia, but being almost entirely reliant on Yerevan.

Skirmishes have been commonplace since 1994, with serious escalations in April 2016 and July this year when Azerbaijan launched an attack on Armenia’s northeast Tavush province. Although Azerbaijan’s defense budget is $2.267 billion, about five times larger than Armenia’s, the July clashes proved costly with 21 soldiers killed, 13 UAV’s downed and three tanks destroyed to Armenia’s five soldiers and two police officers killed in action.

An Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Greek City Times that the July clashes were a result of a “massive miscalculation by Azerbaijan.”

“The main reason for sparking this escalation was a massive miscalculation by Azerbaijan that thought the use of force and a maximalist stance can produce desirable results for them on the ground and bring a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The July battles clearly showed the total failure of this policy by Azerbaijan to the extent that Azerbaijan, who were openly portraying itself as a dominating military force, began seeking politico-military assistance from external forces in the region,” Anna Naghdalyan, a spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, told Greek City Times.

When asked about the transfer of Turkish-backed Syrian militants to Azerbaijan, the spokeswoman said “transnational threats, including that of movement or transfer of foreign terrorist fighters to conflict areas are of great concern, they are deplorable and they should be addressed.”

“As Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan stated during his official visit to Egypt, we are getting reports about the use of foreign terrorist fighters to be transferred to Azerbaijan or maybe they are already transferred. Given the precedents of the use of extremists by Azerbaijan back in 1992-93 and the exportation of terrorist elements to different regions by Turkey, we take such a threat very seriously,” she added.

During the Artsakh War in the early 1990’s, Azerbaijan recruited an assortment of foreign jihadists and Turkish ultra-nationalists like leftover mujahedeen from Afghanistan that fought the Soviet Union in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Chechen and other North Caucasian jihadists, and Turkish Far-Right Grey Wolves terrorists.

Although the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry claimed it is Armenia recruiting “foreign mercenaries,” the example they use is Monte Melkonian, a California-born revolutionary and academic who descended from Armenian Genocide survivors

“The name of Monte Melkonian, leader of the ASALA terrorist organization in Lebanon, who participated in the occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and has been glorified later by the Government of Armenia, is a vivid example of the policy of recruiting terrorist mercenaries by Armenia,” the Azerbaijani spokesperson told Greek City Times.

Melkonian, who was declared a National Hero of Armenia in 1996, believed that if Artsakh was lost, the Armenians would “turn the final page of our people’s history.”

In another move by the Soviet Union to appease Turkey in the hope it would become a Soviet Socialist state, the historically Armenian region of Nakhchivan was gifted to Azerbaijan after Moscow and Turkey signed the Treaty of Kars in 1921, creating the unusual borders that exist today.

Reports Turkey is transferring Syrian militants to Azerbaijan as hostilities against Armenia increases 5

Melkonian believed that if the Armenians lost Artsakh to Azerbaijan, they would next lose Syunik Province, the thin strip of land separating Artsakh and Nakhchivan. This would not only give Turkey direct access to the oil and gas rich Caspian Sea at the expense of historically Armenian territory, but it could have also led to a union between Turkey and Azerbaijan as millions of nationalists in their respective countries want.

The Turks and Azeris, as linguistic and cultural kin, do not hide away from their close knit relations.

At the beginning of this month, Aliyev told the newly appointed Greek ambassador to Azerbaijan, Nikolaos Piperigos, that “we support them [Turkey] on all issues, including the issue of intelligence in the Eastern Mediterranean.”.

“I can tell you, and it is no secret, that Turkey is not only our friend and partner, but also a brotherly country for us. Without any hesitation whatsoever, we support Turkey and will support it under any circumstances,” the Azerbaijani dictator added.

Erdoğan in a joint speech in 2010 with his Azeri counterpart stated that “Turkish-Azerbaijani cooperation is based not only on strong solidarity between our states, but also on common history and unity of our hearts. Turkish and Azerbaijani people speak the same language, have common history. Our relations built on this sound foundation and strengthening on the basis of the ‘one nation, two states’ principle.”

This brotherly sentiment was continued by Aliyev after Erdoğan, saying that “we are also paying tribute to the great son of the Turkic world, outstanding leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who will always live in the hearts of Azerbaijani people.”

