Armenia's President Armen Sarkisian has refused to sign the prime minister's order dismissing the chief of the military's general staff, deepening the country's political crisis.

"The president of the republic, within the framework of his constitutional powers, returned the draft decree with objections," the presidency said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the crisis "cannot be resolved through frequent personnel changes".

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused the military of a coup attempt on Thursday and tried to sack the chief of staff, after the army issued a written statement calling for him to resign.

On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators rallied in the capital Yerevan to demand his downfall, and a leading opposition figure called on the army to rebel against him. Two former presidents have already said he must step down. He has faced calls to quit since November from countrymen who blame him for a disastrous six-week war that saw ethnic Armenian forces lose swathes of territory in neighbouring Azerbaijan they had held for decades.

Pashinyan told his supporters on Thursday he was firing Onik Gasparyan, the chief of the army's general staff. But by Friday the dismissal had not yet been approved by the president, a step needed for it to enter force.

President Armen Sarkissian held a meeting with Gasparyan. Vazgen Manukyan, a politician who has been touted by the opposition as a possible interim prime minister to replace Pashinyan, told hundreds of supporters at a rally that the army would never allow Gasparyan to be sacked.

Pashinyan, a former journalist and lawmaker, came to power in a peaceful popular uprising in May 2018 known as Armenia's velvet revolution. But the loss of territory in and around the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh last year was a bitter blow for Armenians, who had won control of the area in the 1990s in a war which killed at least 30,000 people.

The conflict was brought to a halt by a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia. Moscow, which has deployed peacekeepers to enforce the ceasefire, said on Friday it was vital the agreements be fully implemented despite Armenia's crisis.

(with inputs from agencies)

Armenia's President Armen Sarkisian has refused to sign the prime minister's order dismissing the chief of the military's general staff, deepening the country's political crisis.

Armenia's President Armen Sarkisian has refused to sign the prime minister's order dismissing the chief of the military's general staff, deepening the country's political crisis. "The president of the republic, within the framework of his constitutional powers, returned the draft decree with objections," the presidency said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the crisis "cannot be resolved through frequent personnel changes". Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused the military of a coup attempt on Thursday and tried to sack the chief of staff, after the army issued a written statement calling for him to resign. On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators rallied in the capital Yerevan to demand his downfall, and a leading opposition figure called on the army to rebel against him. Two former presidents have already said he must step down. He has faced calls to quit since November from countrymen who blame him for a disastrous six-week war that saw ethnic Armenian forces lose swathes of territory in neighbouring Azerbaijan they had held for decades. Pashinyan told his supporters on Thursday he was firing Onik Gasparyan, the chief of the army's general staff. But by Friday the dismissal had not yet been approved by the president, a step needed for it to enter force. President Armen Sarkissian held a meeting with Gasparyan. Vazgen Manukyan, a politician who has been touted by the opposition as a possible interim prime minister to replace Pashinyan, told hundreds of supporters at a rally that the army would never allow Gasparyan to be sacked. Pashinyan, a former journalist and lawmaker, came to power in a peaceful popular uprising in May 2018 known as Armenia's velvet revolution. But the loss of territory in and around the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh last year was a bitter blow for Armenians, who had won control of the area in the 1990s in a war which killed at least 30,000 people. The conflict was brought to a halt by a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia. Moscow, which has deployed peacekeepers to enforce the ceasefire, said on Friday it was vital the agreements be fully implemented despite Armenia's crisis. (with inputs from agencies)

Armenian president refuses to sign PM's order dismissing army chief

Several thousand opposition supporters continued to march through the capital of Armenia on Friday to demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan.

Protesters flooded the streets of central Yerevan, waving Armenian flags and chanting anti-government slogans, hours before a planned meeting with the ex-Soviet country's president.

The small South Caucasus nation plunged Thursday into a fresh political crisis as Pashinyan defied calls to resign, accused the military of an attempted coup and rallied over 20,000 supporters in Yerevan.

The crisis spilled into a second day after Pashinyan's critics spent the night, then blocked streets near the parliament building in preparation for Friday's rally.&nbsp;

The march led them to the presidency and then to the prime minister's residence, ahead of a meeting with President Armen Sarkisian at 15:40 local time (1140 GMT).

Pashinyan has said he is ready to start talks with the opposition to defuse tensions, but also threatened to arrest any opponents if they violate the law.

The prime minister has faced fierce criticism since he signed a peace deal brokered by Russia that ended the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that broke from Azerbaijan's control during a war in the early 1990s.

Fresh fighting erupted over the region in late September with Azerbaijani forces backed by ally Turkey making steady gains.

After six weeks of clashes and bombardments that claimed some 6,000 lives, a ceasefire agreement was signed that handed over significant territory to Azerbaijan and allowed for the deployment of Russian peacekeepers.

The agreement was seen as a national humiliation for many in Armenia, though Pashinyan has said he had no choice but to agree or see his country's forces suffer even bigger losses.

Armenia's military had backed Pashinyan for months, but on Thursday the military's general staff joined calls for him to step down, saying in a statement that he and his cabinet were "not capable of taking adequate decisions".

France, meanwhile, on Friday urged talks based on the legitimacy of President Armen Sarkisian, who holds a largely ceremonial role but has vowed to resolve this crisis peacefully, and Pashinyan himself.

(with inputs from agencies)

Several thousand opposition supporters continued to march through the capital of Armenia on Friday to demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan.

Several thousand opposition supporters continued to march through the capital of Armenia on Friday to demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan. Protesters flooded the streets of central Yerevan, waving Armenian flags and chanting anti-government slogans, hours before a planned meeting with the ex-Soviet country's president. The small South Caucasus nation plunged Thursday into a fresh political crisis as Pashinyan defied calls to resign, accused the military of an attempted coup and rallied over 20,000 supporters in Yerevan. The crisis spilled into a second day after Pashinyan's critics spent the night, then blocked streets near the parliament building in preparation for Friday's rally. The march led them to the presidency and then to the prime minister's residence, ahead of a meeting with President Armen Sarkisian at 15:40 local time (1140 GMT). Pashinyan has said he is ready to start talks with the opposition to defuse tensions, but also threatened to arrest any opponents if they violate the law. The prime minister has faced fierce criticism since he signed a peace deal brokered by Russia that ended the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that broke from Azerbaijan's control during a war in the early 1990s. Fresh fighting erupted over the region in late September with Azerbaijani forces backed by ally Turkey making steady gains. After six weeks of clashes and bombardments that claimed some 6,000 lives, a ceasefire agreement was signed that handed over significant territory to Azerbaijan and allowed for the deployment of Russian peacekeepers. The agreement was seen as a national humiliation for many in Armenia, though Pashinyan has said he had no choice but to agree or see his country's forces suffer even bigger losses. Armenia's military had backed Pashinyan for months, but on Thursday the military's general staff joined calls for him to step down, saying in a statement that he and his cabinet were "not capable of taking adequate decisions". France, meanwhile, on Friday urged talks based on the legitimacy of President Armen Sarkisian, who holds a largely ceremonial role but has vowed to resolve this crisis peacefully, and Pashinyan himself. (with inputs from agencies)

Thousands continue to march in Armenia to demand PM's resignation

The Kremlin on Friday said Armenia should comply with agreements reached with Azerbaijan after last year's Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, despite the political upheaval in Armenia, with the army on Thursday demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation.&nbsp;

Thousands rallied behind Pashinyan after the army's written demand plunged the impoverished former Soviet republic of less than three million into a new political crisis in what he said was an attempted coup.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, Pashinyan also asked his supporters to gather at the centre of the capital Yerevan.&nbsp;

"I consider the statement of the General Staff of the Armed Forces an attempted military coup. I invite all of our supporters to Republic Square right now," Pashinyan wrote in a Facebook post. &nbsp;

Pashinyan also sacked the general staff of armed forces Onik Gasparyan after the latter's office released a statement asking the prime minister and his cabinet to resign on Wednesday.&nbsp;

Gasparyan on Wednesday in a statement said that Pashinyan's government is 'not capable of taking adequate decisions' and denounced 'attacks by the authorities aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces.'&nbsp;

On Wednesday, the Armenian PM also fired deputy chief of staff Tigran Khachatryan, who had ridiculed Pashinyan's claims that Russian-supplied missiles had failed to reach targets during last year's intense battle over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.&nbsp;

Pashinyan and his government have faced massive anger and protests over the handling of the war with Azerbaijan over the conflicted region, building pressure on him to step down. &nbsp;

The massive anger is against the Russian-brokered peace deal that ended six weeks of war and ceded large territories of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan.&nbsp;

The Kremlin on Friday said Armenia should comply with agreements reached with Azerbaijan after last year's Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, despite the political upheaval in Armenia, with the army on Thursday demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation.

The Kremlin on Friday said Armenia should comply with agreements reached with Azerbaijan after last year's Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, despite the political upheaval in Armenia, with the army on Thursday demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation. Thousands rallied behind Pashinyan after the army's written demand plunged the impoverished former Soviet republic of less than three million into a new political crisis in what he said was an attempted coup. Meanwhile, Pashinyan also asked his supporters to gather at the centre of the capital Yerevan. "I consider the statement of the General Staff of the Armed Forces an attempted military coup. I invite all of our supporters to Republic Square right now," Pashinyan wrote in a Facebook post. Pashinyan also sacked the general staff of armed forces Onik Gasparyan after the latter's office released a statement asking the prime minister and his cabinet to resign on Wednesday. Gasparyan on Wednesday in a statement said that Pashinyan's government is 'not capable of taking adequate decisions' and denounced 'attacks by the authorities aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces.' On Wednesday, the Armenian PM also fired deputy chief of staff Tigran Khachatryan, who had ridiculed Pashinyan's claims that Russian-supplied missiles had failed to reach targets during last year's intense battle over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Pashinyan and his government have faced massive anger and protests over the handling of the war with Azerbaijan over the conflicted region, building pressure on him to step down. The massive anger is against the Russian-brokered peace deal that ended six weeks of war and ceded large territories of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan.

