Armenia declares martial law amid escalation in conflict with Azerbaijan
Fighting has broken out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the Armenian government has declared martial law and total military mobilization.
Martial law and General mobilization will be declared in #Armenia. @NikolPashinyan: I call on the personnel attached to the troops to report to their territorial military recruitment offices. For the sake of the homeland, for the sake of victory
— Government of Armenia (@armgov) September 27, 2020
The neighboring nations, both former Soviet republics, have been mired in a decades-long standoff over the contested Nagorno—Karabakh region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but has a majority ethnic Armenian population that has been running its own affairs since Azerbaijani forces were pushed out during a war in the 1990s. A ceasefire was brokered in 1994, but there have been flare-ups since, and Sunday’s escalation appears to be the worst since 2016, Al Jazeera reports.
Both sides have