The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan recently reached its most deadly point of conflict since 2020. The two countries, located in the South Caucasus region, have been in conflict over territorial disputes since the late 1980s. Violent outbursts between the two have resulted in full-blown wars over the years.
The main dispute and fighting is occurring over the border between both countries. Over 100 people were killed just this past month. This past week, as of Sept. 15, Azerbaijan claimed to have lost 71 soldiers, while Armenia claims to have lost 105 of their soldiers.
Many of Armenia’s troops consist of volunteers and citizens who have stepped up to fight for their country as the Russian troops that were once stationed in Armenia have been pulled from their posts to assist in the fighting in Ukraine.
Anush Abetyan, Susanna Margaryan and Alisa Melkonyan were three Armenian women who went to fight for their country, but all three were allegedly mutilated by the Azerbaijani troops. Anush Abetyan was allegedly tortured, raped, killed and mutilated at the hands of the Azerbaijanis in a response to a request to talk about Azerbaijan’s war crimes.
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan blame the other country for the issues and back-and-forth conflict. Azerbaijan claims that they own the land that Armenia has inhabited for over 3,000 years.
The United Nation’s assistant secretary general of Europe, Central Asia and the Americas — Miroslav Jenča — briefed an emergency meeting of the security council on Sept. 15, following an announcement on Sept. 14 of a ceasefire.
This is a dispute over a border, and Armenians have made it clear that they do not want to lose more citizens but also do not want to relinquish land that, in their eyes, is and has been theirs. The United Nations has called for a truce and for peace to be made between the countries and urges them to refrain from fighting as the conflict has escalated to a very dangerous level.