Turkey is closely following the clashes along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in Karabakh, said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, according to the Turkish Cihan news agency.

During a meeting with media in the Turkish city of Kars on Wednesday, Davutoglu said that Turkey would hold consultations with the Azerbaijani side on this issue.

One Armenian conscript has been wounded in fighting in Karabakh when – according to the NKR Defense Army Press Office – an Azeri sabotage unit attempted to overrun the Armenian positions and move into the Armenian-controlled territory.

The incident took place at 6:30 am on August 31 in the vicinity of the village of Chailu in northeastern Karabakh.

“The Armenian servicemen on duty timely noticed the movement of an enemy special task group and took corresponding action,” the report said, adding that following the Armenian response the Azeri forces retreated, “suffering losses”. Neither the strength of the Azeri sabotage unit or the number of losses it suffered is reported.

During the recent working visit to Nagorno Karabakh on August 29, the president of Armenia once again stated that Armenia’s efforts must constantly be directed at making not only Azerbaijan but all other countries too, understand that Karabakh’s return to Azerbaijan is out of question, and that Artsakh (NKR) is a viable state as it is.

The Nagorno Karabakh issue seemed to be put to rest after the sixth meeting of the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on June 17 and the major ceasefire violation by the Azeri immediately following the meeting, when four Armenian soldiers died as a result of the attack in Martakert region of Nagorno Karabakh.

There is no truth to reports that Russia agreed to deliver S-300 air defense systems to Azerbaijan, Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Thursday, as reported by RIA Novosti.

“There is no contract between Russia and Azerbaijan on the delivery of S-300 air defense systems to this country,” a Rosoboronexport spokesman said.

Armenia and Karabakh are initiating a new policy in the Karabakh settlement and judging by recent statements an agreement has been reached to start the process of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s formal recognition.

A Karabakh parliamentary delegation led by Deputy Speaker Arthur Tovmasyan visited Yerevan this week. During meetings Tovmasyan expressed the opinion that the precedent of the recognition of the independence of Kosovo by the UN International Court of Justice in the Hague may also contribute to the process of the NKR’s international recognition.

An all-national rally was to have been held in Karabakh on July 23, the day after the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague upheld the legitimacy of the Serbian breakaway region of Kosovo’s proclamation of independence. People were about to pour into the streets, a large group of journalists from Yerevan had arrived in Stepanakert. But the rally was canceled with explanation.

Armenia has again insisted that new proposals were made during the latest round of talks with Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute last month.

Officials in Azerbaijan have denied that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in June presented his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts with new proposals to resolve the protracted conflict.

A remarkable wedding took place in Shushi, Karabakh, last Sunday as Oliver Rakejian from France and Christine Manian from Romania decided to tie their lives in marriage and live in the Karabakh town. Oliver, who is more known as Armen in Karabakh, had invited to the wedding party his friends that he has made during the five years of his life in this unrecognized Armenian republic.

The couple opted out of traditional wedding dresses – a white dress for the bride and a suit for the groom. At this wedding ceremony the bride and the groom were wearing traditional Armenian costumes. But that wasn’t the most remarkable about their wedding. What was remarkable is that two people from distant countries that do not even border on Karabakh or Armenia have found a home and their happiness there.

July in Karabakh began with complaints voiced against the pricing policies and the quality of services provided by Karabakh Telecom, the republic’s sole mobile phone and internet connection operator.

The company with Lebanese capital, whose executive director is Ralph Yirikian (also general manager of Armenia’s leading mobile phone operator VivaCell-MTS), entered the Karabakh communications market in 2002.

So-called autumn expectations have emerged in the Karabakh settlement – the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering a solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh are again expected in the region this fall. And before that, in August, Yerevan will be visited by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who, as media write, could bring new proposals on the Karabakh settlement.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has also stated that he expects some progress in the Karabakh settlement until this fall. Turkey’s top diplomat said earlier this week that immediately after the settlement of the Karabakh problem it will become possible to proceed to the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border. Notably, the Turkish Foreign Ministry openly requested that the local authorities in the country’s eastern areas bordering on Armenia, namely Kars and Igdir, submit an estimate for the possible opening of the border.