Armenia Announced Azerbaijan's Offensive in Karabakh

The Ministry of Defense of Armenia announced Azerbaijani troops’ offensive in Nagorny Karabakh in the northern and southern directions. According to the press secretary of the department Shushan Stepanyan, stubborn battles are underway. Great forces are concentrated in these areas. The Armenian military is holding back the enemy's advance suffering heavy losses, Stepanyan wrote on Facebook. Earlier, on October 3, Azerbaijan announced it had occupied new strongholds on the contact line. The republic’s Ministry of Defense announced as well a significant amount of Armenian manpower and military equipment being destroyed. Armenia does not confirm these data. At the same time, the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic reported that Azerbaijan lost more than 3 thousand people during the escalation and hundreds pieces of equipment. Another aggravation in the NKR occurred on September 27. Armenia and Azerbaijan blamed each other for shelling and for civilians’ death. Armenia has repeatedly stated that Turkey is participating in the battles on the side of Azerbaijan. Turkey and Azerbaijan deny this information but Ankara declared its readiness to provide any assistance to Baku upon request. Russia, France, the United States and the UN called on the parties to a ceasefire and a peaceful settlement. At the same time, Turkey and Ukraine expressed support for Baku. Relations between the two countries have remained tense since the NKR announced getting withdrawing from the Azerbaijan SSR in 1988. During the 1992–1994 war, Azerbaijan lost its control over the region.