Kremlin says Armenia should comply with Karabakh ceasefire agreements

A nationalist Turkish television station with close ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dug up a 12-year-old map that projects Turkey’s sphere of influence in 2050 as stretching from South-eastern Europe on the northern coast of the Mediterranean and Libya on its southern shore across North Africa, the Gulf and the Levant into the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Buoyed by last year’s Azerbaijani defeat of Armenia, TGRT, a subsidiary of Ihlas Holding, a media and construction conglomerate that has won major government tenders, used the map to advance a policy that has long constituted the agenda of some of Mr Erdogan’s closest advisors.

The broadcasting of the map, first published in a book authored by George Freidman, the founder of Stratfor, an influential American corporate intelligence group, followed calls by pan-Turkic daily Turkiye, Ihlas’ daily newspaper that has the fourth-largest circulation in Turkey, to leverage the Azerbaijani victory to create a military alliance of Turkic states.

In a country that ranks only second to China as the world’s foremost jailer of journalists, Ihlas Holding media would not be pushing a pan-Turkic, Islam-laced Turkish regional policy without tacit government approval at the very least.

The media group’s push reflects Turkish efforts to capitalize on the fact that Turkey’s latest geopolitical triumph with Azerbaijan’s Turkish-backed victory is already producing tangible results. The military victory has positioned Azerbaijan, and by extension Turkey, as an alternative transportation route westwards that would allow Central Asian nations to bypass corridors dominated by either Russia or Iran.

Turkmenistan, recognizing the changing geopolitical map, rushed in January to end a long-standing dispute with Azerbaijan and agree on the joint exploitation of Caspian Sea oil deposits. The agreement came on the heels of a deal in December for the purchase from ENI Turkmenistan of up to 40,000 tonnes of petroleum a month by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR).

The agreement could boost the completion of a Trans-Caspian natural gas pipeline (TPC) that would feed into the recently operational Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), bypass Russia and Iran, and supply Greece and Bulgaria via the former Soviet republic.

Last month, Azerbaijan agreed with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan to develop the Lapis Lazuli transport corridor that would link the war-ravaged country to Turkey. At about the same time, Kazakhstan began exporting copper cathodes to Turkey via Azerbaijan in a first step intended to capitalize on the Caucasian nation’s position as a transit hub.

Azerbaijan and Turkey’s newly found advantage has rung alarm bells among Russian and Iranian analysts with close ties to their respective governments even though the TGRT broadcast may have been primarily intended to whip up nationalist fervour at home and test regional responses.

Russian and Iranian politicians and analysts appeared to take the broadcast in that vein. Nonetheless, they were quick to note that Friedman’s projection includes Russia’s soft underbelly in the northern Caucasus as well as Crimea while Iranians took stock of the fact that the Turkish sphere of influence would border on Iran to the north, south and west.

Turkey and Ukraine have in recent months agreed to cooperate in the development of technologies with military applications related to engines, avionics, drones, anti-ship and cruise missiles, radar and surveillance systems, robotics, space, and satellites. Turkey has refused to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, home to Crimean Tartars, and criticized Russian support for Ukrainian rebels.

Most Russian commentators sought to downplay the significance of the map, leaving Andrei Krasov, deputy chairman of the defence committee of the Russian parliament’s lower house to warn that “if they (the Turks) want to test the strength of the Russian spirit and our weapons, let them try.”

With Iran excluded from TGRT and Stratfor’s projection of Turkey’s emerging sphere of influence, Iranian officials and analysts have largely not responded to the revival of the map.

Yet, Iran’s actions on the ground suggest that the Islamic republic has long anticipated Turkish moves even though it was caught off guard by last year’s Azerbaijani-Armenian war.

For one, Iran has in the past year sought to bolster its military presence in the Caspian Sea and forge close naval ties with the basin’s other littoral states - Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan.

Viewed from Tehran, TGRT’s broadcasting of the Stratfor map was the latest in a series of provocative Turkish moves.

They include Mr. Erdogan’s recital of a nationalist poem while attending a military parade in Azerbaijan that calls for reuniting two Iranian ethnic Azeri provinces with the former Soviet republic and publication by state-run Turkish Radio and Television’s Arabic service of a map on Instagram, depicting Iran’s oil-rich province of Khuzestan with its large population of ethnic Arabs as separate from Iran.

The Instagram posting came days after the disclosure that Habib Chaab, a leader of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, or ASMLA, had been kidnapped in Istanbul by an Iraqi Kurdish drug baron in cooperation with Iranian intelligence and transported to Iran.

While senior Iranian officials talked down the Turkish provocations, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency left little doubt about what Iran’s true sentiments were.

“Those who have greedy eyes on the territories this side of the Aras River had better study history and see that Azerbaijan, specifically the people of Tabriz, have always pioneered in defending Iran. If Iran had not helped you on the night of the coup, you would have had a fate like that of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi,’ protesters chanted in front of the Turkish consulate in Tabriz, the capital of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.

The protesters were responding to Mr. Erdogan’s poem recital and referring to the failed military coup against him in 2016 as well as the toppling of Mr. Morsi in 2013 in a takeover by the Egyptian armed forces.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

A nationalist Turkish television station with close ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dug up a 12-year-old map that projects Turkey’s sphere of influence in 2050 as stretching from South-eastern Europe on the northern coast of the Mediterranean and Libya on its southern shore across North Africa, the Gulf and the Levant into the Caucasus and Central Asia.

A nationalist Turkish television station with close ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dug up a 12-year-old map that projects Turkey’s sphere of influence in 2050 as stretching from South-eastern Europe on the northern coast of the Mediterranean and Libya on its southern shore across North Africa, the Gulf and the Levant into the Caucasus and Central Asia. Buoyed by last year’s Azerbaijani defeat of Armenia, TGRT, a subsidiary of Ihlas Holding, a media and construction conglomerate that has won major government tenders, used the map to advance a policy that has long constituted the agenda of some of Mr Erdogan’s closest advisors. The broadcasting of the map, first published in a book authored by George Freidman, the founder of Stratfor, an influential American corporate intelligence group, followed calls by pan-Turkic daily Turkiye, Ihlas’ daily newspaper that has the fourth-largest circulation in Turkey, to leverage the Azerbaijani victory to create a military alliance of Turkic states. In a country that ranks only second to China as the world’s foremost jailer of journalists, Ihlas Holding media would not be pushing a pan-Turkic, Islam-laced Turkish regional policy without tacit government approval at the very least. The media group’s push reflects Turkish efforts to capitalize on the fact that Turkey’s latest geopolitical triumph with Azerbaijan’s Turkish-backed victory is already producing tangible results. The military victory has positioned Azerbaijan, and by extension Turkey, as an alternative transportation route westwards that would allow Central Asian nations to bypass corridors dominated by either Russia or Iran. Turkmenistan, recognizing the changing geopolitical map, rushed in January to end a long-standing dispute with Azerbaijan and agree on the joint exploitation of Caspian Sea oil deposits. The agreement came on the heels of a deal in December for the purchase from ENI Turkmenistan of up to 40,000 tonnes of petroleum a month by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). The agreement could boost the completion of a Trans-Caspian natural gas pipeline (TPC) that would feed into the recently operational Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), bypass Russia and Iran, and supply Greece and Bulgaria via the former Soviet republic. Last month, Azerbaijan agreed with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan to develop the Lapis Lazuli transport corridor that would link the war-ravaged country to Turkey. At about the same time, Kazakhstan began exporting copper cathodes to Turkey via Azerbaijan in a first step intended to capitalize on the Caucasian nation’s position as a transit hub. Azerbaijan and Turkey’s newly found advantage has rung alarm bells among Russian and Iranian analysts with close ties to their respective governments even though the TGRT broadcast may have been primarily intended to whip up nationalist fervour at home and test regional responses. Russian and Iranian politicians and analysts appeared to take the broadcast in that vein. Nonetheless, they were quick to note that Friedman’s projection includes Russia’s soft underbelly in the northern Caucasus as well as Crimea while Iranians took stock of the fact that the Turkish sphere of influence would border on Iran to the north, south and west. Turkey and Ukraine have in recent months agreed to cooperate in the development of technologies with military applications related to engines, avionics, drones, anti-ship and cruise missiles, radar and surveillance systems, robotics, space, and satellites. Turkey has refused to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, home to Crimean Tartars, and criticized Russian support for Ukrainian rebels. Most Russian commentators sought to downplay the significance of the map, leaving Andrei Krasov, deputy chairman of the defence committee of the Russian parliament’s lower house to warn that “if they (the Turks) want to test the strength of the Russian spirit and our weapons, let them try.” With Iran excluded from TGRT and Stratfor’s projection of Turkey’s emerging sphere of influence, Iranian officials and analysts have largely not responded to the revival of the map. Yet, Iran’s actions on the ground suggest that the Islamic republic has long anticipated Turkish moves even though it was caught off guard by last year’s Azerbaijani-Armenian war. For one, Iran has in the past year sought to bolster its military presence in the Caspian Sea and forge close naval ties with the basin’s other littoral states - Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. Viewed from Tehran, TGRT’s broadcasting of the Stratfor map was the latest in a series of provocative Turkish moves. They include Mr. Erdogan’s recital of a nationalist poem while attending a military parade in Azerbaijan that calls for reuniting two Iranian ethnic Azeri provinces with the former Soviet republic and publication by state-run Turkish Radio and Television’s Arabic service of a map on Instagram, depicting Iran’s oil-rich province of Khuzestan with its large population of ethnic Arabs as separate from Iran. The Instagram posting came days after the disclosure that Habib Chaab, a leader of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, or ASMLA, had been kidnapped in Istanbul by an Iraqi Kurdish drug baron in cooperation with Iranian intelligence and transported to Iran. While senior Iranian officials talked down the Turkish provocations, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency left little doubt about what Iran’s true sentiments were. “Those who have greedy eyes on the territories this side of the Aras River had better study history and see that Azerbaijan, specifically the people of Tabriz, have always pioneered in defending Iran. If Iran had not helped you on the night of the coup, you would have had a fate like that of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi,’ protesters chanted in front of the Turkish consulate in Tabriz, the capital of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. The protesters were responding to Mr. Erdogan’s poem recital and referring to the failed military coup against him in 2016 as well as the toppling of Mr. Morsi in 2013 in a takeover by the Egyptian armed forces. (Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

Opinion: Turkey signals sweeping regional ambitions

Hundreds of demonstrators blocked the main streets of the Armenian capital Yerevan on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over his handling of a conflict with Azerbaijan last year.

Fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces on Sept. 27 and ended on Nov. 10 when a Russian-brokered peace deal introduced a ceasefire. Thousands were killed in the most bloody fighting in the region since the early 1990s.

Facing pressure to resign after ethnic Armenians lost swathes of territory, Pashinyan announced a road map he said was designed to shore up national stability and security.

Pashinyan has rejected calls to resign but said he was fully responsible for the outcome of the conflict and remained responsible for ensuring Armenia`s security.

Protesters chanted "Nikol is a traitor!", "Armenia without Nikol!" and blocked some streets after an opposition rally on Freedom Square in the heart of Yerevan on Saturday.

"It doesn`t matter how many people gather on the square, Nikol Pashinyan will not resign voluntarily," opposition leader Vazgen Manukyan told a crowd of protesters waving Armenian flags under a light snowfall.

Ishkhan Saghatelyan, an opposition politician, said more street protests were planned for Monday.

Hundreds of demonstrators blocked the main streets of the Armenian capital Yerevan on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over his handling of a conflict with Azerbaijan last year.

Hundreds of demonstrators blocked the main streets of the Armenian capital Yerevan on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over his handling of a conflict with Azerbaijan last year. Fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces on Sept. 27 and ended on Nov. 10 when a Russian-brokered peace deal introduced a ceasefire. Thousands were killed in the most bloody fighting in the region since the early 1990s. Facing pressure to resign after ethnic Armenians lost swathes of territory, Pashinyan announced a road map he said was designed to shore up national stability and security. Pashinyan has rejected calls to resign but said he was fully responsible for the outcome of the conflict and remained responsible for ensuring Armenia`s security. Protesters chanted "Nikol is a traitor!", "Armenia without Nikol!" and blocked some streets after an opposition rally on Freedom Square in the heart of Yerevan on Saturday. "It doesn`t matter how many people gather on the square, Nikol Pashinyan will not resign voluntarily," opposition leader Vazgen Manukyan told a crowd of protesters waving Armenian flags under a light snowfall. Ishkhan Saghatelyan, an opposition politician, said more street protests were planned for Monday.

Armenians take to the streets to call for PM's resignation

Russia and Turkey Saturday opened a joint centre to observe a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh that was agreed upon following a flare-up between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the conflict in the region last year.

The centre, which both countries agreed to set up in November, was officially opened in the Agdam region of Azerbaijan. It will be staffed by up to 60 servicemen each from Turkey and from Russia, the Azeri defence ministry said in a statement.

After six weeks of fighting, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered ceasefire for the enclave, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but mainly populated by ethnic Armenians.

Turkey said on Friday that one Turkish general and 38 personnel will work at the centre.

The Russian defence ministry, to this end, said that "monitoring will be carried out through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as well as the evaluation of data received from other sources".

Turkey backs Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, and has criticised the co-chairs of the OSCE's so-called Minsk Group -- led by the United States, France and Russia -- for not resolving the long-running conflict in decades of mediation.&nbsp;

Russia and Turkey Saturday opened a joint centre to observe a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh that was agreed upon following a flare-up between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the conflict in the region last year.

Russia and Turkey Saturday opened a joint centre to observe a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh that was agreed upon following a flare-up between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the conflict in the region last year. The centre, which both countries agreed to set up in November, was officially opened in the Agdam region of Azerbaijan. It will be staffed by up to 60 servicemen each from Turkey and from Russia, the Azeri defence ministry said in a statement. After six weeks of fighting, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered ceasefire for the enclave, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but mainly populated by ethnic Armenians. Turkey said on Friday that one Turkish general and 38 personnel will work at the centre. The Russian defence ministry, to this end, said that "monitoring will be carried out through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as well as the evaluation of data received from other sources". Turkey backs Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, and has criticised the co-chairs of the OSCE's so-called Minsk Group -- led by the United States, France and Russia -- for not resolving the long-running conflict in decades of mediation.

Russia and Turkey open monitoring centre for Nagorno-Karabakh region

The three sides will exchange views on new and emerging threats to regional peace and security, the challenges caused by COVID-19, environment, Climate Change and economic development targets.

Pakistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan FMs to hold trilateral meeting in Islamabad today

Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted a trilateral meeting in Moscow with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Vladimir Putin hosts trilateral meeting with Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders on Monday in their first post-war talks since the peace agreement halted six weeks of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Putin hosts Azeri, Armenian leaders meet in Moscow for talks amid peace deal

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on January 11 will discuss outstanding issues and implementation of the agreement.

Russia to host trilateral meeting with Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders

Russian President Vladimir Putin will host a trilateral meeting bringing together the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh agreement.

Putin to host meeting with Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ushered in the new year, pledging to employ his country’s military to secure Turkey’s place in a rebalanced new world order.

Mr. Erdogan spelt out his vision when he inserted himself on December 30 into an address by his defense minister, Hulusi Akar, to several hundred masked Turkish and Azeri military officers in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

Speaking on the loudspeaker of Mr. Akar’s handphone that the defense minister held up to the microphone, Mr. Erdogan compared Turkish military interventions, foreign bases and/or participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions in lands of the former Soviet Union, Kosovo, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Qatar to the creation during World War One of the Islamic Army of the Caucasus by Enver Pasha, the Ottoman war minister.

The Islamic Army captured Baku in the last days of World War One but failed to cement a basis for military support in the century since for pan-Turkist or Turanist ideologies that seek to unite peoples of Turkic origin.

Critics, nonetheless, assert that Turkish support for last year’s Caucasus war in which Azerbaijan defeated Armenia constituted a step in that direction.

Mr. Erdogan, however, appears to define Turkey’s place in the&nbsp;new world order as Turkish leadership of a broader Muslim world of which lands populated by Turkic ethnicities are a part.

“The Turkish military, with a past full of glory and honour, will continue to fulfil…the task assigned to them in our country and all over the world… I wish our soldiers success, who fight to preserve peace, calm and stability in many places from Syria to Libya, from Somalia to Kosovo, from Afghanistan to Qatar,” Mr. Erdogan said.

Mr. Erdogan’s broader focus has not stopped his defense minister from stepping up meetings with representatives of Turkic minorities, until recently the preserve of a separate government department.

“Ankara’s interest in its ethnic kin abroad has markedly perked since the flare-up of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in late September,” said Turkish military analyst Metin Gurcan, referring to the disputed Armenian enclave that is legally part of Azerbaijan..

Mr. Erdogan made his Baku remarks against the backdrop of heightened strains with Iran, efforts by Turkey’s Mediterranean detractors backed by the United Arab Emirates to stymie Turkish efforts to expand its access to regional gas deposits, and domestic criticism of his massive expenditure on religious soft power at a time of economic hardship.

Mr. Erdogan’s emphasis on military power was likely to complicate his overtures to Israel with which he has had tense relations in past years in a bid to ease potentially difficult dealings with the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Mr. Biden has criticized Turkey’s abysmal record on human rights and the rule of law and is unlikely to look kindly at NATO-member Turkey’s acquisition of an advanced Russian anti-missile defense system.

Israel backed last month’s admission of the UAE as an observer to the Cairo-based Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum that groups Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Jordan, and Palestine alongside the Jewish state.

Turkey has denounced the forum as an effort to deprive it of its economic rights in the Eastern Mediterranean and last year dispatched an exploration vessel to disputed waters.

The move by the UAE, one of Turkey’s foremost rivals in a struggle for dominant political and religious influence in a swath of land stretching from the Atlantic coast of Africa into Central Asia, potentially constitutes a change in Emirati strategy.

Middle East scholar Samuel Ramani argued recently that the UAE’s hard power and coercive efforts to block Turkish advances had failed. Those efforts included military backing of Libyan rebel leader Khalifa Haftar and threats to sanction Algeria for its stepped-up cooperation with Turkey.

“In recent months, the UAE’s efforts to forge an Arab consensus against Erdogan’s ambitions have unravelled. Despite Iraq’s periodic frustrations with Turkish cross-border strikes on the PKK, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has courted Turkey as a regional partner. In an even greater blow to the UAE’s anti-Turkey agenda, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman struck a conciliatory tone with Erdogan after their November 20 discussion,” Mr. Ramani said.

Mr. Ramani was referring to recent Saudi overtures to Turkey, with which it has been on a collision course since the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as the outlawed Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK) that increasingly wages its intermittent 30-year old guerrilla war against Turkey from bases in the remote mountains of pre-dominantly Kurdish northern Iraq.

“The seemingly collapsing foundations of the UAE’s anti-Turkey strategy suggests that Abu Dhabi needs to rethink its approach to containing Erdogan’s ambitions... the UAE could devote more resources towards containing Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan Africa,” Mr. Ramani said, suggesting that the Emirates may pivot to a soft power approach.

That would likely entail stepped up competition with Turkey in the provision of emergency and development aid to third countries as well as increased rivalry for religious soft power in the Muslim world.

