The shelling in Nagorno-Karabakh continues

1 Nagorno-Karabakh

The State Emergency Service of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic reported on Facebook that the Azerbaijani forces shelled some settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh region. «Azerbaijan continues their shelling of peaceful settlements of Artsakh, thus violating all the provisions of the international conventions» — the message stated. It was specified that over the night, the village of Karmir Shuka was hit with an intensive artillery fire, and in the morning — the village of Berdashen, in the Martuni region. «The artillery strikes were also carried out on the villages of Tokh in the Hadrut region, and the villages of Tigranavan, Aygeovit and Ahavno, in the Kashatag region. The information about the injured and the caused damage is being specified» — the ministry concluded.

2 Iran

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Said Khatibzade, stated that Tehran won’t tolerate any more attacks on its territory by the participants of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. «Iran won’t remain indifferent in case if such attacks happen again» — the press service of the Iranian Foreign Ministry quoted his words. He added that «the ensuring of the safety of the Iranian citizens, living on the border areas, is a priority of the armed forces». Earlier on Thursday, the IRIB TV and Radio Broadcasting Corporation reported that 8 rockets, fired from the conflict zone in Nagorno-Karabakh region, fell in Iran. The rockets hit a local village. 1 person was injured, several houses were damaged.

3 Armenia

The Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated during an interview to the Swiss TV company ‘RTS’ that the USA and France should support the Russian efforts to stabilize the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. He underlined that Russia is a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, and the closest state to the region. «The other two co-chairs — France and the USA — must support Russia in its efforts to stabilize the region» — Pashinyan said and added that the humanitarian situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region is «more than serious». According to him, the ceasefire hasn’t even begun to operate yet, since at the very moment when it was supposed to come into force — Azerbaijan launched new attacks. While speaking about the compromise, Nikol Pashinyan underlined that «Armenia has always been ready for it, however, concessions should be made by both sides». Earlier in an interview to the Turkish NTV channel, the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan is ready to consider proposals for the international efforts to ensure peace in Karabakh, after the end of the military confrontation. He added that Azerbaijan will continue to advance in Karabakh until Armenia abides by the ceasefire.

4 Azerbaijan

An adviser of the President of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev, stated during an interview to the ‘El Mundo’ newspaper that Azerbaijan doesn’t support the idea of ​​including the Russian military observers in the monitoring of the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. He added that Azerbaijan is conducting operations on the territory under their own sovereignty. The dispatch of Russian military observers is unneeded. He stated that the country’s authorities have never ruled out a possibility of granting self-government to the Nagorno-Karabakh region. «But no-one can change the internationally recognized borders by force» — Hajiyev concluded. On 14th of October the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Moscow doesn’t rule out that the Russian military observers may be included in the monitoring of the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, stated that the deployment of peacekeepers or observers in Nagorno-Karabakh is possible only with the consent of Azerbaijan and Armenia.