Nagorno-Karabakh: Azeri-Armenian ceasefire agreed in disputed region

[TheDemSocialist]

A ceasefire has been announced in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after four days of intense fighting that has left dozens dead and threatened to degenerate into full-blown war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.Karabakh is technically part of Azerbaijan but has been run by an ethnic Armenian government ever since the Soviet Union collapsed. Azerbaijan said 16 servicemen were killed in the past 48 hours, while the separatist Karabakh authorities said 20 of its troops had died and also reported civilian casualties.
The ceasefire announcement on Tuesday came amid diplomatic pressure to stop the fighting, with fears the localised clashes could spiral into a wider conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and possibly even a proxy war involving Russia and Turkey.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over Karabakh as both became independent countries when the Soviet Union collapsed. There was widespread violence as Armenians living in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, were driven out and ethnic Azeris in Karabakh were forced to flee. By the time a ceasefire was agreed in 1994 at least 25,000 people were believed to have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes. Since then, the two countries have no diplomatic links and strained relations.

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Glad to hear that this brief schism seems to be dying down. Hopefully this agreement will lead to another peace between the countries and it will hold. However, a long term solution will only lead to a ultimate peace between the regions.