Clashes have erupted between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, with civilian deaths reported by both sides.

Armenia said Azerbaijan had launched an air and artillery attack. It later declared martial law and total military mobilisation.

Azerbaijan blamed Armenia and said it was responding to shelling along the whole front.

The long-running conflict has flared up again in recent months.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged support for Azerbaijan, calling Armenia "the biggest threat to peace and tranquillity in the region."

Russia's Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, called for an immediate ceasefire and talks to stabilise the situation.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan were part of the Soviet Union before its collapse in 1991.

For four decades they have been stuck in an unresolved conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Border fighting in July killed at least 16 people, prompting the largest popular demonstration for years in the Azerbaijani capital Baku calling for full mobilisation and the recapture of the region.

Turkey has close ties to Azerbaijan and does not have relations with Armenia because of a dispute over the mass killing of Armenians during the Ottoman era. Armenia says this was a genocide, but Turkey staunchly denies this.



https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54314341

This has the potential of a conflict that would suck into Russia and Turkey. Lets hope is will de-escalate quickly