Georgia Ready to Mediate Ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh
TBILISI - Georgian authorities announced late Monday that they are ready to act as a mediator between neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan to negotiate an immediate and sustainable end to hostilities in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Intense fighting erupted on Saturday in the small South Caucasus region, shattering a 22 year-old ceasefire between long-time enemies Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian exclave inside Azerbaijan’s borders, has existed as an unrecognized breakaway state with Armenian and Russian backing since 1994.
Clashes and minor ceasefire violations have regularly occurred along the de-militarized zone in the years since a brutal 1992-1994 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan came to an end.
The recent escalation is the most serious since a 1994 ceasefire deal halted the fighting, but left Karabakh’s official status in limbo.
Related coverage: Heavy Fighting Erupts in Nagorno-Karabakh
Officials in both Armenia and Azerbaijan were quick to blame each other for the uptick in fighting.
According the United Nations, as many as 64 people have died in the first three days of fighting and more than 200 have been injured.
The two sides called a temporary halt to combat operations at 12:00 GMT on Tuesday, as the US, Russia and France - known as the OSCE Minsk Group, responsible for monitoring the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - hold an emergency meeting in Vienna to discuss the current situation.
The temporary cessation comes on the heels of an official warning by the US Embassy in Yerevan and reports in the international media that Azerbaijan’s forces were planning a major assault on Karabakh’s de facto capital, Stepanakert.
Giorgi Volsky, one of the leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition, said that Tbilisi is ready to organize an emergency meeting between representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan to negotiate a sustainable peace deal.
Levan Berdzenishvili , a member of the Republican Party that recently broke off from the coalition, emphasized that Georgia has to take ‘a measured position’ in regards to the conflict in Karabakh.
He blamed Russia for having encouraged the escalation in order to strengthen its position in the region by stepping in as a strong-handed arbitrator between the two warring parties.
Georgian military staff chief Vakhtang Kapanadze, told journalists on Monday that Georgia is ready to take on the role of an objective mediator in the conflict, as Tbilisi has very good relations with both states.
“So far no one has been able to peacefully resolve the conflict. This is a painful process for the entire region and we are carefully following events as we have strong ties with our colleagues in Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Kapanadze said.
On Sunday, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili called an emergency meeting with Foreign and Law Enforcement Ministers, as well as the heads of relevant agencies and the chairs of the Parliamentary Committees, to discuss the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Vice Prime Minister Kakha Kaladze emphasized that Georgia will do whatever is necessary to help neutralize the conflict.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said Monday that he was in the process of formalizing a military alliance with Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist leaders. Sargsyan also warned that Armenia would formally recognize the breakaway republic as an independent state if the fighting continues to escalate.
“I must point out that I have repeatedly stated that if hostilities continue, the Republic of Armenia will recognize Karabakh’s independence,” Sargsyan said during a meeting with ambassadors of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe member states.
Armenian journalist Karen Tovmasyan told Georgia Today that based on official data since the outbreak of the conflict, 20 Armenian soldiers and civilians have been killed in the fighting, while 26 others are reported as missing in action.
Colonel Viktor Arstamyan said Monday that Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh have so far lost seven tanks in the fighting.
Azerbaijan has confirmed that 15 of its soldiers were killed and one Mi-24 helicopter was shot down in the fighting.
Baku’s defense ministry has not updated its official casualty statistics since Sunday.
By Tamar Svanidze, Karen Tovmasyan
Edited by Nicholas Waller
Photo: Hrayr Badalyan/AP