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| Azerbaijan: Unilateral cease-fire against Nagorno-Karabakh | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BAKU, Azerbaijan — Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry announced a unilateral cease-fire Sunday against the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a claim that rebel forces there promptly rejected. | |
| Fighting in what was a dormant conflict for two decades flared up over the weekend with a boy and at least 30 troops killed on both sides. Each side blamed the other for Saturday’s escalation, the worst since the end of a full-scale war in 1994. | |
| The defense ministry said, in response to pleas from international organizations, it will be unilaterally “suspending a counter-offensive and response on the territories occupied by Armenia.” The ministry added it will not focus on fortifying the territory that Azerbaijan has “liberated.” It did not elaborate. | |
| Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan, has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military since a war ended in 1994 with no resolution of the region’s status. The conflict is fueled by long-simmering tensions between Christian Armenians and mostly Muslim Azeris. | |
| Armenian forces also occupy several areas outside Nagorno-Karabakh proper. The sides are separated by a demilitarized buffer zone, but small clashes have broken out frequently. | |
| Officials in the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh promptly disputed the reports of Azerbaijan’s unilateral cease-fire. David Babayan, spokesman for the Karabakh president, told The Associated Press on Sunday that they had not seen any signs that fighting was suspended. | |
| The defense ministry of Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday also claimed to have restored control over a strategic area near the front line. It said Nagorno-Karabakh forces went on a counter-offensive around the village of Talish after Azerbaijani forces shelled their positions just before dawn. Two Karabakh troops were reported injured. | |
| It also said Azerbaijan was using rockets, artillery and armor against the region. | |
| Earlier Sunday, a spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, Vagif Dargyakhly, said Azerbaijani positions came under fire overnight and that civilian areas also were hit. | |
| On Saturday, Armenia said 18 soldiers were killed and Azerbaijan reported 12 dead. | |
| Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Sunday to back its ally Azerbaijan in the conflict, saying that the flare-up could have been avoided if “fair and decisive steps” had been taken. | |
| “We pray our Azerbaijani brothers will prevail in these clashes with the least casualties,” he said. | |
| The unresolved conflict has been an economic blow to Armenia because Turkey has closed its border with Armenia. | |
| ___ | |
| Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, and Dominique Soguel in Istanbul contributed to this report. | |
| Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |