Armenia and Azerbaijan tensions rise ahead of new peace talks

Just before the new peace talks, the Armenian Foreign Ministry accused Azerbaijan of threatening to use force and "preparing the ground for aggression against the people of Nagorny-Karabakh."

Armenia va Azerbaijan gia tang cang thang truoc cac cuoc hoa dam moi hinh anh 1 The flags of Azerbaijan (left) and Armenia at the border checkpoint between the two countries in the village of Sotk (Armenia). (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Two days before new talks on a peace accord to resolve decades-long disputes over the Nagorno-Karabakh region are set to begin, relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have again escalated with mutual accusations.

Armenia's Armenpress news agency quoted a statement from the country's Foreign Ministry accusing Azerbaijan of threatening to use force and "preparing the ground for aggression against the people of Nagorny-Karabakh."

Armenia made the statement after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on May 28 proposed dissolving the so-called self-proclaimed legislative council in Nagorny-Karabakh.

Tensions between the two Central Asian countries are rising over control of Nagorno-Karabakh , a region deep in Azerbaijan's southwestern territory but with a majority of ethnic Armenians that it wants to annex.

Tensions increased between the two neighbors culminating in a war that lasted from February 1988 to May 1994.

Since 2008, Azerbaijan and Armenia have held dozens of high-level meetings, but have not found a suitable settlement to issues, including border demarcation and prisoner exchange.

Relations between the two countries became even more tense after on April 23, Azerbaijan established a checkpoint on the only land route passing through its territory and connecting Armenia with the Nagorny-Karabakh region.

However, in recent weeks, peace talks between the two countries appear to have made progress, with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev confirming that the two sides are moving towards normalizing relations.

The Azerbaijani president said that "there is a possibility of reaching a peace agreement, given that Armenia officially recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan."

Meanwhile, the Armenian Prime Minister affirmed that the two sides "have made good progress in normalizing relations based on recognition of each other's territorial integrity."

Mr. Pashinyan affirmed that Yerevan "is ready to clear all traffic routes in the region that pass through Armenian territory."

According to plan, the two leaders will meet on the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPC) Summit in Chisinau (Moldova) on June 1./.

Thanh Phuong (Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

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