Just weeks after this years clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Turkey conducted a 13-day joint military exercise with their Azeri kin in a show of force against Armenia.

When asked by Greek City Times about the military situation in Armenia, Naghdalyan said “the Armenian sides are in total control of the situation. We are confident in our capacities to protect Armenia and Artsakh, ensure the security and rights of the Armenian people in their homeland.”

“And it’s with this full confidence that we underline – there is no alternative to the strictly peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – the military solution is totally ruled out,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman added.

Although Baku denies Syrian jihadists are being relocated by Turkey to its territory, it must be considered that Ankara openly announced that they transferred Syrian fighters to Libya earlier this year, the Azerbaijani’s have undoubtedly used jihadists in the first Artsakh war, and most reports of Syrian fighters being transferred to Azerbaijan are coming from Turkish-backed militants themselves.

Snell also added on Twitter that the brother of a Hamza terrorist told her that another batch of Syrian jihadists were in transit to Azerbaijan.

The spokespersons of both Armenia and Azerbaijan emphasized to Greek City Times that they want to resolve their disputes peacefully and through negotiations. However, this appears to be unlikely with Turkey conducting a show of military might against Armenia so shortly after the July clashes and as it gears up transfers of Syrian militants to Azerbaijan, according to Turkish-backed militants themselves.

Aliyev said only days ago that Azerbaijan and Turkey conduct military exercises every year and that “there is nothing unusual here.”

“Yes, this time it coincided with the [July] Tovuz incident. Armenia should think about whether it was coincidence or not. These drills once again demonstrate our unity. There are only 80 kilometers (49 miles) between the Azerbaijan-Armenia border in Nakhchivan and Yerevan. Armenia knows it, and this intimidates them. I think that they stress out because of this fear,” he said provocatively.

The distance between Nakhchivan and Artsakh is even less than that of Nakhchivan to Yerevan. If Aliyev is already making indirect threats to the Armenian capital, then there would be little doubt that he would also be eyeing Syunik Province that Melkonian had desperately defended by fighting and dying in Artsakh.

Will Turkish-backed Syrian jihadists be used to not only take Artsakh, but also Syunik Province?

[Ariel]

New Armenia-Azerbaijan fighting a long time in the making.

Since July, events have appeared to be inexorably leading up to a more ambitious Azerbaijani offensive.

When wide-scale fighting broke out over the weekend between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces, it did not come as a surprise.

For the last three months, tensions between the two sides have been rising steadily. All signs appeared to be pointing to the conclusion that Azerbaijan was preparing the ground for the most serious attempt yet to right what it sees as a deep injustice: the seizure of a large part of its territory, and the resulting displacement of more than 600,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis, by Armenian forces during a war as the Soviet Union collapsed.

In July, an as-yet-unexplained clash on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted into the conflict’s heaviest fighting in years. Both sides blamed the other for starting the fighting, and more than two months on it remains unclear what actually sparked it. The majority opinion among regional experts is that it was probably an accident that got out of hand and that neither side intended to start it.

But the burst of fighting seemed to accelerate processes that had been long developing.

Days after the skirmishes started, a massive, unprecedented demonstration demanding war broke out in Baku following the funeral of a military officer killed in the battle. The demonstration, with tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis chanting pro-war slogans, brought into the open a widespread nationalist, anti-government sentiment in the country. Many Azerbaijanis blame their government for being full of talk when it comes to taking back Karabakh, but with little action to show for it.

Azerbaijan’s authoritarian government brooks no dissent but it also is deeply sensitive to public opinion. It has repeatedly made concessions on economic issues when social media discontent breaks out. While government officials tried to portray the demonstrations as largely patriotic and pro-government, they surely were aware, and frightened, of the truth.

The July fighting also brought a shift in the delicate geopolitics of the conflict. While Turkey had always been a supporter of Azerbaijan, that support was relatively shallow; Azerbaijan still got the majority of its weapons from Russia.

Following the July conflict Turkey’s involvement became much deeper than it had previously been, with unprecedentedly bellicose rhetoric coming from Ankara and repeated high-level visits between the two sides. Ankara appeared to see the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict as yet another arena in which to exercise its growing foreign policy ambitions, while appealing to a nationalist, anti-Armenian bloc in Turkey’s domestic politics.

