Azerbaijan's President Ilham AliyevReuters
The president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has threatened to resume war against the Armenian "barbarians and vandals" over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh through a long Twitter rant.
The worst clashes in years in the 4,400-metre squares of land located within Azerbaijan's current borders left at least 15 soldiers dead in recent days.
The two neighbouring countries fought a full-fledged war over the land after the collapse of the USSR in the early 1990s that caused at least 30,000 deaths over six years. A ceasefire brokered by Russia in 1994 put an end to hostilities but international attempts to revive the peace process have failed since then.
Nagorno-Karabakh has maintained de facto autonomy. Azerbaijan keeps claiming the land as its own, and considers it an occupied territory, stressing that the self-declared government lacks international recognition.
Employing his utmost belligerent rhetoric, Aliyev declared that "just as we have beaten the Armenians on the political and economic fronts, we are able to defeat them on the battlefield".
Our territorial integrity will be restored. There are several factors that enable this conclusion. Azerbaijan is getting stronger.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014
Nagorno-Karabakh, the occupied territories are our native lands.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014
After returning to the currently occupied territories, we will restore all our cities and villages.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014
We are not living in peace, we are living in a state of war. Everyone must know this.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014
The war is not over. Only the first stage of it is. But the second stage may start too.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014
We will restore all of the occupied and destroyed cities. We will return to this land, we live and will live with this idea.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014
Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart, president Serzh Sargsyan, are due to meet in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi to discuss a settlement.
Russia said on its website: "We see the events of recent days as a serious violation of agreements on a ceasefire and declared intentions to achieve a regulation through political means.
"We take the position that any further escalation is unacceptable."
The US expressed "concern" about the escalation of violence and remarked that the ceasefire "needs to be respected".
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