Nagorno-Karabakh: from Baku to Yerevan, communication war and patriotic fever
Soldiers from the Armenian-led Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army in a truck to Martakert, September 29, 2020. Narek Aleksanyan / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
It has been five days since the frozen conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed over Nagorno-Karabakh, this tiny landlocked territory in Azerbaijan where just over 70,000 Armenians live.
A war on the ground still undecided, with exchanges of fire and shells.
A communication war too.
Unable to travel to Azerbaijan, Baku hardly accepts any journalists.
On the other hand, Yerevan, which has supervision over Nagorno-Karabakh, has chosen to open its doors widely to the international press.
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With our special correspondent in Yerevan,
Anissa El Jabri
On the narrow road that winds between the misty green peaks of Nagorno-Karabakh there is at least one bus chartered by the Armenian Foreign Ministry every day.
A vehicle dedicated to the press flowing in from Europe, the Middle East or the United States.
In this conflict, Armenia wants to show the image of an open and welcoming country.
This does not prevent the government communication from declaring that it found small doses of drugs in the pockets of the uniforms of the dead soldiers from the camp opposite.
Unverifiable comments.
Baku is also said to have - this is what Armenian army spokespersons say - deliberately targeted
journalists injured on Thursday by rocket shrapnel
.
Both are doing better, their condition has stabilized and their evacuation is in the process of being organized.
Communication war, just a war on the ground.
On the Armenian side, many are very young among those who die these first days.
Eighteen, twenty.
Very seriously injured too.
In six hours of road, we counted this Thursday a dozen ambulances back to the capital.
On this same route, via Nagorno-Karabakh, also circulated, imperturbable, large trucks from Iran, loaded for the Yerevan markets with carrots, chickpeas and spices.
"
Restoration of our sovereignty
"
What about Azerbaijan?
In Baku, the capital, a large part of the population supports the military effort, hoping to recover by arms the territory lost in the 1990s. “
Right now in Baku, as a sign of solidarity, there are flags of the 'Azerbaijan everywhere on buildings, on cars,
testifies Rizvan Gusseinov, a resident of the capital, joined by
Daniel Vallot
, our correspondent in Moscow.
People are united: they come together to help the army, to send cigarettes, clothes.
Although it is not necessary, it is a symbol of popular support.
"
Responsibility for the conflict is beyond doubt for Rizvan Gusseinov.
“
In our eyes, this war is unfortunately necessary, because it was Armenia and Nikol Pachinian who made the peace negotiations fail.
And now, only military intervention can force them back to the negotiating table.
"
What is the end goal?
“
You know,”
he continues, “
Nagorno-Karabakh is a very important region for us.
Let us not forget the hundreds of thousands of people who lost everything during the war in the 1990s. This is the objective of our country today: the return of all these refugees to their villages and the restoration of our sovereignty over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"
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See also: Karabakh: Macron demands "explanations" from Turkey on the presence of jihadists
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