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Soldiers of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army on the first line of defense. - Sputnik International

Live Updates: Aliyev Says Azerbaijan Has Taken Control of Several More Municipalities in Karabakh

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Representatives from Baku and Yerevan previously held talks in Moscow and agreed on a humanitarian ceasefire twice - on 10 October and 17 October, but both countries have been accusing the opposite side of violating the deals.

Azerbaijani President Aliyev earlier said that Ankara should be involved in the Karabakh talks, while Turkey promised to support Baku and even deploy its military if such a request was issued. At the same time, Moscow stressed that third countries may be involved only if both Armenia and Azerbaijan support this decision.

A new round of hostilities began in Nagorno-Karabakh on 27 September, with Baku and Yerevan accusing each other of carrying out provocations. The heads of Russia, the US, and France urged the sides to resume talks without preconditions, however, both countries report clashes along the line of control.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted in the late 1980s, with the predominantly Armenian-populated autonomy proclaiming independence from Azerbaijan in 1991. As a result, Baku and Yerevan waged a full-scale war for the area between 1992 and 1994 that claimed the lives of around 40,000 troops and civilians from both sides.

A ceasefire was signed in 1994, but the conflict remained frozen, and the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic still continues to be an unrecognised state.

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03:55 GMT 24.10.2020

BAKU 24 (Sputnik) – Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has discussed the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group during his visit to Washington, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on Saturday in a statement.

“During the visit to Washington, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. During the meeting, the minister stressed that the Armenian party had twice violated the humanitarian ceasefire regime, deliberately shelling with missiles Azerbaijani civilians, as well as cities and settlements outside the conflict area. The minister told the co-chairs about remarks of the Armenian leadership on the lack of a diplomatic solution to the conflict. It was pointed out that all these steps and statements are clearly demonstrating the destructive policy of the Armenian party,” the statement said.

03:50 GMT 24.10.2020

BAKU (Sputnik) – US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has expressed hope for an immediate ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh during the talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

On Friday, Bayramov was on an official visit to the United States where he met a number of US officials, including Pelosi and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she hoped for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the region and the resumption of the humanitarian ceasefire. She also pointed out the importance of non-interference in the conflict by third countries as well as of non-admission of the expansion of the conflict, and expressed a hope that the negotiations would be soon resumed and continued under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk Group,” the ministry said in a statement.

23:36 GMT 23.10.2020

YEREVAN (Sputnik) – The Azerbaijani artillery fire has damaged a gas pipeline and residential buildings in Stepanakert, the capital of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, the latter's Foreign Ministry said.

“As a result of #Azerbaijani shelling residential buildings and the gas pipeline have been damaged in capital #Stepanakert,” the ministry wrote on its Twitter page in late Friday.

According to Artsakh’s emergency services, the artillery fire has not resulted in any victims.

21:24 GMT 23.10.2020

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – More than 90,000 people became refugees over the recent escalation of tensions in Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said.

"Consistently, there are about 90,000 thousand people, who have been displaced. They lost their homes, they lost their property," Mnatsakanyan said on late Friday.

He added that up to 8,000 infrastructure facilities had been destroyed during the ongoing hostilities.

20:57 GMT 23.10.2020

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan has described the negotiations in Washington on the situation in Azerbaijan's crisis-torn region of Nagorno-Karabakh as productive.

On Friday, Mnatsakanyan, and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov had separate meetings with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington.

"We had very productive meetings in the morning. We will continue our work together on finding the way, in which we pursue very specific, very important objectives: establishing the ceasefire, going back to the peaceful resolution," the Armenian foreign minister said.

He added that co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, the United States, and France – had clearly demanded the immediate cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.

17:45 GMT 23.10.2020
16:50 GMT 23.10.2020

According to US President, progress is being made on reaching an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan amid escalating violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"We are talking about it, we are working with Armenia," Trump said. "We have a very good relationship with Armenia. They are very good people, they are so dedicated. They are incredible people and we’ll see what happens... I think really good progress is being made with respect to that".

15:40 GMT 23.10.2020
13:37 GMT 23.10.2020

According to the Azerbaijani president, the army has seized 13 settlements in the Jabrayil, Khojavend, and Qubadli districts.

"Azerbaijan’s glorious Army liberated Zilanli, Kurd Mahrizli, Muganli and Alagurshag villages of Gubadli ... Dolanar and Bunyadli villages of Khojavend, Dag Tumas, Nusus, Xelefli, Minbashili and Veyselli villages of Jabrayil, Venedli and Mirzehasanli villages of Zengilan. Long live Azerbaijan’s Army! Karabakh is Azerbaijan!" Aliyev said on Twitter.

