14:07 GMT: International football games moved from Armenia, Azerbaijan
Armenia and Azerbaijan will no longer host international soccer matches in the next week for security reasons amid their conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
UEFA said Tuesday the national teams’ home games in the Nations League will instead be played in neutral Poland and Albania.
The decision was made after UEFA “assessed the situation in Armenia and Azerbaijan further to the latest developments in both countries.”
13:35 GMT – UK, Canada renew call ceasefire, urge dialogue
Britain and Canada said there was an urgent need to stop military action in and around Nagorno-Karabakh and called for all parties to return to the negotiating table.
“Canada and the United Kingdom reiterate the urgent need to end the continuing military action in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Canadian Foreign Minister François-Phillippe Champagne said.
“We are particularly concerned by reports of the shelling of civilian areas and wish to express our condolences to the families of those who have tragically lost their lives.”
12:21 GMT – Turkey criticises ceasefire efforts to end Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticised international efforts to tackle the Azeri-Armenian conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, saying they had achieved nothing in nearly 30 years.
Speaking during a visit to the Azeri capital Baku on Tuesday, Cavusoglu said a ceasefire alone would not be sufficient to end the fighting.
“We look at the calls coming from around the world, and it’s ‘immediate ceasefire’. What then? There was a ceasefire until now, but what happened?” Cavusoglu said in comments broadcast on Turkish television.
11:47 GMT – ‘Armenian assaults on civilian targets sign of desperation’
Armenia’s attacks on civilian settlements in Azerbaijan are not only a crime against humanity, but also a sign of the desperation that the country fell into, said Turkey’s foreign minister.
“We will [continue to] support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, just as we did with Georgia, Ukraine, Syria, and Iraq’s territorial integrity,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital.
Cavusoglu also criticised the Minsk Group’s neutral stance on the conflict.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that victimised Azerbaijan cannot be considered the same as Armenia, which is the occupying country [File: Michael Sohn/Reuters]
11:26 GMT – Russian intelligence warns clash could see fighters enter Russia
The head of Russia’s SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, has warned that Nagorno-Karabakh risks becoming a launch pad for fighters who could enter Russian territory, the Interfax news agency cited him as saying.
Naryshkin said he expected Armenia and Azerbaijan to return to the negotiating table over the region.
10:42 GMT – Turkey’s FM arrives in Baku
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrived in Baku, where he is scheduled to meet Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
The trip comes as Armenia accused Azerbaijan of firing missiles into the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday, while Azerbaijan said several of its towns and its second-largest city were attacked.
Xarici işlər naziri Ceyhun Bayramov və Türkiyənin Xarici İşlər naziri Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu mətbuata açıqlama ilə çıxış edirlər 🇦🇿🇹🇷
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Foreign Minister @Bayramov_Jeyhun and Minister of Foreign Affairs of #Turkey @MevlutCavusoglu make press statements to the media 🇦🇿🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/FPkrvOeSIg— MFA Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 (@AzerbaijanMFA) October 6, 2020
10:01 GMT – Nagorno-Karabakh says 21 more servicemen killed in fighting with Azerbaijan
Ethnic Armenian officials in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh said that 21 more servicemen had been killed in fighting with Azerbaijan, bringing its total military death toll to 244 since war broke out.
The fighting has surged to its worst level since the 1990s, when some 30,000 people were killed [File: Aris Messins/AFP]
08:10 GMT – Armed groups from Syria being deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh, says Assad
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said “Damascus can confirm” that armed groups from Syria were being deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh, speaking in an interview with Russia’s RIA news agency.
Turkey and Azerbaijan have denied allegations from France, Russia and Iran that Ankara is sending Syrian mercenaries to take part in the fighting that broke out on September
08:00 GMT – Syria’s Assad calls Turkey’s Erdogan the ‘main instigator’ in Nagorno-Karabakh
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan of being the main instigator of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, speaking in an interview with Russia’s RIA news agency.
The fighting has increased international concern that other regional powers could be dragged into the conflict – Turkey has expressed solidarity with Azerbaijan while Armenia has a defence pact with Russia.
07:50 GMT – Armenia reports calmer night
“After the calls of the international community to immediately stop military actions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, the line of conflict was relatively calm,” Armenian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said.
Armenia’s foreign ministry issued a new call for an immediate ceasefire and said that “any attempt of military solution will be resolutely prevented.”
Ceasefire appeals by the United States, Russia and France have been ignored. The three countries have for years led mediation efforts in a conflict that broke out as the Soviet Union collapsed, it killed about 30,000 people.
Good morning. Arwa Ibrahim in Doha and Anealla Safdar in London will be bringing you the latest updates on the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis today, Tuesday, October 6.
Here’s a quick recap:
Fighting in Nagorno Karabakh has spilled into a tenth day on Tuesday, with no sign of a let-up as Armenia and Azerbaijan continue their clash over the disputed region.
The two rivals are ignoring international appeals for a ceasefire, and have accused one another of causing civilian and military casualties.
On Monday, shelling continued in key cities.
Violence periodically flares up in the breakaway region, which is inside Azerbaijan but controlled by ethnic Armenians, but the latest fighting has raised fears of an all-out war erupting.
Turkey has come under particular scrutiny from other countries because it has thrown its full support behind Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, there are reports that Turkey is facilitating the transfer of fighters from northern Syria to Nagorno-Karabakh to boost Azeri forces – a claim denied by both Baku and Ankara. More on that later.
