As Armenians around the world observed a day of remembrance honoring the victims of the Ottoman Empire's genocide of their people 101 years ago, Yerevan continued to battle in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. According to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, they violated a standing ceasefire 130 times over the course of 24 hours.
"Despite the previously reached agreement on the ceasefire regime along the contact line in Karabakh, the Armenian side, using howitzer D-30 and mortars, violated the regime along the line 130 times in 24 hours," the press service said.
On April 2, tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani breakaway region with a predominantly Armenian population, escalated. Baku and Yerevan accused each other of provoking the hostilities, however, the sides succeeded in reaching a ceasefire agreement on April 5, which has been followed by near-daily reports of truce violations.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been engaged in a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988, when the autonomous region left the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and proclaimed independence after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The secession triggered a war that lasted until a Russia-brokered ceasefire was signed in 1994.