Armenian residents held a massive protest as the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs arrived at the Foreign Ministry for Karabakh talks on Saturday, April 9. The participants, in particular, called on the international community to fully assess the situation, punish Azerbaijan for its aggression, issue targeted statements and recognize Nagorno Karabakh.

The rally is targeted at states and international institutions involved in the Nagorno Karabakh peace process, to call attention to their weak diplomacy.

Arriving at the venue of the meeting, the Co-chairs elbowed their way through the public and silently entered the building.

Several hundred protesters shouted “shame,” “recognition” and “Karabakh is ours,” with many of them holding posters that read “Stop Terrorism,” “Aliyev is a Murderer,” “Karabakh is Independent.”

The parties to the Karabakh conflict agreed on a bilateral ceasefire along the contact line which came into force at midday, April 5.

Prior to that, on the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh.

As many as 46 Karabakh servicemen were killed and 122 were wounded in the course of military operations.

As of April 5, the Azerbaijani side has lost 26 tanks and 4 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 1 BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher, 1 engineering vehicle, 2 military helicopters and 11 unmanned aerial vehicles. The Azerbaijani side has admitted the loss of 31 fighters, 1 helicopter and 1 unmanned drones, whereas the Armenian side's photo and video materials show dozens of killed Azerbaijani troops, 1 helicopter and 3 UAVs. Opposition media outlets, however, reported on the death of 81 Azerbaijani soldiers, stating that 6 more have gone missing. According to Karabakh authorities, 300 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in clashes.

14 Karabakh tanks have been neutralized since April 2.