Armenia and Azerbaijan declare martial law after skirmishes between the two countries leave several dead.

 

The Hill/Getty.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have both declared martial law after skirmishes between the two former Soviet republics have left several dead. The Hill. The deadliest clash since 2016 occurred in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, which is controlled by ethnic Armenians. Armenia says that 16 military troops were killed in airstrikes with 100 more wounded a two civilians dead as well.  Azerbaijan claims the airstrikes were in response to shelling that killed five people and they also claim that they have taken some villages from the Armenians in response. The conflict is likely due to religious tensions as Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh region are Christian while Azerbaijan. 

Clashes erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the volatile Nagorno-Karabakh region, reigniting concern about instability in the South Caucasus, a corridor for pipelines transporting oil and gas to world markets https://t.co/tVxDtV3zZb pic.twitter.com/bmBh5EzLBZ

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 27, 2020

My Comment:

A fairly major news story that is getting buried over irrelevant American news. A possible war breaking out is a bigger potential story then the nonsense about President Trump's tax return. The violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan could spiral out of control quickly with both of them declaring martial law. 

The violence could effect the world economy. Azerbaijan is a major oil producer and the Nagorno-Karabakh region is how they transport their oil to Europe. Any major battles there could damage or disrupt the flow of oil which is bad for everyone. 

The violence seems to be due mostly to religion. Azerbaijan is a Muslim majority country and Armenia is majority Christian. Nagorno-Karabakh is also majority Christian and it makes sense that they would chafe under the rule of the Muslims in Azerbaijan. 

I am far from an expert in the region but it seems to me that this is another one of those totally avoidable situations that could have been handled better when the break-up of the Soviet Union broke up. Just like it never made any sense for the Russian speaking parts of Ukraine to remain in Ukraine, it makes little sense for the Christian parts of Azerbaijan to remain there as well. 

I am hoping that this conflict won't draw anyone else in. Russia is apparently taking a knee, calling for calm on both sides. But Turkey has said that they will back Azerbaijan if the situation devolves into war. I don't know if anyone else will join on the Armenian side but the fact that Turkey might get involved changes what should remain a minor conflict into a region war. 

That probably won't happen though. There have been skirmishes over Nagorno-Karabakh before, with 2016 being the most recent example. I am guessing that both sides will realize that war really isn't in their best interests and will back down after the tit-for-tat violence. Time will tell if I am right or not...