Eurasia Press & News
Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a ceasefire in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory – starting at midday Saturday, local time.
The breakthrough came after Russia stepped in to mediate between the two former Soviet Union countries that embarked on heavy clashes two weeks ago.
Foreign ministers from both countries said in a statement that the truce is intended to exchange prisoners and recover the bodies of soldiers killed.
They said specific details around the ceasefire would be added later.
The announcement came after marathon 10-hour talks in Moscow, driven by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The current escalation marked the first time that Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey took a high profile in the conflict, offering strong political support. Over the past few years, Turkey provided Azerbaijan with state-of-the-art weapons, including drones and rocket systems that helped the Azerbaijani military outgun the Nagorno-Karabakh separatist forces in the latest fighting.
Armenian officials say Turkey is involved in the conflict and is sending Syrian mercenaries to fight on Azerbaijan’s side. Turkey has denied deploying combatants to the region, but a Syrian war monitor and three Syria-based opposition activists have confirmed that Turkey has sent hundreds of Syrian opposition fighters to fight in Nagorno-Karabakh, AFP reported.
