Heavy artillery, anti-tank missiles and suicide bombers - along with the involvement of Russia, Turkey and Iran • The war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region shakes the region again •
Reports of hundreds of deaths alongside unknown reasons for the outbreak of the conflict.
An Armenian soldier in Nagorno-Karabakh
Photography:
IPI
The videos speak for themselves.
The dusty roads, the desolate battlefield, the tired fighters, artillery shell damage and the constant buzzing of drones. This is the face of war in the new era, the one that erupted this week in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, reflected in countless videos distributed without any filtering and order on social media. , Sniper fire, a sword house damaged in the shelling - the technical details of the fighting have never been so visible - and in almost direct relation, the real reasons for fighting have never been so complex, vague and confusing.
The new war in Nagorno-Karabakh began on Sunday with an unprecedented military operation involving the Azerbaijani army, over positions of Armenian separatists along the eastern and northern borders of the Armenian-controlled territory, an area internationally recognized as Azerbaijan territory.
The fighting is characterized by widespread use of artillery, anti-tank missiles and suicide bombers, and devastating results accordingly. If the details are not complex enough, Turkey rushed to join Azerbaijan's side and even secure military support if Baku so requested. Russia sided with the Armenian side and called for an immediate ceasefire. Alongside these, it is important to remember that Armenia enjoys tacit support from Iran, and Azerbaijan is one of the world's largest customers of advanced Israeli-made weapons, and one of the world's friendliest Muslim countries to the Jewish state.
While unofficial sources report hundreds of deaths on both sides, including dozens of civilians and increasing damage to property, the reasons for the outbreak of this widespread conflict seem to the observer from the side completely unknown.
The person who volunteers to make an order is Dr. Avinoam Idan, an expert on Russia and the Caucasus, Chaikin Chair in Geo-Strategy, University of Haifa.
Idan, who has been well acquainted with the region since the days of the Soviet Union, points out that the root of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh originated in the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
"With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it was decided that its administrative borders would be the political borders of the new states that grew up in them. However, the Armenians did not accept this principle of border design, and established in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which was part of Azerbaijan, an autonomous entity. And that it is in fact part of Armenia. "
Dr. Idan explains that in the war that broke out against this background in 1991, the Armenians, supported by the Russian army, managed to occupy in addition to the disputed territory also about twenty percent of the territory of Azerbaijan bordering Nagorno-Karabakh and there was no dispute over them. "These are the roots of the conflict we are seeing now," Idan explains. "The reason for the resumption of fighting at this point in time, Idan claims, is a continuation of the event (in July. An Armenian military initiative surprised the Azeri army in an area far from the battlefield and unrelated to conflict areas). "It threatens Azerbaijan's strategic interest as the exchange of fire took place close to the line of oil and gas export pipelines, the lifeblood of Azerbaijan."
Indeed, the Azeris themselves see the action that took place in July near the city of Touboz as a pretext for a broader counterattack that they are now conducting in Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to Fried Schaefeb, chairman of the Baku Institute for Foreign Relations, the attack was just part of an Armenian effort to shake off previous peace talks.
"The operation at Tuboz came as part of this trend, and Baku decided that it was impossible to accept it in silence," says Shafeev.
The hand of the Sultan and the Israeli connection
Another reason for the Azeri decision to launch a large-scale and potentially destructive military operation is the unreserved support of Turkey, which sits on the Caucasus border and sees Azerbaijan as part of the "family of Turkish peoples."
President Erdogan and his government this week provided a series of statements that Turkey would provide military assistance to Baku, if it so requested.
Turkey has in the past sided with Azerbaijan but never in such a demonstrative way.
Rumors circulating even before the outbreak of hostilities claim that Erdogan began sending Syrian fighters, from various jihadist organizations fighting alongside Turkey in northern Syria, to assist the Azeri army in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Dr. Avino Idan. "Armenian military initiative surprised the Azeri army in a remote area unrelated to the conflict" // Photo: From the private archive
"These are claims that make no sense," protests Shfeyev. "Why do we do such a thing? We do not lack manpower, in terms of population we are five times the Armenians. Our army is significantly larger and it does not lack combat experience. Which is ours alone, "says the Azeri expert.
But despite this, evidence on the ground for military equipment coming from Turkey continues to accumulate.
Alongside the sympathetic shouts from senior Erdogan regime officials, it is hard not to imagine how Turkey is reaching out to another new front, after openly interfering in Syria and Libya.
This new dominance of Ankara in relations with Azerbaijan has suggested in some circles that the tightening ties could pose a real danger to the close relations between Baku and Jerusalem.
But according to Dr. Idan, "The relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan rests not only on interests but also on the basis of a deep cultural and historical charge," explains Dr. Idan.
"The legacy of harmonious coexistence between the Azeris and the Jewish community and the fact that Azerbaijan sees Israel as a role model, as a modern country living in a hostile environment, and reaching impressive achievements, contribute to the close relations between Azerbaijan and Russia. "Since its establishment as an independent state, its foreign policy has had a balanced orientation that includes good relations with EU and US countries as well," the expert explains.
But behind the complex history and international gameplay between the powers, innocent civilians are being harmed, on both sides.
Artyom Chernmorian, a journalist and chairman of the Petah Tikva Association of Israeli Armenians - "Nairi" - laments the price paid by the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"People there are being bombed, many civilians have been killed. The Azeris have tanks and very heavy artillery. The capital Stefankart has been bombed for several days."
Chernmooran underscores the Armenian fear that abandonment to Azerbaijan and Turkey will bring his people back to dark days in their history: "I am worried and afraid that the Armenian army and Turkish mercenaries will enter Armenian villages, and what will happen there will be a second Armenian Holocaust. The donkeys in the history of the 20th century, and I am afraid that if the Armenians do not fight for their rights, it will happen again. "
The human price
But the harm to civilians and the fear of massacres is not limited to the Armenian side.
The bloody history of the Nagorno-Karabakh war has left a mark of apprehension on the Azeri side as well.
"In the current war, 14 Azeri civilians were killed and 40 wounded," said Laila Abdullaiba, a spokeswoman for the Azeri Foreign Ministry.
"The Armenian shooting at our border villages has in fact hardly stopped in recent years, and the damage to property and terror of the residents is a long-standing reality," the spokeswoman explains.
Abduliba notes the massacres that characterized the Nagorno-Karabakh war and the huge wave of refugees that swept the country following the defeat.
"Now the fighting will continue until we can ensure that all this does not happen again," she says.
As the shells fly off both sides of the border, all that is left for the civilians in the conflict zone in the South Caucasus is the hope that far away - in the glorious lounges of Moscow, Washington and Ankara - those leaders who encouraged the fighting will exert similar pressure to end.
But while the number of victims continues to climb sharply, it seems that this is currently a faint hope.