Azeri troops killed in clashes with Armenia as tensions flare

AFP/Yahoo ^ | 8-1-2014 | Emil Guliyev with Mariam Harutunian

[tcrlaf]

Azerbaijan said Friday eight soldiers had been killed in three days of clashes with arch-foe Armenia on the border and near the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region as tensions spiked in the long-running conflict.

International mediators, who have for years sought to help the two countries reach a breakthrough, expressed concern over the violence, with the United States renewing a plea for the presidents from both countries to meet for talks.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry said Armenian troops had ramped up their activity in the past few days and attacked Azeri positions.

"Reconnaissance and sabotage groups of the Armenian armed forces attempted to break through the line of contact between the troops along the entire front line," the ministry said, adding that the Armenian troops had been repelled.

"As a result of clashes over the past three days, eight Azeri troops have died," it said.

[tcrlaf]

Rumors of this have been swirling around Twitter for a couple of days, but this is the first real confirmation.

[skinkinthegrass]

It seems Putin is behind this; shift to eye of the media away from the Ukraine, so-called “Rebels”.

[Organic Panic]

Putin’s fingers are in this. It is a hunch. I was in Tblisi when Bush let Russia invade Abkhazia and South Osetia. Both countries have important oil and gas ports.

Hey, time for a fundraiser!!!

[wetphoenix]

It seems like I already know which side would Obamao pick.
And of course, it is all Russia’s fall /s.

[Corporate Democrat]

This is a pretty obscure issue here, but this is a very big deal for Iran. The entire northern part of Iran is filled with Azerbaijanis who constitute 25% of the entire population of Iran, with a healthy minority in all Iranian cities.

One of Iran’s greatest domestic fears has been that Azerbaijani separatism could spark unrest if Azerbaijan ever really began to assert itself. That would probably lead to race wars all over Iran, along with a civil war threatening to lose Iran the entire northern plateau along with its oilfields.

In fact, despite both states actually being Shia Muslim, Iran under the Ayatollahs actually provided extensive support to Christian Armenia the last time Azerbaijan tried asserting itself over the very same region mentioned here (in a rather vicious war back in the 90s).

I guess politics really does make strange bedfellows sometimes, as the alliance between Islamic Iran and Christian Armenia has lasted to this day against Azerbaijan, and has only strengthened since then.

[Ethan Clive Osgoode]

It seems Putin is behind this

Azerbaijan is 99% muslim and Armenia is Christian. Why do you think they are fighting?

[Samogon]

It is definitely not a religious conflict, just purely ethnic. A small Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan wants to join Armenia. It would be resolved peacefully long ago if Russia left them alone.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***A small Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan wants to join Armenia.***

From what I read years ago, This small region was once a part of Armenia till Stalin gave it to Azerbaijan. And the Azeris don’t want to give it back.

Azerbaijan also has lots of oil.

[OldNewYork]

Interesting.