Turkey’s tighter embrace, in turn, gave Baku the confidence to take a tougher line against Russia, Armenia’s closest ally in the conflict but which maintains close ties with both countries. Azerbaijan heavily publicized (still unconfirmed) reports about large Russian weapons shipments to Armenia just following the fighting, and President Ilham Aliyev personally complained to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Other – also unconfirmed – reports fanned in the pro-government Azerbaijani press accused Georgia of allowing Serbian arms shipments to transit its territory en route to Armenia. Whether or not any of these reports were true, the strategy appeared to be to throw up diplomatic complications for Armenia to get arms resupplies.

And all of this took place against the backdrop of Baku’s disappointed expectations of the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. When Pashinyan came to power in 2018, he deposed the former regime that had been vilified in Azerbaijan as the “Karabakh clan,” for the leading roles that its senior officials played in the 1990s war.

Pashinyan appeared to be a fresh face who could give a new impetus to the long-stalled peace negotiations between the two sides. But as time went on, he adopted the same uncompromising positions as his predecessors and on occasion rhetorically went even further, most controversially saying at a speech in Karabakh that “Karabakh is Armenia – period.”

The dashed expectations from Pashinyan appeared to create the sense in Baku that the peace negotiations were never going to yield any fruit, and that force would be the only means for Azerbaijan to regain its territories. Following the July fighting, the negotiations – already slowed by the global COVID-19 pandemic – effectively ceased.

In the two weeks or so before the conflict, there were several developments that made it appear that Baku was laying the ground for a heavy offensive. There was an unusual mobilization of reserve soldiers, and strange reports about the government seizing civilian pickup trucks for possible military use. Dubious reports from unlikely sources about Armenia importing militias from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were widely spread in Azerbaijan.

Some developments were more explicit: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a long list of “provocations” that the Armenian side had committed since Pashinyan came to power, a document that appeared aimed at an international diplomatic audience. Aliyev demanded a specific timetable for Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territories it controls, an unprecedented condition that he knew the Armenians would never fulfill.

The situation was dire enough that the U.S. embassies in Baku and Yerevan both issued statements on September 25 warning Americans to steer clear of border areas.

When fighting broke out early in the morning of September 27, Aliyev said in an address to the nation that it was a “counter-offensive” undertaken “in response to military provocation” by Armenia. But it was a thin pretext that he didn’t bother to explain further. “I am confident that our successful counter-offensive will end the occupation! It will end injustice! It will end the occupation that has lasted for nearly 30 years!” he said.

[Ariel]

Azerbaijan denies Turkey sent it fighters from Syria

Denial comes after Armenian envoy to Russia says some 4,000 fighters from Syria took part in hostilities after being deployed by Turkey.

Azerbaijan has rejected a statement by an Armenian official saying Turkey had sent fighters from Syria to support Azerbaijani forces amid intensifying fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The Interfax and RIA news agencies on Tuesday quoted Vardan Toganyan, Armenia’s ambassador to Russia, as saying Ankara had sent some 4,000 fighters from northern Syria to its close ally, Azerbaijan.

The ambassador said the fighters were taking part in the battles in Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region inside Azerbaijan that is run by ethnic Armenians with the backing of Yerevan.

An aide to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev swiftly denied the reports.

“Rumours of militants from Syria allegedly being redeployed to Azerbaijan is another provocation by the Armenian side and complete nonsense,” said Khikmet Gadzhiev.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday promised Ankara’s support for Azerbaijan and called Armenia “the biggest threat to peace in the region”. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hit back, urging the international community to ensure Turkey does not get involved in the conflict.

In Syria’s long-running war, Turkey backs rebels trying to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is supported by Russia and Iran. In recent years, Turkey has seized control of some northern Syrian border towns in cross-border operations to push back Syrian Kurdish fighters, considered “terrorists” by Ankara.

On Monday, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Armenia must “send back the mercenaries and terrorists it brought from abroad”.

Al Jazeera’s Robin Forestier-Walker, who has covered developments in the region extensively, said: “Both sides have claimed that mercenaries are involved in the fighting.”

“The Azerbaijanis appear to have responded to claims that they have employed Syrian militias to come to Azerbaijan and participate by saying that Armenia is doing the same thing, that there are pro-Armenian groups within Syria that could be involved,” he said from Tbilisi, Georgia, noting that similar reports had circulated following a previous outbreak of violence in July.

