UN chief warns against breaking truce in Nagorno-Karabakh

UNITED NATIONS

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has cautioned the warring parties in the Nagorno-Karabakh region about taking steps that could derail the region’s peace process, his spokesman said Feb. 27.

“[Guterres] calls on all sides to refrain from any actions that would undermine the cease-fire agreement and urges the resumption of substantive negotiations leading to a peaceful settlement,” Sputniknews.com quoted Stefan Dyuzharrik, a spokesman for the U.N. chief, as saying.

Guterres reiterated his support of efforts by Russia, France and the United States, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, who are spearheading the process to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Clashes between Azeri military and Armenia-backed separatist forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh area erupted on Feb. 25. 

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Feb. 28 that an Azerbaijani soldier wounded in a border clash with Armenian forces had died in hospital, following a statement on Feb. 27, in which it said five of its soldiers had been killed in clashes.  

Elvin Ahmedov was hurt during a “provocation” by the Armenian army, the ministry said, but did not provide information on when and where the soldier was injured, Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported. 

The ministry said that despite all medical efforts, the soldier could not be saved and conveyed condolences to his family. 

Clashes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which pro-Armenian militia took control of in 1993, take place from time to time. 

In April 2016, more than 270 military personnel lost their lives in the worst-ever breach of a 1994 treaty between the sides, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.