Baku
Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan broke out on Sunday around the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian Defence Ministry said two Azerbaijani helicopters were shot down.
Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan also said Armenian forces hit three Azerbaijani tanks. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan that has been out of Azerbaijan’s control since the end of a war in 1994. Both sides have heavy military presence along a demilitarised zone separating the region from the rest of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s defence ministry denied the claim that its helicopters and tanks had been hit. But President Ilham Aliyev said in a televised address to the nation that “there are losses among the Azerbaijani forces and the civilian population as a result of the Armenian bombardment”.
Stepanyan said the fighting began on Sunday with an Azerbaijani attack, but Azerbaijan said the Armenian side attacked and that Azerbaijan launched a counteroffensive.
The news was harshly received by Azerbaijan’s close ally, Turkey, which vowed complete support for Baku and called on Armenia to give up its “aggression”. Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan termed Armenia as the “biggest threat to peace in region” and said extended complete support to Azerbaijan.
“The Turkish people will support our Azerbaijani brothers with all our means as always,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted. He accused Armenia of “being the biggest threat in the region to peace and stability” and criticised the international community for failing to give the “necessary and sufficient reaction” to Armenia’s “aggression”.