13:21 GMT 23.10.2020

"At the moment, the enemy is bombing Martakert, using its air force", an official statement from the Karabakh information centre says, citing the state service on emergency situations.

12:40 GMT 23.10.2020

YEREVAN (Sputnik) - A group of 31 US lawmakers headed by Frank Pallone are preparing legislation calling for international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh (self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) said on Friday.

"Frank Pallone ... and a bipartisan group of 30 US House members are spearheading legislation calling for international recognition of Republic of Artsakh as the foundation for a lasting peace in the Caucasus region ... The resolution – which enjoys strong support from the ANCA — also condemns Azerbaijan and Turkey’s ongoing attacks on Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh, urges the zeroing out of military aid to Azerbaijan, calls for Artsakh’s direct participation in ongoing OSCE mediated peace talks", ANCA said in a press release.

The legislation is expected to be introduced later in the day and will coincide with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s meetings with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington.

ANCA is the largest and most influential organisation of the Armenian community in the United States.

11:06 GMT 23.10.2020

"If Russia wants to take part in solving the Karabakh problem, Turkey thinks it has the same right to engage. I have not heard any news about Russia's negative stance on the matter", Erdogan told reporters.

The Turkish president expressed his belief that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Minsk Group had not made much progress in the Karabakh crisis settlement.

"We continue to cooperate with Russia on Syria and Libya. I hope we will manage to take the right steps on Karabakh and solve the problem at last", Erdogan added.

10:31 GMT 23.10.2020

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia is doing everything possible to stop the war in Karabakh and promote diplomatic negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, commenting on the possibility of organising a meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Moscow.

"Putin said yesterday that he maintains regular daily contact both with Aliyev and with Pashinyan. Answering your question, I can only say once again that the head of the Russian delegation is doing everything possible to stop the war and pacify the Karabakh conflict", Peskov said, when asked if Moscow was ready to organise a meeting of the two leaders.

08:41 GMT 23.10.2020
08:13 GMT 23.10.2020

"The French president expressed concern over the ongoing hostilities and the current situation. The presidents said that a peaceful solution to the conflict has no alternative and pointed out the need to implement the ceasefire agreements", the press service said.

07:46 GMT 23.10.2020
06:40 GMT 23.10.2020

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not tolerate aggression along its borders and on its territory. During the recent events unfolding between Armenia and Azerbaijan, we told both sides that anyone violating this principle will be fully rejected", Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali told Sputnik in an interview.

Tehran maintains close contact with all the sides to the conflict, the ambassador stressed.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is thoroughly monitoring activities in the border regions of our country. In this regard, as we declare inadmissible aggression by any of the warring sides on our territory, we seriously warn them of the need to be cautious", Jalali went on to say.

According to the diplomat, Iran has achieved "self-sustainability" and even has "export potential" in some areas of the defence sector.

"If we feel it is needed, we will certainly implement the needed retaliatory measures", he noted.

Jalali also assured Sputnik that recently launched air defence drills had nothing to do with the escalation in Karabakh.

"Various defence drills are conducted in accordance with the approved programmes and are aimed at boosting our [combat] readiness, this cannot be linked to some special occasion", the envoy explained, when asked if the decision to conduct a military exercise was related to the Karabakh tensions.

06:21 GMT 23.10.2020
06:03 GMT 23.10.2020

YEREVAN (Sputnik) - Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan has begun his visit to the United States by meeting with Philip Reeker, the acting US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Anna Naghdalyan, said on Friday.

"The working visit by Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan to the United States of America has commenced. Minister Mnatsakanyan is holding a meeting with the US Acting Assistant Secretary of European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker", Naghdalyan wrote on Facebook.

The foreign ministers from Armenia and Azerbaijan are both expected to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later on Friday, as Washington seeks to play a role in easing the tensions along the line of contact in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

05:59 GMT 23.10.2020
05:45 GMT 23.10.2020

"They [Ankara] have already sent their troops... And the statement of [Vice President] Fuat Oktay [on sending Turkish troops to Nagorno-Karabakh, if such a request comes from Azerbaijan] is Turkey's answer to discussions on the presence of Russian peacekeepers in this region", Pashinyan said.

05:43 GMT 23.10.2020
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