Half of the Nagorno-Karabakh population displaced by the conflict in Armenia and Azerbaijan | Armenia

Clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces displace half of the displaced Nagorno-Karabakh The regional, according to its rights ombudsman, said international mediators were to hold their first meeting in Geneva.

In an interview with state television on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an end to the “great tragedy” as new strikes hit Karachi’s main city, Stephankert. Armenia He said fighting was raging on the entire front.

While the long-running conflict over Armenian separatist territory cannot be resolved, a ceasefire must be agreed “as soon as possible,” Putin said.

A few hours later Azerbaijan Its foreign minister, Jaihun Peramov, will travel to Geneva on Thursday to meet with leaders of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk, which is co – chaired by ambassadors from France, Russia and the United States.

Fighting was one of the longest conflicts resulting from the fall of the Soviet Union Exploded again On September 27, Azerbaijan demanded the return of the region to its control.

With heavy fighting in the south of Karabakh, “throughout the day, the front line clashes continued, and are continuing now,” a spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry, Artzrun Hovennizian, was quoted as saying by Russia’s DOS news agency.

Shell attacks by Azerbaijani forces have turned Stephenkert into a haunted city full of unexploded ordnance and shells.

Most of Stephencourt’s 50,000-strong population has fled, and the rest are lurking in cellars.

“According to our initial estimates, 50% of Karabakh’s population and 90% of women and children – or 70,000-75,000 – have been displaced,” Karabakh’s Ombudsman Arthak Beglarian told AFP on Wednesday.

Azerbaijan has accused Armenian forces of attacking civilian targets in urban areas The second largest city is Cannabis.

Dozens of civilians have been confirmed killed in the fighting, and the Armenian side has claimed more than 300 military lives. Azerbaijan has not acknowledged any casualties among its troops.

Azerbaijan’s prosecutors say 427 apartments, home to about 1,200 people, have been destroyed.

OSCE’s Minsk team has been trying to resolve the conflict since the 1990s.

Armenia met its Foreign Minister Sohrab Manatsakyan with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Geneva, saying it was “impossible to negotiate with one hand and carry out military action on the other.”

Russia announced on Wednesday evening that its defense minister, Sergei Shoyuk, had held talks with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts.

Conflict has erupted in regional powers, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Trian warning that Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan is fueling the “internationalization” of the conflict.

Speaking to the French parliament, Le Drian accused Azerbaijan of initiating the current conflict and lamented that “too many civilians have suffered for the least progress.”

Nagorno-Karabakh seceded from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s and killed about 30,000 people. Armenian separatists declare independence.

140,000 people in the region are now exclusively Armenians.

However, the international community considers it part of Azerbaijan and no state, including Armenia, recognizes its independence.

Frequent fighting erupted after the May 1994 ceasefire, especially in 2016.

But analysts say Turkey’s involvement in the system has changed the landscape.

Turkey is said to have sent pro-Ankara pro-Syrian fighters to raise Azerbaijani forces and domestically-made drones, which have already been successfully stationed in Libya and Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in the United Kingdom says 1,200 militants have been dispatched and at least 64 have been killed.

“The new aspect is Turkey’s military intervention, which could jeopardize the internationalization of the conflict,” Le Trian said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday called on Azerbaijan to support Azerbaijan as a “right-wing party”.

Russia has good relations and sells arms to both sides. But it has a military base in Armenia and is a member of the Yerevan Russia-led Regional Security Council, while not Baku.

Armenian Prime Minister Nicole Pashinian has said he hopes Russia will come to its aid as the two countries are members of the Joint Security Agreement (CDSO).

Putin stressed in his interview that Moscow will fulfill its obligations, which analysts sometimes describe as Russian NATO.

But he noted: “To our great regret, the hostilities that continue to this day have not taken place in the territory of Armenia.”