CSTO Chief Calls to Evade Escalation of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha

MOSCOW (Sputnik) ”“ Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary General Nikolai Bodyuzha stated that both sides in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should avoid further escalation of the conflict due to the serious concerns it brings to the region.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan began in 1988, after the predominantly Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region announced its secession from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Karabakh proclaimed its independence in 1991, prompting a war that lasted until a Russia-brokered ceasefire was signed in 1994. In September 2015, the conflict escalated with the sides blaming each other for violating the truce.

“We are greatly concerned about the situation in the Caucasus, especially in connection with the Karabakh conflict, where on the contact line heavy weapons, tanks are used, there are casualties,”