The UAE has cast itself as a paragon of a moderate and tolerant albeit statist strand of Islam as opposed to Turkey’s more strident advocacy of a heavily nationalist tinted political interpretation of the faith.

The UAE has been on the warpath against political Islam for more than a decade. It has designated the Turkish-backed Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and backed French President Emmanuel Macron and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in their crackdown on Islamist and Turkish nationalist groups.

Mr. Erdogan has for more than a decade rejected notions of more moderate and more radical strands of Islam. “Islam cannot be classified as moderate or not… Animosity (towards Islam), unfortunately, strengthens the scenarios that there is a so-called clash of civilizations in the world. Those, who defend such speculations, may go further to identify terrorism with Islam which is based on peace,” he asserts.

Taken by his word, Mr. Erdogan was suggesting with his year-end remarks in Baku that as far as he is concerned, his strategy of hard and soft power, in contrast to the UAE, is working and is likely to continue to shape Turkish policy in the coming year.

A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spreaker, Pocket Casts, Tumblr, Podbean, Audecibel, Patreon and Castbox.

Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist and a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ushered in the new year, pledging to employ his country’s military to secure Turkey’s place in a rebalanced new world order. Mr. Erdogan spelt out his vision when he inserted himself on December 30 into an address by his defense minister, Hulusi Akar, to several hundred masked Turkish and Azeri military officers in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ushered in the new year, pledging to employ his country’s military to secure Turkey’s place in a rebalanced new world order. Mr. Erdogan spelt out his vision when he inserted himself on December 30 into an address by his defense minister, Hulusi Akar, to several hundred masked Turkish and Azeri military officers in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. Speaking on the loudspeaker of Mr. Akar’s handphone that the defense minister held up to the microphone, Mr. Erdogan compared Turkish military interventions, foreign bases and/or participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions in lands of the former Soviet Union, Kosovo, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Qatar to the creation during World War One of the Islamic Army of the Caucasus by Enver Pasha, the Ottoman war minister. The Islamic Army captured Baku in the last days of World War One but failed to cement a basis for military support in the century since for pan-Turkist or Turanist ideologies that seek to unite peoples of Turkic origin. Critics, nonetheless, assert that Turkish support for last year’s Caucasus war in which Azerbaijan defeated Armenia constituted a step in that direction. Mr. Erdogan, however, appears to define Turkey’s place in the new world order as Turkish leadership of a broader Muslim world of which lands populated by Turkic ethnicities are a part. “The Turkish military, with a past full of glory and honour, will continue to fulfil…the task assigned to them in our country and all over the world… I wish our soldiers success, who fight to preserve peace, calm and stability in many places from Syria to Libya, from Somalia to Kosovo, from Afghanistan to Qatar,” Mr. Erdogan said. Mr. Erdogan’s broader focus has not stopped his defense minister from stepping up meetings with representatives of Turkic minorities, until recently the preserve of a separate government department. “Ankara’s interest in its ethnic kin abroad has markedly perked since the flare-up of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in late September,” said Turkish military analyst Metin Gurcan, referring to the disputed Armenian enclave that is legally part of Azerbaijan.. Mr. Erdogan made his Baku remarks against the backdrop of heightened strains with Iran, efforts by Turkey’s Mediterranean detractors backed by the United Arab Emirates to stymie Turkish efforts to expand its access to regional gas deposits, and domestic criticism of his massive expenditure on religious soft power at a time of economic hardship. Mr. Erdogan’s emphasis on military power was likely to complicate his overtures to Israel with which he has had tense relations in past years in a bid to ease potentially difficult dealings with the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden. Mr. Biden has criticized Turkey’s abysmal record on human rights and the rule of law and is unlikely to look kindly at NATO-member Turkey’s acquisition of an advanced Russian anti-missile defense system. Israel backed last month’s admission of the UAE as an observer to the Cairo-based Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum that groups Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Jordan, and Palestine alongside the Jewish state. Turkey has denounced the forum as an effort to deprive it of its economic rights in the Eastern Mediterranean and last year dispatched an exploration vessel to disputed waters. The move by the UAE, one of Turkey’s foremost rivals in a struggle for dominant political and religious influence in a swath of land stretching from the Atlantic coast of Africa into Central Asia, potentially constitutes a change in Emirati strategy. Middle East scholar Samuel Ramani argued recently that the UAE’s hard power and coercive efforts to block Turkish advances had failed. Those efforts included military backing of Libyan rebel leader Khalifa Haftar and threats to sanction Algeria for its stepped-up cooperation with Turkey. “In recent months, the UAE’s efforts to forge an Arab consensus against Erdogan’s ambitions have unravelled. Despite Iraq’s periodic frustrations with Turkish cross-border strikes on the PKK, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has courted Turkey as a regional partner. In an even greater blow to the UAE’s anti-Turkey agenda, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman struck a conciliatory tone with Erdogan after their November 20 discussion,” Mr. Ramani said. Mr. Ramani was referring to recent Saudi overtures to Turkey, with which it has been on a collision course since the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as the outlawed Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK) that increasingly wages its intermittent 30-year old guerrilla war against Turkey from bases in the remote mountains of pre-dominantly Kurdish northern Iraq. “The seemingly collapsing foundations of the UAE’s anti-Turkey strategy suggests that Abu Dhabi needs to rethink its approach to containing Erdogan’s ambitions... the UAE could devote more resources towards containing Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan Africa,” Mr. Ramani said, suggesting that the Emirates may pivot to a soft power approach. That would likely entail stepped up competition with Turkey in the provision of emergency and development aid to third countries as well as increased rivalry for religious soft power in the Muslim world. The UAE has cast itself as a paragon of a moderate and tolerant albeit statist strand of Islam as opposed to Turkey’s more strident advocacy of a heavily nationalist tinted political interpretation of the faith. The UAE has been on the warpath against political Islam for more than a decade. It has designated the Turkish-backed Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and backed French President Emmanuel Macron and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in their crackdown on Islamist and Turkish nationalist groups. Mr. Erdogan has for more than a decade rejected notions of more moderate and more radical strands of Islam. “Islam cannot be classified as moderate or not… Animosity (towards Islam), unfortunately, strengthens the scenarios that there is a so-called clash of civilizations in the world. Those, who defend such speculations, may go further to identify terrorism with Islam which is based on peace,” he asserts. Taken by his word, Mr. Erdogan was suggesting with his year-end remarks in Baku that as far as he is concerned, his strategy of hard and soft power, in contrast to the UAE, is working and is likely to continue to shape Turkish policy in the coming year. A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spreaker, Pocket Casts, Tumblr, Podbean, Audecibel, Patreon and Castbox. Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist and a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute. (Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

Opinion: Erdogan positions powerful Turkish military as backbone of regional strategy

People of Armenia & Artsakh Republic have declared three-day nationwide mourning in honour of the Nagorno-Karabakh war victims. All flags have been lowered to half-mast in the country.

Armenia & Artsakh mourn Nagorno-Karabakh war victims

Ethnic Armenian authorities in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh accused Azeri forces on Wednesday of capturing several dozen of their troops, putting further strain on a ceasefire deal that brought an end to bloody fighting in the region last month.

Nagorno-Karabakh accuses Azeri forces of capturing troops despite ceasefire

Armenia-Azerbaijan has started swapping Karabakh prisoners, more than a month after peace deal was signed over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Armenia-Azerbaijan begins swapping Karabakh prisoners

Fresh clashes have been reported between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh region. This violated the ceasefire agreement which was signed between the two nations.

Fresh clashes reported between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh

Continuing the tensions in the area,&nbsp;Azerbaijan has reported the death of four troops in the&nbsp;Nagorno-Karabakh region despite an ongoing peace deal, which was set up with the Armenian separatists in November.

The defence ministry has alleged that a group of Armenian fighters are still present in the region and had attacked Azerbaijan's troops, breaking the terms of the peace accord.

Also read|&nbsp;

This claim has come as a serious allegation against Armenia which is being accused of violating a&nbsp; Russian-brokered truce between the two regions which was initiated after a violent fight that went on for nearly six weeks between the two regions.

The defence ministry has said that an exchange of fire took place on November 26 which took lives of three servicemen and injured the fourth man, leading to his death. The incident happened near the village of&nbsp;Hadrut.

It also claimed that "the Armenian side has six wounded" separatists from the violent encounter, which the ministry claimed was initiated from the opposite side which was seen armed with&nbsp;heavy artillery.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/ceasefire-violation-in-karabakh-countries-violate-ceasefire-despite-peace-deal-349520">WATCH|</a>

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The six-week conflict that erupted in September between the separatists backed by Armenia and Azerbaijan over the mountainous region ended November 10 with a Moscow-brokered peace deal that saw the Armenians cede swathes of territory. This tensed situation has led to the displacement of several thousand and had also claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people.&nbsp;

After the six-weeks long fight, Russia had brokered a peace deal between the two and had also deployed nearly 2,000 troops in the&nbsp;Nagorno-Karabakh for peacekeeping.

The&nbsp;Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has vowed to use an "iron fist" to "crush" and tackle the "troubling" situation between the two foes.

Continuing the tensions in the area, Azerbaijan has reported the death of four troops in the Nagorno-Karabakh region despite an ongoing peace deal, which was set up with the Armenian separatists in November.

