Macron accused Russia of deliberately provoking the recent clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan

French President Emmanuel Macron has accused Russia of deliberately provoking the latest clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan as part of efforts to destabilize the Caucasus region and beyond, Reuters reports.  
According to the source, in a conversation with France 2 on Wednesday, Macron said that Moscow has incited tensions in favor of Azerbaijan in recent months.

“What’s been happening on the border the last two years … 5,000 Russian soldiers are allegedly there to guarantee the border, (but) the Russians have used this conflict which dated back several centuries and played Azerbaijan’s game with Turkish complicity, and came back to weaken Armenia which was once a country it was close to. Do you see what’s happening? It’s an effort by Russia to destabilize. It wants to create disorder in the Caucasus to destabilize all of us,” Macron noted.

The French President noted France has special ties with Armenia because Armenia has always fought for tolerance and peace in the region.

“The worst fighting between the two ex-Soviet countries since 2020 broke out in late September, killing more than 200 people.

The fighting is linked to decades-old hostilities over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but until 2020 largely controlled by the majority ethnic Armenian population.

Moscow, which has a defense pact with Armenia and a military base there, deployed thousands of peacekeepers to the region after a ceasefire in 2020.

That reaffirmed its role as a policeman and chief power broker in the volatile part of the former Soviet Union where Turkey also wields increasing influence thanks to its close alliance with Azerbaijan,” Macron noted.

However, Macron said Moscow had stoked tensions in recent months in favor of Azerbaijan.

“France, along with the United States and Russia are co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group that mediates over Nagorno-Karabakh,” he stated.

Last week Macron had a meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and European Council President Charles Michel to flesh out an agreement that will see a civilian EU mission head to the countries’ border to assess the situation.

PACE co-rapporteurs are concerned about reports of alleged war crimes committed by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and call on Azerbaijan to immediately withdraw its forces from the territory of Armenia

The PACE Armenia co-rapporteurs are concerned about reports of alleged war crimes and inhumane treatment by the Azerbaijani armed forces.

“We are concerned by the numerous reports of alleged war crimes or inhumane treatment by the Azerbaijani armed forces,” said Kimmo Kiljunen and Boriana Åberg, Co-Rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Monitoring Armenia’s Obligations and Commitments.

“We note that the military prosecutor’s office of Azerbaijan has decided to investigate the facts and we hope that these investigations will be public and transparent. While the two sides blame each other for the resumption of hostilities, the Azerbaijani military occupied the territory of Armenia, violating Armenia’s territorial sovereignty and Azerbaijan’s obligation to settle conflicts peacefully under the CE charter,” the co-informants added.

“Therefore, we call on the authorities of Azerbaijan to immediately withdraw from all parts of the territory of Armenia and release the prisoners of war under their control. Only diplomatic measures can lead to a lasting and fair settlement that will benefit the population of both states,” they concluded.

They also expressed concern about the information received about war crimes committed by the armed forces of Azerbaijan.

The units of the RA Armed Forces did not open fire in the direction of the Azerbaijani positions

The message spread by the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan that allegedly on October 13, between 15:15 and 15:50, units of the RA Armed Forces opened fire in the direction of the Azerbaijani positions located in the southeastern part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, is misinformation, the RA Ministry of Defense informs about this.

Iranian President reminds the President of Azerbaijan that any change of historical borders is unacceptable

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi once again emphasized that any changes in historical borders and regional geopolitics are unacceptable for Iran during his meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev.

“President Raisi made it clear to Azerbaijani President Aliyev that any change in historical borders, regional geopolitics, Iran-Armenia transit routes are not tolerable. Also, any European military presence under any guise is rejected. The West cannot distract us strategically,” Jamshidi said.

The presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan met in Kazakhstan within the framework of the conference on strengthening cooperation and trust in Asia.

Azerbaijan has created a secretariat on the issue of border delimitation with Armenia

The government of Azerbaijan reports that it has created a secretariat on the issue of delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

In particular, Prime Minister Ali Asadov signed a decision on measures to ensure the activities of the state commission for the delimitation of the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to the document, in order to organize the current activities of the commission, a secretariat was created, and the directions of work were determined. It is noted that the secretariat will consist of five people.

Other News

• The 3-month trainings for military reservists will be substituted with 25-day trainings in Armenia.

• Ilham Aliyev announced that Azerbaijan will need about 30 years and 25 billion dollars to solve the demining problem in the territories under its control.