Azeris, Armenians spar after major Karabakh clash
(Adds U.S. State Department concerns in paragraph 9)
By Lada Yevgrashina and Hasmik Mkrtchyan
BAKU/YEREVAN, March 5 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan and Armenia accused each other on Wednesday of triggering an exchange of gunfire in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh that killed up to 16 people, one of the biggest such clashes in several years.
Both sides gave different accounts of the incident in the enclave, seized by pro-Armenian forces from Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s in which an estimated 35,000 people were killed.
Muslim Azerbaijan said 12 Armenian fighters and four Azeri soldiers were killed. Christian Armenia said eight Azeri soldiers died and two Armenian soldiers were injured.
A death toll of 16 would mark the worst clash in recent years between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a big oil producer and home to pipelines taking Caspian Sea energy to world markets.
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said Azerbaijan had launched the attack to take advantage of Armenia's tense political standoff after protests against last month's election.
"It is possible in Azerbaijan they thought the situation in Armenia had distracted the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh," said Kocharyan, who was born in the rebel region.
The United States and Russia expressed concerned about the shootout and called for restraint.
"We do not want a war in the region," a U.S. diplomat said in Baku. "We are following the situation very closely and we urge both sides to exercise restraint and avoid any violence."
The United States said Kosovo's recent breakaway from Serbia could not be a precedent for Nagorno-Karabakh, or anywhere else in the world.
"We're concerned by the outbreak of fighting. We want to see that incident not be repeated," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in Washington.
After discussing the situation with officials in Baku, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza telephoned Armenia's foreign minister to ask that the violence not be repeated, Casey said. Bryza is due in Yerevan later this week.
Russia also expressed concern. "The most important thing at the moment is to avoid letting this grow into massive military action in the (region)," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
EXTERNAL ENEMY
Azerbaijan said Armenia was trying to distract attention from protests in Yerevan by focusing on an external enemy.
"The Armenian side resorted to provocations on the frontline in a bid to switch the attention of the international community and its own citizens from internal tensions to an external enemy," said an Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman.
The breakaway region's foreign ministry appealed to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to intervene and conduct crisis-monitoring in the conflict zone.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said this week his country was ready to take back Nagorno-Karabakh by force if need be, and was buying military equipment and arms in preparation.
He said Kosovo's newly declared independence had emboldened Armenian separatists in the mountainous enclave.
Armenia's Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan, a native of Nagorno-Karabakh who was elected president last month in a disputed election, confirmed there had been an incident between Azeri and Armenian soldiers but did not give a casualty figure.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a richly fertile area of great beauty high in the Caucasus mountains, broke away from Azerbaijan in the late 1980s, sparking a 1992-94 war. A ceasefire was agreed in 1994 but the search for a lasting peace is stalled.
The rebel territory is mainly populated by ethnic Armenians and controlled by Armenia, though there are sporadic clashes along the front line.
A Western diplomat in Armenia said the latest reports of shooting had to be treated seriously.
"This does sound in the terms it's been reported as slightly more than the usual skirmish, but in the current climate it certainly could have been exaggerated," he said. "This is a situation we have to watch carefully." (Additional reporting by James Kilner in Yerevan) (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge, Maria Golovnina and Michael Stott; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
By Lada Yevgrashina and Hasmik Mkrtchyan
BAKU/YEREVAN, March 5 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan and Armenia accused each other on Wednesday of triggering an exchange of gunfire in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh that killed up to 16 people, one of the biggest such clashes in several years.
Both sides gave different accounts of the incident in the enclave, seized by pro-Armenian forces from Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s in which an estimated 35,000 people were killed.
Muslim Azerbaijan said 12 Armenian fighters and four Azeri soldiers were killed. Christian Armenia said eight Azeri soldiers died and two Armenian soldiers were injured.
A death toll of 16 would mark the worst clash in recent years between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a big oil producer and home to pipelines taking Caspian Sea energy to world markets.
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said Azerbaijan had launched the attack to take advantage of Armenia's tense political standoff after protests against last month's election.
"It is possible in Azerbaijan they thought the situation in Armenia had distracted the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh," said Kocharyan, who was born in the rebel region.
The United States and Russia expressed concerned about the shootout and called for restraint.
"We do not want a war in the region," a U.S. diplomat said in Baku. "We are following the situation very closely and we urge both sides to exercise restraint and avoid any violence."
The United States said Kosovo's recent breakaway from Serbia could not be a precedent for Nagorno-Karabakh, or anywhere else in the world.
"We're concerned by the outbreak of fighting. We want to see that incident not be repeated," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in Washington.
After discussing the situation with officials in Baku, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza telephoned Armenia's foreign minister to ask that the violence not be repeated, Casey said. Bryza is due in Yerevan later this week.
Russia also expressed concern. "The most important thing at the moment is to avoid letting this grow into massive military action in the (region)," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
EXTERNAL ENEMY
Azerbaijan said Armenia was trying to distract attention from protests in Yerevan by focusing on an external enemy.
"The Armenian side resorted to provocations on the frontline in a bid to switch the attention of the international community and its own citizens from internal tensions to an external enemy," said an Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman.
The breakaway region's foreign ministry appealed to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to intervene and conduct crisis-monitoring in the conflict zone.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said this week his country was ready to take back Nagorno-Karabakh by force if need be, and was buying military equipment and arms in preparation.
He said Kosovo's newly declared independence had emboldened Armenian separatists in the mountainous enclave.
Armenia's Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan, a native of Nagorno-Karabakh who was elected president last month in a disputed election, confirmed there had been an incident between Azeri and Armenian soldiers but did not give a casualty figure.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a richly fertile area of great beauty high in the Caucasus mountains, broke away from Azerbaijan in the late 1980s, sparking a 1992-94 war. A ceasefire was agreed in 1994 but the search for a lasting peace is stalled.
The rebel territory is mainly populated by ethnic Armenians and controlled by Armenia, though there are sporadic clashes along the front line.
A Western diplomat in Armenia said the latest reports of shooting had to be treated seriously.
"This does sound in the terms it's been reported as slightly more than the usual skirmish, but in the current climate it certainly could have been exaggerated," he said. "This is a situation we have to watch carefully." (Additional reporting by James Kilner in Yerevan) (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge, Maria Golovnina and Michael Stott; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Mini-dress drama in brazil