Azerbaijan warns over pipelines as Nagorno-Karabakh tensions rise

Azerbaijan accused Armenia yesterday of trying to attack its gas and oil pipelines and warned of a “severe” response as tensions rose sharply around a fraying ceasefire in the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia denied the claim and said Azeri forces were trying to seize control of the tiny territory, which is governed by ethnic

Armenians, despite Saturday’s humanitarian ceasefire.

Russia tried to silence the angry rhetoric and appealed to both sides to observe the ceasefire it brokered over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

But Moscow and Turkey also exchanged recriminations over the fighting that has killed more than 600 people since Sept. 27, the majority of them NagornoKarabakh military personnel.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Wednesday that Ankara wanted a permanent solution to the NagornoKarabakh issue.