77 Azerbaijani soldiers killed in clashes with Armenia

By Ruslan Rehimov

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AA) - The number of Azerbaijani soldiers killed in the border clashes with Armenia has risen to 77, said Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry on Friday.

The ministry announced the names of the soldiers who were killed in the latest flare-up.

Earlier in the day, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the number of Armenian soldiers killed in the clashes rose to 135.

Following the latest escalation in the region, Türkiye reiterated its support to Azerbaijan.

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara sees the latest border tension as the result of Armenia's violation of the November 2020 deal ending the Karabakh war that resulted in the victory of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of "large-scale provocations" in recent days, saying saboteurs planted mines and Armenian forces carried out “intensive” firing on Azerbaijani positions.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

In fall 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were under Armenian occupation. The fighting ended with a deal brokered by Russia.