“One has to treat these claims with caution, of course, until the facts begin to prove it, which presumably would mean when either side is able to recover bodies or take as prisoners people who are neither from Azerbaijan or Armenia,” added Forestier-Walker.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani and Armenian forces on Monday exchanged fire for a second day, each side accusing the other of using heavy artillery.

The battles, the heaviest since 2016, have reignited concern over stability in the South Caucasus region, a corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas to world markets.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said a total of six Azerbaijani civilians had been killed and 19 wounded since the fighting began on Sunday morning.

Officials in Nagorno-Karabakh reported that more than 30 of its military personnel had been killed and at least 100 wounded. It also said it had recovered some territory it had lost control of on Sunday, and said Azerbaijan had been using heavy artillery to shell areas.

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said Armenian forces were shelling the town of Terter.

The clashes have prompted a flurry of diplomacy to defuse the reignited tensions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Pashinyan in an attempt to prevent further escalation, the Kremlin said. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meanwhile was in intensive talks with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to reach a return to negotiations.

Iran also offered to mediate, as it has done in the past.

United Nations, European Union and Council of Europe leaders also called the two sides to immediately halt military action.

[Centaur]

Armenia says one of its fighter jets was shot down by a Turkish jet in a major escalation of the conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The Armenian foreign ministry said the pilot of the Soviet-made SU-25 died after being hit by the Turkish F-16 in Armenian air space.
Turkey, which is backing Azerbaijan in the conflict, has denied the claim.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54345622

[Ariel]

Missiles, rockets and drones define Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict

Much of what has taken place in seven days of fighting in the Caucuses is not known because of the fog of war.



As conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia entered its seventh day on Saturday, there were concerns about escalation in the air and the use of longer range missiles. This comes as reports increase about Azerbaijan’s use of Israeli drones and missiles and Turkish drones.

The missile and drone war is important because Azerbaijan’s initial advances on the ground appeared to have stalled after several days and now both sides have brought up artillery and various rocket systems.

Much of what has taken place in seven days of fighting in the Caucuses is not known because of the fog of war. However, hundreds of videos have appeared that confirm parts of the fighting. These include videos of casualties, destroyed tanks, drone and rocket attacks, and artillery shelling.

According to reports, this is what is known. Gleb Bazov, a social media user who has followed the conflict closely, pointed out that the conflict so far has shown that a “Turkey inspired strategy of ground assault with attack UAV and reconnaissance drone support has shown itself, as expected, to be a dismal failure.

UAVs are still in their development infancy.” He notes that Azerbaijan has turned to using the multiple launch rocket system known as MLRS Smerch. It had been using the TOS-1 and Uragan, Soviet-era designs of mobile rocket launchers.

The two systems borrow from the Russian use of rockets, such as the katyushas, dating back to World War II. Think of these vehicles like a large truck or tank with a giant cigarete box on top where instead of cigarettes, the box is packed with missiles.

Whereas the TOS-1 has a range of several kilometers, the Smerch has a range up to 90km.

The Russians like these systems and export them. For instance, a video from September 25 shows Russian troops training with the 9K720 Iskandar-M short range ballistic missile, the BM-30 MLRS Smerch and S-300 air defense during Kavkaz drills that were held near Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad).

Video appear to have also shown Azerbaijan using the Israeli LORA missile that was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries.

The LORA was most recently tested in Israel in June when two long-range missiles were fired 90km and 400km with the test illustrating their precision. Azerbaijan showed off the LORA missile in 2018. Baku also showed off its Polonez long range missile that was developed in Belarus and has a range of 200km.

The country also has the Turkish Kasirga rocket system with a range of some 120km.

Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of using all these systems in recent fighting, according to Shushan Stepanyan, the spokesperson of Armenia’s Ministry of Defense. Azerbaijan has also accused Armenia of using Tochka-U tactical missiles. Azerbaijan also said Armenia had used Smerch rockets as well.

Armenia denied the accusations. Both sides say civilians have been killed in the shelling.

Overall, Armenia claimed to have downed 107 Azerbaijan drones, 10 helicopters and 5 planes. It also said it had destroyed 205 armored vehicles and 1 Smerch launcher.

