Armenia Willing to Reach Ceasefire with Azerbaijan through International Mediators

Yerevan, MINA – The Armenian government has said it is ready to work with international mediators to reach a ceasefire with Azerbaijan, at a time when the two rivals are fighting over the Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The two countries’ military has continued clash until Friday, the sixth day since bad fighting broke out again on Sunday, AlJazeera reported.

Armenia is “ready” to accept the presence of France, Russia and the United States, co-chairing the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) mediator group, “to rebuild the ceasefire regime,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday. .

However, the statement added that “this aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh will continue to be strong and firm.”

That is come after ethnic Armenian officials in the Nargorno-Karabakh region reported another 54 military casualties among Armenian-backed forces, bringing the death toll to 158 soldiers.

Azerbaijan has not reported any military casualties, but said 19 civilians were killed in the Armenian shootings.

Although Armenia’s statement marked the first sign that dialogue could take place, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that for Azerbaijan to agree a ceasefire, Armenia must withdraw its troops.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio, Cavusoglu said the deadlock “prompted Armenia to attack and illegally place Armenians on the territory of other countries.”

“If the international community wants to do something about Karabakh, it must make Armenia leave Azerbaijan land immediately,” said Cavusoglu. He added that Turkey would support any efforts in that direction. (T/R7/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)