Continuing the tensions in the area, Azerbaijan has reported the death of four troops in the Nagorno-Karabakh region despite an ongoing peace deal, which was set up with the Armenian separatists in November. The defence ministry has alleged that a group of Armenian fighters are still present in the region and had attacked Azerbaijan's troops, breaking the terms of the peace accord. Also read| This claim has come as a serious allegation against Armenia which is being accused of violating a Russian-brokered truce between the two regions which was initiated after a violent fight that went on for nearly six weeks between the two regions. The defence ministry has said that an exchange of fire took place on November 26 which took lives of three servicemen and injured the fourth man, leading to his death. The incident happened near the village of Hadrut. It also claimed that "the Armenian side has six wounded" separatists from the violent encounter, which the ministry claimed was initiated from the opposite side which was seen armed with heavy artillery. WATCH| × The six-week conflict that erupted in September between the separatists backed by Armenia and Azerbaijan over the mountainous region ended November 10 with a Moscow-brokered peace deal that saw the Armenians cede swathes of territory. This tensed situation has led to the displacement of several thousand and had also claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people. After the six-weeks long fight, Russia had brokered a peace deal between the two and had also deployed nearly 2,000 troops in the Nagorno-Karabakh for peacekeeping. The Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has vowed to use an "iron fist" to "crush" and tackle the "troubling" situation between the two foes.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry reports death of four troops since peace deal

Turkey condemned Iran's "offensive language" aimed at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over a controversial poem that can possibly be taken to suggest Iran's northwestern provinces belong to Azerbaijan. Erdogan recited the poem when he was in Azerbaijan capital Baku for parade marking its victory over Armenia in connection with disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Iran said that the poem could fan separatism among Iran's Azeri minority.

"We condemn the use of offensive language towards our president and our country over the recitation of a poem, whose meaning has been deliberately taken out of context," said Fahrettin Altun, Turkish presidential communications director.&nbsp;

After Erdogan's recital of the poem in Baku earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted that "President Erdogan was not informed that what he ill-recited in Baku refers to the forcible separation of areas north of Aras from Iranian motherland".

According to Iran's ISNA news agency, the poem is "one of the separatist symbols of pan-Turkism". 
ISNA said the verses point to Aras and "complains of the distance between Azeri-speaking people on the two sides of the river".

Iranian authorities summoned Turkey's ambassador to Tehran to complain about Erdogan's "interventionist and unacceptable remarks".

In return, Turkey summoned Iran's ambassador to Ankara over the "baseless" claims.&nbsp;

(With IANS inputs)

Turkey condemned Iran's "offensive language" aimed at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over a controversial poem that can possibly be taken to suggest Iran's northwestern provinces belong to Azerbaijan.

Turkey condemned Iran's "offensive language" aimed at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over a controversial poem that can possibly be taken to suggest Iran's northwestern provinces belong to Azerbaijan. Erdogan recited the poem when he was in Azerbaijan capital Baku for parade marking its victory over Armenia in connection with disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Iran said that the poem could fan separatism among Iran's Azeri minority. "We condemn the use of offensive language towards our president and our country over the recitation of a poem, whose meaning has been deliberately taken out of context," said Fahrettin Altun, Turkish presidential communications director. After Erdogan's recital of the poem in Baku earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted that "President Erdogan was not informed that what he ill-recited in Baku refers to the forcible separation of areas north of Aras from Iranian motherland". According to Iran's ISNA news agency, the poem is "one of the separatist symbols of pan-Turkism". ISNA said the verses point to Aras and "complains of the distance between Azeri-speaking people on the two sides of the river". Iranian authorities summoned Turkey's ambassador to Tehran to complain about Erdogan's "interventionist and unacceptable remarks". In return, Turkey summoned Iran's ambassador to Ankara over the "baseless" claims. (With IANS inputs)

Turkey protests Iran's 'offensive language' against Erdogan

Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of using phosphorus bombs during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The man who fueled the war, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is being hero-worshipped in Baku.

Gravitas: Did Azerbaijan commit war crimes?

Despite a month after the peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan was signed, the crisis is far from over.&nbsp;

In the latest, Yerevan has accused Baku of using phosphorous bombs during the fight.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

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Azeri president, on the other hand, has said that the country will not shy of "breaking Armenia's back with an iron fist".&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/azerbaijans-struggle-will-continue-on-many-other-fronts-says-erdogan-during-military-parade-348859">Azerbaijan's struggle will continue on many other fronts, says Erdogan during military parade</a>

And amid the tense ties, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who fuelled this week war, has landed in Baku to survey the reins.&nbsp;

Erdogan received a hero's welcome on his two-day visit to Azerbaijan&nbsp;

He even reviewed a parade where Baku displayed the destroyed Armenian vehicles and dished out hate in plenty.&nbsp;

To the unversed, Erdogan provided military and diplomatic support to Azerbaijan during the conflict and even praised Baku's operations.&nbsp;

He even cheered "brotherly Azerbaijan with all our means and all our hearts".&nbsp;

"If the people of Armenia learn their lessons from what happened in Karabakh, this will be the start of a new era in the region," said Erdogan.&nbsp;

Karabakh is internationally recognised as a territory of Azerbaijan but until recently, it was populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians.&nbsp;

According to the peace deal brokered by Russia, broad strips of Nagorno Karabakh territory were handed over to Azerbaijan.&nbsp;

It also pushed Armenia into an internal political mess as thousands are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan

Even though troops in Baku are celebrating their victory, over 5,000 military personnel died in six weeks of fighting and all this because one man couldn't keep himself from adding fuel to the fire.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Despite a month after the peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan was signed, the crisis is far from over. In the latest, Yerevan has accused Baku of using phosphorous bombs during the fight.

Despite a month after the peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan was signed, the crisis is far from over. In the latest, Yerevan has accused Baku of using phosphorous bombs during the fight. Watch | Azeri president, on the other hand, has said that the country will not shy of "breaking Armenia's back with an iron fist". Also read | Azerbaijan's struggle will continue on many other fronts, says Erdogan during military parade And amid the tense ties, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who fuelled this week war, has landed in Baku to survey the reins. Erdogan received a hero's welcome on his two-day visit to Azerbaijan He even reviewed a parade where Baku displayed the destroyed Armenian vehicles and dished out hate in plenty. To the unversed, Erdogan provided military and diplomatic support to Azerbaijan during the conflict and even praised Baku's operations. He even cheered "brotherly Azerbaijan with all our means and all our hearts". "If the people of Armenia learn their lessons from what happened in Karabakh, this will be the start of a new era in the region," said Erdogan. Karabakh is internationally recognised as a territory of Azerbaijan but until recently, it was populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians. According to the peace deal brokered by Russia, broad strips of Nagorno Karabakh territory were handed over to Azerbaijan. It also pushed Armenia into an internal political mess as thousands are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan Even though troops in Baku are celebrating their victory, over 5,000 military personnel died in six weeks of fighting and all this because one man couldn't keep himself from adding fuel to the fire.

Erdogan, who fuelled Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict arrives in Baku

Azerbaijan and Armenia accused each other Wednesday of using banned weapons containing white phosphorus during weeks of recent fighting for control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region

Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of using chemical agents

Thousands of protesters rallied in the Armenian capital on Saturday in a renewed call for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign over a controversial peace agreement with Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan announced the Moscow-brokered agreement on November 9, ending six weeks of war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh that left thousands dead.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/strategic-inferences-from-armenia-azerbaijan-conflict-2020-post-ceasefire-347702">Strategic inferences from Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict 2020, post ceasefire</a>

Under the deal, Armenia agreed to cede three districts to Baku in addition four others Azerbaijani forces had won back during the fighting that had been controlled by Armenian separatists since the 1990s.

The decision sparked fury in Armenia, where demonstrators stormed and ransacked government buildings and have since staged near daily demonstrations in Yerevan, demanding that Pashinyan step down.

While the prime minister has so far weathered the storm, Saturday saw the biggest rally yet, with some 10,000 protesters gathering in downtown Yerevan's Liberty Square, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

The protesters chanted "Nikol the traitor" and "Armenia without Nikol" and waved the flags of Armenia and Karabakh.&nbsp;

"Nikol is a political corpse. I am not planning on following a corpse into the grave," Manya Khachatryan, 49, told AFP.&nbsp;

"Because of him our homeland, our people have received such wounds that it will take several generations to heal them," she said.

Pashinyan, whose wife and son were at the front during the conflict, has said the peace deal was Armenia's only option and that it ensured Karabakh's survival.

Even though the ethnic Armenian enclave lost swathes of territory, it will see its future guaranteed by nearly 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to be deployed for a renewable five-year mandate.

On Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Pashinyan's "courage" in agreeing to the peace deal, calling the decision "necessary" but "painful".

The Armenian authorities last month said they had thwarted a plot to assassinate the prime minister.&nbsp;

Pashinyan has said he has no plans to resign and in a televised address on Saturday said that his government's priority is returning Armenia's prisoners of war and the bodies of those who died in the fighting. 
&nbsp;

Thousands of protesters rallied in the Armenian capital on Saturday in a renewed call for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign over a controversial peace agreement with Azerbaijan.

Thousands of protesters rallied in the Armenian capital on Saturday in a renewed call for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign over a controversial peace agreement with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan announced the Moscow-brokered agreement on November 9, ending six weeks of war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh that left thousands dead. Also read | Strategic inferences from Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict 2020, post ceasefire Under the deal, Armenia agreed to cede three districts to Baku in addition four others Azerbaijani forces had won back during the fighting that had been controlled by Armenian separatists since the 1990s. The decision sparked fury in Armenia, where demonstrators stormed and ransacked government buildings and have since staged near daily demonstrations in Yerevan, demanding that Pashinyan step down. While the prime minister has so far weathered the storm, Saturday saw the biggest rally yet, with some 10,000 protesters gathering in downtown Yerevan's Liberty Square, according to AFP journalists at the scene. The protesters chanted "Nikol the traitor" and "Armenia without Nikol" and waved the flags of Armenia and Karabakh. "Nikol is a political corpse. I am not planning on following a corpse into the grave," Manya Khachatryan, 49, told AFP. "Because of him our homeland, our people have received such wounds that it will take several generations to heal them," she said. Pashinyan, whose wife and son were at the front during the conflict, has said the peace deal was Armenia's only option and that it ensured Karabakh's survival. Even though the ethnic Armenian enclave lost swathes of territory, it will see its future guaranteed by nearly 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to be deployed for a renewable five-year mandate. On Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Pashinyan's "courage" in agreeing to the peace deal, calling the decision "necessary" but "painful". The Armenian authorities last month said they had thwarted a plot to assassinate the prime minister. Pashinyan has said he has no plans to resign and in a televised address on Saturday said that his government's priority is returning Armenia's prisoners of war and the bodies of those who died in the fighting.