Azerbaijan claimed that by October 3 it had destroyed 250 armored vehicles and an addition 130 military vehicles, as well as 250 Armenian artillery systems, 38 smaller air defense systems, and one S-300 air defense system. This toll illustrates that Azerbaijan has been using many more drones than Armenia.

A music video of Azerbaijan’s army showed four trucks with a total of 36 capsules for launching drones. Social media sources said the drones with Israeli Harop drones. Israeli companies have reportedly sold Azerbaijan many drones over the years, including the IAI Harpy and Harop loitering munition, the Elbit Skystriker, and Aeronautics Orbiter series. Azerbaijan has a modern arsenal using these munitions as well as Turkish Bayraktar drones.

The war in Nagorna-Karabakh, which Azerbaijan says it wants to liberate from Armenian control of a self-declared Armenian Artsakh republic, appears to be grinding down into a conflict of attrition.

Many of the weapons and tactics have origins in the Soviet era. Rocket launchers and UAVs, as well as modern loitering munitions, have been shown to not win the war decisively.

Loitering munitions are drones that have a warhead and act more like a cruise missile, except they can “loiter” over a target and wait for an opportunity. It is unclear if one side can get its arsenal in order to make a push forward in coming days.

Supplies appear to continue to pour into both sides and major powers, such as Turkey and Russia have an interest in not having one side lose. This is also important because the weapon systems being used are being watched all over the world to see which are successful and how they perform.

[Ariel]

Western Media’s Anti-Armenian Coverage of the Azeri

It has been eleven days of death, destruction, and bedlam on the Armenian/Azeri line of contact battlefields …and anti-Armenian bias, ignorance, and incompetence in the western media. (The Turkbeijan invaders have typically indulged in lies and fantasy while Armenian government sources have been relatively accurate in their accounts of the war.)

The formulaic western news reports and analysis come with two poison pills: they all mention that Artsakh is an internationally-recognized part of Azerbaijan. This backgrounder immediately puts the Armenians in the wrong. To make matters worse, western journalists helpfully point out that Russia supports Armenia. By then, most viewers and readers have decided Armenians are the bad guys.

There’s no mention of the thousands of years of Armenian ownership of Artsakh, Stalin’s slicing of two regions of Armenia (Artsakh and Nakhichevan) in 1920 and giving them to Azerbaijan so as to court Turkey, the older brother of Azerbaijan. The western media fails to say that when Artsakh was given on a silver platter to Azerbaijan, 90 percent of the region’s population was Armenian. The western media—which never misses an opportunity to tear apart Stalin—honors the Bolshevik dictator’s unjust decision and legitimizes his illegal act.

Journalists of the west– except for French–never talk about the treatment of Artsakh Armenians under Azeri rule. They don’t mention the anti-Armenian racism during 70 years of Azeri rule in Artsakh. No talk about Azerbaijan’s attempt at demographic changes in Artsakh to the disadvantage of Armenians. No talk that during the 70 years of Azeri rule the Armenian percentage of Artsakh’s population declined from 90 percent to 76 percent due to the Azeri policy of settling Azeris in the Armenian region.

Time and again reports of Armenian victories come packaged with “claimed”, “alleged” and “so-called.”

No mention is made that foreign journalists covering the war from the Armenian side are free to report while Azerbaijan has imposed control s on the reporting of foreign journalists. As well, no mention is made of the fact that Azerbaijan has blocked internet and other electronic access to the Azeris.

The Armenians are described as “separatists” and “rebels”. No mention is made that Armenians are the anti-separatists: they are trying to reverse the separation of Artsakh from Armenia.

Another negative phrase many western correspondents like to deploy is to describe Artsakh as a “self-proclaimed” republic. They ignore that most states are born by self-proclamation. When George Washington and his friends established the United States no one—except perhaps Britain—described the country as “self-proclaimed” republic.

The ridiculous lies of Aliyev spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev go unchallenged again and again. False reports of Azeri victories and taking over of Armenian village also go unchallenged.

A CNN report by Rory Sullivan and Jennifer Hauser had seven journalists who provided background material and further reporting. Of the seven, one was Arza Geybulle (Azeri journalist in Baku), Gul Tuysuz (Turk from Istanbul), and Hira Humayun (Pakistani).

