Azerbaijan confirms Karabakh ceasefire: defence ministry

BAKU: Azerbaijan confirmed that a ceasefire to end its military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh had been reached with Armenian separatists, starting 0900 GMT Wednesday and that integration talks will take place the following day.

“Taking into account the appeal of representatives of Armenian residents in Karabakh, received through the Russian peacekeeping contingent, an agreement was reached to suspend local anti-terrorist measures on September 20 at 1.00 pm (0900 GMT),” the defence ministry said in a statement.

The office of President Ilham Aliyev separately confirmed talks with Armenian separatists on the “reintegration” with Azerbaijan on Thursday in the town of Yevlkah.

Azerbaijan sent troops backed by artillery strikes into Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, raising the threat of a new war with its neighbour Armenia.

Karabakh, a mountainous area in the volatile wider South Caucasus region, is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory. But part of it is run by separatist Armenian authorities who say the area is their ancestral homeland.

Karabakh has been at the centre of two wars – the latest in 2020 – since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.