Thousands rally in Armenia in renewed call for PM's dismissal

Azerbaijani forces on Tuesday moved into the final district given up by Armenia in a peace deal that ended weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry released a video showing a tank flying an Azerbaijani flag leading a column of trucks into the Lachin district.

AFP journalists in Lachin town saw a column of Azerbaijani trucks flanked by military vehicles from Russia, which brokered the peace settlement.

Armenia agreed to hand over three districts around Karabakh — Aghdam, Lachin and Kalbajar — as part of the deal that stopped an Azerbaijani offensive that had reclaimed swathes of territory lost to Armenian separatists in a 1990s war.&nbsp;

Like in Aghdam and Kalbajar, residents of Lachin cleared out frantically ahead of the handover, taking livestock, firewood, furniture and even plastic water pipes.

Some residents have burnt their homes as they left, and on Monday evening two houses on the outskirts of Lachin town were in flames.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/armenians-at-a-crossroads-on-last-route-out-of-karabakh-345866">Armenians at a crossroads on last route out of Karabakh</a>

Local official Davit Davtyan said residents had been given until 6:00 pm to leave, except those allowed to stay along the Lachin corridor that runs to Armenia's border.&nbsp;

'Nowhere to go'

The peace deal saw some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers deployed between the two sides and along the corridor, a 60-kilometre (35-mile) route through Lachin that connects Karabakh's main city Stepanakert to Armenia.

The column of a dozen Azerbaijani military trucks was moving slowly overnight along the corridor in the direction of the Armenian border, with Russian military vehicles at the head and rear.&nbsp;

Davtyan said some 200 people would be allowed to stay to maintain local infrastructure.

"Residents who were not able to leave because they had nowhere to go said they would stay and see what happens on Tuesday," he said.

Nagorno-Karabakh broke from Azerbaijan's control in a war after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union that left some 30,000 dead.&nbsp;

The region declared independence but it was never recognised by any country, including Armenia which strongly backs the separatists.&nbsp;

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The peace accord signed on November 9 was reached after six weeks of fighting that saw Azerbaijan's army overwhelm separatists forces and threaten to advance on Stepanakert.

Under the agreement, Armenia is losing control of seven districts that it seized around Karabakh in the 1990s — many Azerbaijanis who were forced to flee are now planning to return.

The separatists are retaining control over most of Karabakh's Soviet-era territory but have lost the key town of Shusha.

While some Armenians have been fleeing the districts ceded to Azerbaijan, others in Lachin had nowhere to go.

In the village of Aghavno along the Lachin corridor, 60-year-old Araksya Gyokchakyan watched residents load furniture and firewood into cars and trucks even as she was set on remaining behind.

"I don't know where to go. I stayed here during the war. It's my home," she told AFP.

Meanwhile, other Armenians have been returning to Karabakh itself.

Russia's defence ministry, which is helping with the returns, said on Monday that more than 25,000 people who fled the fighting had been brought back.

Russia's role grows

Moscow's peacemaker role has overshadowed France and the United States — the three countries that form the Minsk Group, which led talks on the Karabakh conflict for decades but failed to achieve a lasting agreement.&nbsp;

France's position in future negotiations may be further under threat after Azerbaijani lawmakers last week demanded the country be expelled from the Minsk Group.

The move came after the French Senate adopted a non-binding resolution calling on France to recognise Karabakh as an independent state.&nbsp;

Azerbaijan has also called for its staunch ally Turkey to play a role in the peacekeeping mission, but Moscow insists Ankara will not be involved.&nbsp;

Since the announcement of the peace deal — which leaves Karabakh's future political status in limbo — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been under fire at home.

Protesters have regularly taken to the streets of the capital Yerevan, branding him a "traitor" for agreeing to the deal and demanding his resignation.

Demonstrators rallied again on Monday, including outside the French embassy in Yerevan, appealing for help in finding soldiers still missing after the fighting.

While Armenia has reported more than 2,300 military casualties, thought to be an underestimate, Azerbaijan has not disclosed any military losses.

More than 100 civilians were reported killed on both sides.

Azerbaijani forces on Tuesday moved into the final district given up by Armenia in a peace deal that ended weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Azerbaijani forces on Tuesday moved into the final district given up by Armenia in a peace deal that ended weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan's defence ministry released a video showing a tank flying an Azerbaijani flag leading a column of trucks into the Lachin district. AFP journalists in Lachin town saw a column of Azerbaijani trucks flanked by military vehicles from Russia, which brokered the peace settlement. Armenia agreed to hand over three districts around Karabakh — Aghdam, Lachin and Kalbajar — as part of the deal that stopped an Azerbaijani offensive that had reclaimed swathes of territory lost to Armenian separatists in a 1990s war. Like in Aghdam and Kalbajar, residents of Lachin cleared out frantically ahead of the handover, taking livestock, firewood, furniture and even plastic water pipes. Some residents have burnt their homes as they left, and on Monday evening two houses on the outskirts of Lachin town were in flames. Also read| Armenians at a crossroads on last route out of Karabakh Local official Davit Davtyan said residents had been given until 6:00 pm to leave, except those allowed to stay along the Lachin corridor that runs to Armenia's border. 'Nowhere to go' The peace deal saw some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers deployed between the two sides and along the corridor, a 60-kilometre (35-mile) route through Lachin that connects Karabakh's main city Stepanakert to Armenia. The column of a dozen Azerbaijani military trucks was moving slowly overnight along the corridor in the direction of the Armenian border, with Russian military vehicles at the head and rear. Davtyan said some 200 people would be allowed to stay to maintain local infrastructure. "Residents who were not able to leave because they had nowhere to go said they would stay and see what happens on Tuesday," he said. Nagorno-Karabakh broke from Azerbaijan's control in a war after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union that left some 30,000 dead. The region declared independence but it was never recognised by any country, including Armenia which strongly backs the separatists. × The peace accord signed on November 9 was reached after six weeks of fighting that saw Azerbaijan's army overwhelm separatists forces and threaten to advance on Stepanakert. Under the agreement, Armenia is losing control of seven districts that it seized around Karabakh in the 1990s — many Azerbaijanis who were forced to flee are now planning to return. The separatists are retaining control over most of Karabakh's Soviet-era territory but have lost the key town of Shusha. While some Armenians have been fleeing the districts ceded to Azerbaijan, others in Lachin had nowhere to go. In the village of Aghavno along the Lachin corridor, 60-year-old Araksya Gyokchakyan watched residents load furniture and firewood into cars and trucks even as she was set on remaining behind. "I don't know where to go. I stayed here during the war. It's my home," she told AFP. Meanwhile, other Armenians have been returning to Karabakh itself. Russia's defence ministry, which is helping with the returns, said on Monday that more than 25,000 people who fled the fighting had been brought back. Russia's role grows Moscow's peacemaker role has overshadowed France and the United States — the three countries that form the Minsk Group, which led talks on the Karabakh conflict for decades but failed to achieve a lasting agreement. France's position in future negotiations may be further under threat after Azerbaijani lawmakers last week demanded the country be expelled from the Minsk Group. The move came after the French Senate adopted a non-binding resolution calling on France to recognise Karabakh as an independent state. Azerbaijan has also called for its staunch ally Turkey to play a role in the peacekeeping mission, but Moscow insists Ankara will not be involved. Since the announcement of the peace deal — which leaves Karabakh's future political status in limbo — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been under fire at home. Protesters have regularly taken to the streets of the capital Yerevan, branding him a "traitor" for agreeing to the deal and demanding his resignation. Demonstrators rallied again on Monday, including outside the French embassy in Yerevan, appealing for help in finding soldiers still missing after the fighting. While Armenia has reported more than 2,300 military casualties, thought to be an underestimate, Azerbaijan has not disclosed any military losses. More than 100 civilians were reported killed on both sides.

Azerbaijani forces enter last district handed over by Armenia

Azerbaijan forces moved into final district given up by Armenia in the peace deal. This comes after weeks of fighting between the two countries over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan forces entered Lachin District

Azerbaijan had given the Armenian troops time until November 25 to leave the Kalbajar region.

Azerbaijan continues to deploy more troops in Kalbajar

Dressed in impeccable camouflage fatigues with Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders, Russian peacekeepers stand guard along the last road linking Armenia with the restive region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

After meticulously writing down a car's registration number in a large notebook, a soldier stands aside to let the driver pass and wishes him a good journey.

"When the peacekeepers arrived, the situation became calmer than during the war. It's reassuring," says Erik Tovmasyan, who is driving from Karabakh's main city Stepanakert to the Armenian capital Yerevan for eye surgery.&nbsp;

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/azerbaijan-slams-french-senates-vote-on-nagorno-karabakh-urges-removal-from-mediation-345660">Azerbaijan slams French Senate's vote on Nagorno-Karabakh; urges removal from mediation</a>

For Armenians still reeling from defeat in recent fighting with Azerbaijan, the peacekeepers who deployed under a Moscow-brokered peace deal are a welcome presence.

But with the region surrounding the road set to be handed back to Azerbaijan next week, many here are facing an uncertain future.

Russia has sent 2,000 peacekeepers to the region under the deal that ended six weeks of heavy fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave that broke away from Azerbaijan's control in a war in the 1990s.

Fresh clashes over Karabakh erupted in late September and ended after Azerbaijani forces had reclaimed large areas from Armenian control.