When two French reporters were injured during the Azeri bombardment of Stepanagerd, Hajiyev said that if foreign journalists are harmed it’s their fault because the “journalists had not asked permission from Azerbaijan government” to report from Azerbaijan’s Stepanagerd ! The outrageous observation and attempt to impede western journalism by a senior Azeri officer went uncommented by the western media.

Although it has been clear from day one that it was Azerbaijan—aided by Turkey and mercenary terrorist—who started the war, western journalists keep repeating that both sides blame the other. If the journalist can’t determine this essential fact, what is he or she doing “reporting” on the war.

Although the fact was no secret, for days, western media outlets refused to confirm that thousands of Syrian terrorist mercenaries were fighting on the side of Azerbaijan. Calling it alleged for more than a week it grudgingly admitted the truth after nine days.

In addition to the anti-Armenian bias there’s the sheer incompetence and ignorance on the part of the western journalists. On Oct. 6 (5:30 p.m. EST), the BBC commentator stated Armenia occupies Artsakh. Then there was the CBS anchor (again on Oct. 6, 6:30 p.m. news) who said the recent war started when Armenia occupied “Nagorno-Karpagh a week ago.”

Aaaaaaaaaahhhh.

Walter Cronkite must be hopping in his grave.

There has been no word in the western media that Armenia is a democracy while Azerbaijan is a dictatorship where Aliyev and his corrupt family run the state and that they have stashed billions of stolen petrodollars in foreign banks, and own numerous villas from the Emirates to Switzerland, Britain, and the U.S. There has been no mention that the airline which is carrying Israeli weapons to Azerbaijan is owned by one of the daughters of Aliyev. Also there is no mention of the absence of a free press and the right for assembly in Azerbaijan. No mention of Azeri disappearance, arbitrary arrests, the treatment of political prisoners and the imprisonment of Azeris who oppose the inherited Azeri dictatorship, the beating of prisoners who “commit suicide.”

Why the bias? Why the anti-Armenian attitude of most western journalists?

• Being ignorant of the war’s background, they take the easy way out and become pro-Azeri because “Artsakh belongs to Azerbaijan, according to the UN.” Besides, Armenia is on the side of the Ruskies.
  
  The journalists must know that Europe buys Azeri oil. Any disruption of the supply—because of war—can hurt western economies.
  
  Journalism is a business. These days publications are owned giant corporations with their fingers in many pies and links to governments. Plainly or through “osmosis” reporters learn of the bias of their publishers or owners…and play their tune accordingly.
  
  The arch-villain Turkey of this tragedy is a NATO ally. Armenians are friends of the Big Bad Wolf Russia and criminal Putin.
  
  Pack journalism. At the beginning of international crisis foreign correspondents seem to agree which side to root. Once that is established, they abide by the diktat. When they get together at night over a bottle of Johnny Walker they have to agree who is the bad/good guy. Or else the half-drunk journalists would start an argument which could deteriorate into a fight.

There’s another reason the war reports are amateurish. For more than decade (after social media became all dominant) newspapers, TV, and radio have witnessed a sharp decline in followers and in revenues. The foreign correspondents of yore have disappeared and their bureaus shut. These days some media outlets have one reporter covering all of Africa or all of Europe. The vanishing of the full-time foreign correspondents has given rise to the freelancers, journalists who become instant experts across a wide array of conflicts, issues, hot topics, and countries.

Thus, “If it’s Tuesday, it must be ummm….Nagrino Kar Pie.”

[antineoETC]

Yep, the BBC and other western media is surely gearing up, a la the Balkans conflict of the 1990s and the flight of the Rohingya from the military action taken against their terrorist element, to push the usual narrative of Muslim victimhood at the hands of murderous bigoted non-Muslims who just can't tolerate "difference". Get ready for endless images of Muslim mothers and children, their tear-drenched faces contorted in terror and pain, being chased straffed and shrieking from the rubble piles that were their homes by "THE ARMENIANS" who, like "THE SERBS", will be presented as latter-day Nazis who need to be taught a lesson in tolerance by a NATO bombing campaign led by the Turks. Get ready for atrocities against Armenians to go unreported or, if they are reported, to be mentioned only in passing as if they do not matter, because they do not matter to those ever eager to present Muslims as the world's eternal victims. And get ready for no mention of the great crime of the Muslim Ottoman empire against the Christian Armenians, the culmination of 1200+ years of unprovoked Muslim aggression against that ancient people, which just might make western news consumers think there is more to be understood in the present situation than the travesty they are being fed.

