YEREVAN, Armenia: Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged accusations on Tuesday of opening fire along their shared border, escalating tensions between the historic adversaries despite ongoing peace negotiations.
Azerbaijan’s defence ministry reported that Armenian armed forces initiated gunfire towards Azerbaijani army positions near the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, an Azerbaijani exclave bordering Iran and southern Armenia. However, Armenia refuted these claims, asserting that Azerbaijan was the aggressor.
The conflicting accounts follow Azerbaijan’s allegations on Monday of Armenia’s buildup of military assets near the border, warning of a decisive response to any provocation.
Armenia, in turn, denied these accusations, stating that its military activities were purely defensive in nature, aimed at securing its sovereign territory.
Both countries’ leaders, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, have expressed optimism regarding the possibility of a comprehensive peace agreement, particularly after Azerbaijan’s successful military campaign to reclaim the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenian separatists in 2020.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region at the heart of the conflict, has been a focal point of contention between Armenia and Azerbaijan for decades, resulting in two devastating wars and significant loss of life on both sides.
Following Azerbaijan’s recapture of Karabakh, the entire ethnic Armenian population of the enclave fled to Armenia, underscoring the humanitarian impact of the conflict.
Despite the progress in peace talks, sporadic border clashes serve as a stark reminder of the persistent volatility in the region, highlighting the fragility of the peace process and the urgent need for sustained diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation and foster lasting stability.