The peacekeepers have deployed between the two sides including along a 60-kilometre (35-mile) stretch connecting Stepanakert with the Armenian border in the south.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nagorno-karabakh-azerbaijan-probes-war-crimes-during-the-conflict-345376">Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan probes war crimes during the conflict</a>

Strategic road

The strategic road runs through the Lachin district, the third and last territory near Nagorno-Karabakh that Armenia will cede to Azerbaijan on December 1 under the peace deal.

Two other districts — neighbouring Kalbajar and Aghdam to the northeast — were returned to Azerbaijan earlier this month.&nbsp;

In its northern part, the Lachin corridor diverges towards Shusha, a strategic and historic town overlooking Stepanakert that was captured by Azerbaijan in a pivotal moment of the war.&nbsp;

The small road leading to Shusha is blocked by soldiers from Baku, who are positioned close to the Russians.

AFP journalists passing nearby could hear Azerbaijani songs and music broadcast over loudspeakers from their position.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/karabakh-peace-deal-fuels-confusion-anxiety-over-new-borders-344611">Karabakh peace deal fuels confusion, anxiety over new borders</a>

"They do it from time to time," says one of Moscow's soldiers.&nbsp;

At another checkpoint on a road leading into the town, an Azerbaijani special forces captain tells AFP that the situation inside is calm.&nbsp;

"There are only soldiers in Shusha," says the officer, who will not give his name. "Civilians (Azerbaijanis) come from time to time only to repair infrastructure" damaged in the fighting.

When Armenian separatists gained control of these districts three decades ago, local Azerbaijanis fled the territories and Armenians moved in.&nbsp;

Now, it is the Armenians who are deciding whether to abandon their homes, fearing what will happen when Azerbaijanis return.

'Nowhere to go'

In the town of Lachin, at the heart of the five-kilometre-wide (three-mile-wide) corridor, the manager of a grocery store is wondering what to do.&nbsp;

"We have no information about whether we should leave," says the man who does not wish to give his name, adding that he hopes to keep his store.

In front of his shop, 81-year-old Margarita Khanagyan leans on her cane as she stands next to an armoured vehicle belonging to the Russian peacekeepers.

"I left during the war, then we were told to come back and I came back. Now we have to leave again, but to where?"

Uncertainty also looms over the village of Aghavno, the last residential area before the border with Armenia where several dozen houses were built 10 years ago, just below the road.&nbsp;

Men here are always carrying rifles, prepared to defend themselves at any moment.

"They can't scare us," says village head Andranik Chavushyan, 39. "We will still be living here."

Standing next to him, Narine Rasoyan begins to cry.

Pregnant with her sixth child, Rasoyan lost her husband in the recent fighting.&nbsp;

"I have nowhere to go with my five children, where would I stay?" she says through her tears. "Let them give me a house and I will leave."

Dressed in impeccable camouflage fatigues with Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders, Russian peacekeepers stand guard along the last road linking Armenia with the restive region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Dressed in impeccable camouflage fatigues with Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders, Russian peacekeepers stand guard along the last road linking Armenia with the restive region of Nagorno-Karabakh. After meticulously writing down a car's registration number in a large notebook, a soldier stands aside to let the driver pass and wishes him a good journey. "When the peacekeepers arrived, the situation became calmer than during the war. It's reassuring," says Erik Tovmasyan, who is driving from Karabakh's main city Stepanakert to the Armenian capital Yerevan for eye surgery. Also read| Azerbaijan slams French Senate's vote on Nagorno-Karabakh; urges removal from mediation For Armenians still reeling from defeat in recent fighting with Azerbaijan, the peacekeepers who deployed under a Moscow-brokered peace deal are a welcome presence. But with the region surrounding the road set to be handed back to Azerbaijan next week, many here are facing an uncertain future. Russia has sent 2,000 peacekeepers to the region under the deal that ended six weeks of heavy fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave that broke away from Azerbaijan's control in a war in the 1990s. Fresh clashes over Karabakh erupted in late September and ended after Azerbaijani forces had reclaimed large areas from Armenian control. The peacekeepers have deployed between the two sides including along a 60-kilometre (35-mile) stretch connecting Stepanakert with the Armenian border in the south. Also read| Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan probes war crimes during the conflict Strategic road The strategic road runs through the Lachin district, the third and last territory near Nagorno-Karabakh that Armenia will cede to Azerbaijan on December 1 under the peace deal. Two other districts — neighbouring Kalbajar and Aghdam to the northeast — were returned to Azerbaijan earlier this month. In its northern part, the Lachin corridor diverges towards Shusha, a strategic and historic town overlooking Stepanakert that was captured by Azerbaijan in a pivotal moment of the war. The small road leading to Shusha is blocked by soldiers from Baku, who are positioned close to the Russians. AFP journalists passing nearby could hear Azerbaijani songs and music broadcast over loudspeakers from their position. Also read| Karabakh peace deal fuels confusion, anxiety over new borders "They do it from time to time," says one of Moscow's soldiers. At another checkpoint on a road leading into the town, an Azerbaijani special forces captain tells AFP that the situation inside is calm. "There are only soldiers in Shusha," says the officer, who will not give his name. "Civilians (Azerbaijanis) come from time to time only to repair infrastructure" damaged in the fighting. When Armenian separatists gained control of these districts three decades ago, local Azerbaijanis fled the territories and Armenians moved in. Now, it is the Armenians who are deciding whether to abandon their homes, fearing what will happen when Azerbaijanis return. 'Nowhere to go' In the town of Lachin, at the heart of the five-kilometre-wide (three-mile-wide) corridor, the manager of a grocery store is wondering what to do. "We have no information about whether we should leave," says the man who does not wish to give his name, adding that he hopes to keep his store. In front of his shop, 81-year-old Margarita Khanagyan leans on her cane as she stands next to an armoured vehicle belonging to the Russian peacekeepers. "I left during the war, then we were told to come back and I came back. Now we have to leave again, but to where?" Uncertainty also looms over the village of Aghavno, the last residential area before the border with Armenia where several dozen houses were built 10 years ago, just below the road. Men here are always carrying rifles, prepared to defend themselves at any moment. "They can't scare us," says village head Andranik Chavushyan, 39. "We will still be living here." Standing next to him, Narine Rasoyan begins to cry. Pregnant with her sixth child, Rasoyan lost her husband in the recent fighting. "I have nowhere to go with my five children, where would I stay?" she says through her tears. "Let them give me a house and I will leave."

Armenians at a crossroads on last route out of Karabakh

Azerbaijan is investigating the alleged war crimes committed by both Azerbaijan and Armenian forces during the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan's prosecutor general confirmed this to AFP on Wednesday. Both countries have traded accusations of war crimes. The conflict overe Nagorno-Karabakh erupted in late September.

Videos circulated on social media during the fighting that allegedly showed executions of Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijani troops and Armenian soldiers defiling the bodies of Azerbaijani servicemen.

Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev told AFP his office was studying the footage as part of a probe into inhumane treatment of Azerbaijani prisoners and the defilement of bodies of Azerbaijani troops.

"We have also initiated an investigation into inhumane treatment of Armenian servicemen that were taken prisoner," he said in an interview.

"There are many fake videos. But we must say frankly that there also are videos which could be authentic," he said. "Azerbaijan is a law-based state and we are reacting to such facts."

He said that Azerbaijan had also initiated 73 criminal cases of Armenian forces shelling civilian targets in Azerbaijan.

The attacks "claimed the lives of 94 civilians, including small children, women and elderly people," Aliyev said, adding that four Armenian separatist leaders -- including the president of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh republic, Arayik Harutyunyan -- were charged with war crimes in absentia.

'Foreign mercenaries'

Aliyev told AFP his office as well as Azerbaijan's state security services are also investigating the use of foreign fighters by Armenian separatists.

Baku has claimed Armenians from the diaspora were deployed in Karabakh, while Yerevan has accused Turkey of sending mercenaries from northern Syria to fight alongside Azerbaijani forces -- a claim both Baku and its staunch ally Ankara have denied.

"The mercenaries were mostly ethnic Armenians from other countries," Aliyev said.

"Among those wanted are nationals of France, Georgia, residents of Crimea as well as fighters from the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)," he added.

PKK, which is based in Turkish and Iraqi Kurdistan, has for decades waged a deadly insurgency in Turkey and is listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

Aliyev said that a number of the criminal investigations "concern instances of Armenians targeting Azerbaijan's strategic infrastructure," including missiles launched towards Azerbaijan's Mingechavir hydropower plant and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that pumps Caspian Sea oil to Europe.

Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan nearly 30 years ago but has not been recognised internationally, even by Armenia.

The fighting that erupted on September 27 persisted despite efforts by France, Russia and the United States to broker ceasefires.

A Moscow-brokered peace deal was announced on November 10 after Azerbaijan's military overwhelmed Armenian separatist forces and threatened to advance on Karabakh's main city Stepanakert.

Under the agreement, Armenia is losing control of seven districts seized during the post-Soviet war in the 1990s, which killed 30,000 people and displaced many Azerbaijanis that used to live there.

(With AFP inputs)

Azerbaijan is investigating the alleged war crimes committed by both Azerbaijan and Armenian forces during the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan's prosecutor general confirmed this to AFP on Wednesday.