[Ariel]

Nagorno-Karabakh War: Conflict Without Solution

Russia brokered a ceasefire, but Armenia and Azerbaijan are failing to comply. That shows how messy the situation has been for a long time. Western states would have to get involved.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas agreed with a thesis that the SPD MP Daniela De Ridder had just expressed in the Bundestag plenum: The war in Nagorno-Karabakh, “the current bombings” are a “test for the world public” and an “attempt to draw attention to the conflict”.

That was October 7th, ten days after the fighting began along the entire Nagorno-Karabakh frontline. Even then, the fighting was more devastating, more dynamic and more extensive than all the “incidents” on the front line in the decades since the ceasefire agreement in 1994. The number of soldiers and civilians died last week in the hundreds.

War with announcement
Armenia and Azerbaijan had fought doggedly for attention in previous years. Whenever possible at international forums, they brought up the conflict and blew up debates on other topics.

At this year’s security conference in Munich, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev demonstrated that they practically disagree on anything. In an audience debate, they argued about historical data and tried to demonstrate to each other.

Aliyev has repeatedly stated in recent months that he was disappointed about the lack of international support. He threatened that his armed forces would “liberate” the Armenian-controlled territory that belongs to Azerbaijan under international law. The Armenian side, on the other hand, had shown itself to be less and less willing in recent years to change the status quo and at least return the areas around Nagorno-Karabakh that were also taken as a security zone.

Negotiating behind closed doors
In this respect, the Armenians benefited from the fact that international mediation efforts stalled over the years and international pressure to find compromises decreased.

In 1992, within the framework of the OSCE, a group of states came together to organize a peace conference in Minsk in view of the then raging war over Nagorno Karabakh. The conference did not take place until today. The Minsk Group, led by Russia, France and the USA, only secured a ceasefire in 1994.

It was then up to her to negotiate with the conflicting parties in recent years. The EU, for example, the largest donor of civil society projects in the region alongside the USA, always referred to the Minsk Group when it came to conflict resolution.

But the mediators negotiated compromises with the conflicting parties behind closed doors, without involving the population in both countries. As a consequence, negotiated results did not find sufficient support.

Six observers for two upgraded armies
An international peacekeeping force with 4,000 soldiers was planned in Nagorno-Karabakh. But in 1995 the war broke out in the former Yugoslavia, Western Europe and the USA concentrated on peace efforts there. Russia insisted on sending soldiers to Nagorno-Karabakh. But both Azerbaijan and Armenia still reject this out of distrust of the Russian leadership.

To monitor the ceasefire, only six OSCE observers were allowed to inspect the 176-kilometer-long front line – after consultation with both sides.

Arms embargoes with limited effect
In recent years, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been able to rearm with practically no obstacles – Russia has delivered to both sides. Azerbaijan also bought weapons from Israel, recently Turkey added more and more.

In a Security Council resolution in 1993, the United Nations passed a voluntary arms embargo. This resolution has practically been repealed since 2002, since the UN Security Council no longer states that it is “actively involved in the matter”.

An OSCE embargo continues to apply, and the Federal Government, among others, continues to see itself bound by it. But Israel, as a partner country of the OSCE, is not complying with it and, according to the peace research institute SIPRI, currently accounts for 60 percent of arms deliveries to Azerbaijan, of which high-precision drones make up a significant part.

If international organizations fail to stop arms deliveries, national options remain: The Israeli Supreme Court dealt with the issue earlier this week. He refused a hearing – the petition did not provide sufficient evidence that the weapons were used for war crimes against Armenia. However, the court could allow a hearing later. Azerbaijan and Armenia publish videos on the use of drones almost daily.

Azerbaijan tries to conquer territories with the most modern weapons, but apparently with high losses. The Armenian side is also striking back massively – Azerbaijan laments civilian casualties and the shelling of villages and the city of Gandja.

Finally convene the conference?
The fact that the ceasefire negotiated by Russia only led to a temporary weakening of the fighting shows how little the parties to the conflict want to be influenced from outside. Massive pressure, for example through sanctions, would be necessary.

