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Fighting dies down after clashes on Azerbaijan-Armenia border
[Al Ahram] Defence officials in Armenia and Azerbaijan said fighting on their border subsided on Wednesday after several days of deadly festivities raised fears of a major flare-up.At least 16 people on both sides were killed in three days of shelling that started Sunday between the ex-Soviet republics, which have been locked for decades in a conflict over Azerbaijan's separatist region of Nagorny Karabakh. The territory was seized by ethnic Armenian separatists in a 1990s war that claimed 30,000 lives, though this week's fighting took place on the countries' northern border, far from Karabakh. Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman Sushan Stepanyan said Wednesday that the situation was "calm overnight," while the foreign ministry said festivities had stopped during the night. Azerbaijan's defence ministry said that "military action halted at midnight" and the lull in fighting continued throughout the day Wednesday. Eleven Azerbaijan troops and one civilian were killed in the festivities, as well as four Armenian troops, the countries said. The fighting prompted calls for an immediate de-escalation from the United States, European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and regional power broker Russia. Azerbaijan's ally, ...Qatar's satrapy in Asia Minor... -- which competes with Russia for the geopolitical influence in the Caucasus region -- backed Baku, vowing to "stand by Azerbaijan in its struggle to protect its territorial integrity." Armenia's foreign ministry slammed the comments saying Turkey's "provocative and biased stance" threatened hopes for peace. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has blamed Azerbaijan for initiating the military flare up. On Wednesday, however, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Armenia of an "act of aggression" in a letter to his  ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
Posted by: Fred 2020-07-16 |
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