Azerbaijan is investigating the alleged war crimes committed by both Azerbaijan and Armenian forces during the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan's prosecutor general confirmed this to AFP on Wednesday. Both countries have traded accusations of war crimes. The conflict overe Nagorno-Karabakh erupted in late September. Videos circulated on social media during the fighting that allegedly showed executions of Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijani troops and Armenian soldiers defiling the bodies of Azerbaijani servicemen. Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev told AFP his office was studying the footage as part of a probe into inhumane treatment of Azerbaijani prisoners and the defilement of bodies of Azerbaijani troops. "We have also initiated an investigation into inhumane treatment of Armenian servicemen that were taken prisoner," he said in an interview. "There are many fake videos. But we must say frankly that there also are videos which could be authentic," he said. "Azerbaijan is a law-based state and we are reacting to such facts." He said that Azerbaijan had also initiated 73 criminal cases of Armenian forces shelling civilian targets in Azerbaijan. The attacks "claimed the lives of 94 civilians, including small children, women and elderly people," Aliyev said, adding that four Armenian separatist leaders -- including the president of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh republic, Arayik Harutyunyan -- were charged with war crimes in absentia. 'Foreign mercenaries' Aliyev told AFP his office as well as Azerbaijan's state security services are also investigating the use of foreign fighters by Armenian separatists. Baku has claimed Armenians from the diaspora were deployed in Karabakh, while Yerevan has accused Turkey of sending mercenaries from northern Syria to fight alongside Azerbaijani forces -- a claim both Baku and its staunch ally Ankara have denied. "The mercenaries were mostly ethnic Armenians from other countries," Aliyev said. "Among those wanted are nationals of France, Georgia, residents of Crimea as well as fighters from the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)," he added. PKK, which is based in Turkish and Iraqi Kurdistan, has for decades waged a deadly insurgency in Turkey and is listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. Aliyev said that a number of the criminal investigations "concern instances of Armenians targeting Azerbaijan's strategic infrastructure," including missiles launched towards Azerbaijan's Mingechavir hydropower plant and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that pumps Caspian Sea oil to Europe. Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan nearly 30 years ago but has not been recognised internationally, even by Armenia. The fighting that erupted on September 27 persisted despite efforts by France, Russia and the United States to broker ceasefires. A Moscow-brokered peace deal was announced on November 10 after Azerbaijan's military overwhelmed Armenian separatist forces and threatened to advance on Karabakh's main city Stepanakert. Under the agreement, Armenia is losing control of seven districts seized during the post-Soviet war in the 1990s, which killed 30,000 people and displaced many Azerbaijanis that used to live there. (With AFP inputs)

Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan probes war crimes during the conflict

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, met Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu in Baku on Saturday (November 21) to discuss the stabilisation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, after the ceasefire with Yerevan was brokered.

Azeri President praises Russia's monitoring help after ceasefire

Azerbaijan said Friday its troops had entered a district bordering Nagorno-Karabakh that was previously home to Armenian separatists, as part of a Russian-brokered deal to end weeks of fighting in the region.

Troops moved into the district of Aghdam, one of three to be ceded, the Azerbaijan defence ministry said, a day after Armenian soldiers and tanks withdrew from the territory.

Azerbaijan is also to recover the Kalbajar district wedged between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia on November 25 and the Lachin district by December 1.&nbsp;

Armenian residents of Aghdam hurriedly picked pomegranates from trees around their homes and packed vans with furniture before fleeing ahead of the deadline to cede the mountainous province.

Ahead of the handover, residents set their homes on fire, leaving nothing behind for their bitter rivals.

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Fierce clashes between Azerbaijan's forces and Armenian separatists broke out in late September in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The fighting lasted six weeks, leaving thousands dead and displacing many more.

The ex-Soviet adversaries agreed to end hostilities last week within the framework of a accord brokered by Moscow that includes deployment of Russian peacekeepers and the cession by Armenia of swathes of territory.

Turkey has said that some of its forces would also observe the ceasefire arrangements from a coordination centre in Azerbaijan, but Putin has emphasised that Turkish troops would not be present in Nagorno-Karabakh.

'Wild enemy'

In a televised address, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev called Armenians who destroyed property as they fled a "wild enemy".

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/armenian-prime-minister-nikol-pashinyan-calls-for-halt-to-violence-over-peace-deal-343486">Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan calls for halt to violence over peace deal</a>

"They are embarrassing themselves in front of the whole world," he said.

On Thursday, people celebrated in Baku, with cars parading through the city with flags of Azerbaijan ally Russia and Turkey.

Separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh and several surrounding districts had captured the territory and claimed independence following a post-Soviet 1990s war that left around 30,000 dead.

Their claim was not recognised internationally, however, even by Armenia.&nbsp;

As part of the peace accord, Armenia agreed to return 15 to 20 per cent of Nagorno-Karabakh territory captured by Azerbaijan in recent fighting, including the historic town of Shusha.

Return of refugees

A Russian peacekeeping force totalling 1,960 troops has now deployed to the region, the defence ministry said Friday, and set up checkpoints and observation posts along the strategic Lachin corridor that connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

While Armenians in the provinces to be handed over to Azerbaijan have left in an exodus, the Russian mission on Thursday said it had bussed 3,000 residents back to the regional capital Stepanakert and other areas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that providing humanitarian aid to residents of "severely hit" Nagorno-Karabakh was now a priority, and called on the UN and the World Health Organization to send delegations to the region.

He maintained that the peacekeepers had "helped end the bloodshed and prevent further casualties."

Most of Azerbaijan's south-western district of Aghdam has been under the control of Armenian separatists since 1993. Before the post-Soviet war it was inhabited by 130,000 people -- mostly ethnic Azerbaijanis who were expelled from their homes.

'Ancestral lands'

In his national address Friday, Aliyev promised Azerbaijanis that they would return to "ancestral lands".&nbsp;

UNESCO on Friday said that Director General Audrey Azoulay had proposed a preliminary field mission to the region during a meeting with representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ensure the protection of cultural heritage sites.

Armenia's health ministry said this week that more than 2,400 troops had been killed in the fighting. Azerbaijan has not revealed its military fatalities.

The agreement to cede disputed territory spurred a political crisis in Armenia with the opposition flooding the streets of the capital Yerevan and calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation.

The presidency announced Friday the replacement of defence minister David Tonoyan.

Armenian police told AFP they had detained dozens of protesters Friday at a rally in Yerevan where demonstrators calling for Pashinyan to resign formed a human chain and blocked major roads.&nbsp;

Azerbaijan said Friday its troops had entered a district bordering Nagorno-Karabakh that was previously home to Armenian separatists, as part of a Russian-brokered deal to end weeks of fighting in the region.

Azerbaijan said Friday its troops had entered a district bordering Nagorno-Karabakh that was previously home to Armenian separatists, as part of a Russian-brokered deal to end weeks of fighting in the region. Troops moved into the district of Aghdam, one of three to be ceded, the Azerbaijan defence ministry said, a day after Armenian soldiers and tanks withdrew from the territory. Azerbaijan is also to recover the Kalbajar district wedged between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia on November 25 and the Lachin district by December 1. Armenian residents of Aghdam hurriedly picked pomegranates from trees around their homes and packed vans with furniture before fleeing ahead of the deadline to cede the mountainous province. Ahead of the handover, residents set their homes on fire, leaving nothing behind for their bitter rivals. × Fierce clashes between Azerbaijan's forces and Armenian separatists broke out in late September in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The fighting lasted six weeks, leaving thousands dead and displacing many more. The ex-Soviet adversaries agreed to end hostilities last week within the framework of a accord brokered by Moscow that includes deployment of Russian peacekeepers and the cession by Armenia of swathes of territory. Turkey has said that some of its forces would also observe the ceasefire arrangements from a coordination centre in Azerbaijan, but Putin has emphasised that Turkish troops would not be present in Nagorno-Karabakh. 'Wild enemy' In a televised address, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev called Armenians who destroyed property as they fled a "wild enemy". Also read| Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan calls for halt to violence over peace deal "They are embarrassing themselves in front of the whole world," he said. On Thursday, people celebrated in Baku, with cars parading through the city with flags of Azerbaijan ally Russia and Turkey. Separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh and several surrounding districts had captured the territory and claimed independence following a post-Soviet 1990s war that left around 30,000 dead. Their claim was not recognised internationally, however, even by Armenia. As part of the peace accord, Armenia agreed to return 15 to 20 per cent of Nagorno-Karabakh territory captured by Azerbaijan in recent fighting, including the historic town of Shusha. Return of refugees A Russian peacekeeping force totalling 1,960 troops has now deployed to the region, the defence ministry said Friday, and set up checkpoints and observation posts along the strategic Lachin corridor that connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. While Armenians in the provinces to be handed over to Azerbaijan have left in an exodus, the Russian mission on Thursday said it had bussed 3,000 residents back to the regional capital Stepanakert and other areas. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that providing humanitarian aid to residents of "severely hit" Nagorno-Karabakh was now a priority, and called on the UN and the World Health Organization to send delegations to the region. He maintained that the peacekeepers had "helped end the bloodshed and prevent further casualties." Most of Azerbaijan's south-western district of Aghdam has been under the control of Armenian separatists since 1993. Before the post-Soviet war it was inhabited by 130,000 people -- mostly ethnic Azerbaijanis who were expelled from their homes. 'Ancestral lands' In his national address Friday, Aliyev promised Azerbaijanis that they would return to "ancestral lands". UNESCO on Friday said that Director General Audrey Azoulay had proposed a preliminary field mission to the region during a meeting with representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ensure the protection of cultural heritage sites. Armenia's health ministry said this week that more than 2,400 troops had been killed in the fighting. Azerbaijan has not revealed its military fatalities. The agreement to cede disputed territory spurred a political crisis in Armenia with the opposition flooding the streets of the capital Yerevan and calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation. The presidency announced Friday the replacement of defence minister David Tonoyan. Armenian police told AFP they had detained dozens of protesters Friday at a rally in Yerevan where demonstrators calling for Pashinyan to resign formed a human chain and blocked major roads.

Azerbaijan troops enter first district ceded by Armenia

Armenians have started returning to Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, following a ceasefire signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on Nov. 10.

Armenians return to Nagorno-Karabakh's main city after ceasefire with Azerbaijan

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