If in a few weeks both parties to the conflict are exhausted, Russia could push through its interests with the unwanted peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh. A deal with Turkey would also be possible. However, it is questionable whether this will lead to an acceptable situation for the conflicting parties concerned.

If the EU wants a lasting peace solution east of its external borders, it would have to act as a neutral mediator. For example, it could work to ensure that the 1992 plan is actually implemented and that an international conference is convened. Sweden could advocate this when it takes over the chairmanship of the OSCE in the new year.

[SAM]

The First 'FAKE' Christian Nation lost the war and their armies were crushed into pieces by Azeris drones

[antineoETC]

The First 'FAKE' Christian Nation

Could you please explain what you mean by this SAM?

[SAM]

The First 'FAKE' Christian Nation

Could you please explain what you mean by this SAM?

Do you believe that the Armenians claimed that they were the first Christian nation.

[antineoETC]

Do you believe that the Armenians claimed [sic] that they were the first Christian nation.

I find it at least as believable as the claim by a seventh century Arab that he flew from Mecca at the speed of light on the back of a talking winged steed with a human head, ascended through various levels of heaven where he met Moses and other prophets and finally engaged in tough negotiations with Allah to get the number of daily prayers reduced. Why shouldn't the Armenian claim be believed?

[SAM]

Do you believe that the Armenians claimed [sic] that they were the first Christian nation.

I find it at least as believable as the claim by a seventh century Arab that he flew from Mecca at the speed of light on the back of a talking winged steed with a human head, ascended through various levels of heaven where he met Moses and other prophets and finally engaged in tough negotiations with Allah to get the number of daily prayers reduced. Why shouldn't the Armenian claim be believed?

You did not answer my question.

[Ariel]

Do you believe that the Armenians claimed that they were the first Christian nation.

Yes...I do. Do you have other information SAM?

What is the first country to accept Christianity?

By 301 AD, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to declare Christianity as its official religion following the conversion of the Royal House of the Arsacids in Armenia. The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest national church.

[antineoETC]

You did not answer my question.

I agree with the Armenians. Why shouldn't I? The Armenians are a proud people with a proud history unlike you Malaysians who have no history worth talking about so have to borrow one from the Arabs.

[Centaur]

The First 'FAKE' Christian Nation

Could you please explain what you mean by this SAM?

Do you believe that the Armenians claimed that they were the first Christian nation.

Last time I checked they still control most of the disputed territory nagarno karabakh though some concessions were made. This looks more like a stalemate as the largest orthodox christian country Russia decides how far they can go not the Islamist idiot Erdogan.

Apparently Azerbaijan used many drones that were made in Israel bought by the oil money. shouldnt they be looking behind trees instead of buying from jews

[SAM]

Last time I checked they still control most of the disputed territory nagarno karabakh though some concessions were made. This looks more like a stalemate as the largest orthodox christian country Russia decides how far they can go not the Islamist idiot Erdogan.

Apparently Azerbaijan used many drones that were made in Israel bought by the oil money. shouldnt they be looking behind trees instead of buying from jews

There were Azerbaijani soldiers from among Jews and Christians fighting the Armenians at Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan is one of the non-anti-Semitic Islamic countries at all. Unlike the Armenians they are anti-Semitic... You fool.

Russian Orthodox and Jewish residents in Azerbaijan's capital Baku prayed for the country's success in ongoing operations to liberate occupied territories from Armenia..

[SAM]

I agree with the Armenians. Why shouldn't I? The Armenians are a proud people with a proud history..

The Book of Acts tells of the first Christian nation in Antioch, in what is now Turkey.

You never read the Bible, let alone the Quran...

[SAM]

Do you believe that the Armenians claimed that they were the first Christian nation.

Yes...I do. Do you have other information SAM?

What is the first country to accept Christianity?

By 301 AD, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to declare Christianity as its official religion following the conversion of the Royal House of the Arsacids in Armenia. The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest national church.

Armenia is actually not the oldest Christian country. The ancient churches in Armenia actually belonged to the Albanians (modern Azerbaijan). These churches were abandoned when Azeris began to convert to Islam. After a while the Armenians renovated the church and began claiming it as theirs.