The separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh return to negotiations on Saturday with Azerbaijan, which inflicted a heavy military defeat on them, to return to peace in this region whose population, predominantly Armenian, is worried about its future.
Following the capitulation and ceasefire agreed on Wednesday, following a lightning offensive launched a day earlier by Baku, the separatists are discussing the withdrawal of their troops, continuing the process of laying down their weapons.
This mountainous enclave, annexed to the territory of Azerbaijan in 1921 by the Soviets, was in the past the scene of two wars between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia: one between 1988 and 1994 (30,000 dead) and another in the fall of 2020 ( 6500 dead).
“In accordance with the agreements on the cessation of hostilities, armed formations in Nagorno-Karabakh have begun to hand over their weapons, under the control of Russian peacekeepers,” the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday.
To date, six armored vehicles, more than 800 light weapons and about 5,000 rounds of ammunition have been delivered, according to the Russian peacekeeping contingent.
The talks between the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities and the Azerbaijani side, which began on Thursday “under the auspices of Russian peacekeepers”, should make it possible to “organize the process of withdrawal of troops and ensure the return home of displaced citizens by military aggression,” according to the separatists.
The parties are also discussing “the procedure for the entry and exit of citizens” from the region, they added.
All this at a time when thousands of civilians continue to face a humanitarian emergency in Nagorno-Karabakh, whose “capital”, Stepanakert, is, according to local authorities, surrounded by Azerbaijani soldiers.
Yana Avanessian, a 29-year-old law professor from Stepanakert, like many other Armenians who managed to contact their relatives, says the situation is “horrible.”
“We hope that evacuations will be carried out soon, especially for people whose homes were destroyed,” the young woman told AFP at the Armenian Kornidzor checkpoint, very close to Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to AFP, Stepanakert is left without electricity or fuel and the population, who cannot find their missing relatives due to the lack of lists of the dead and injured, is also facing a lack of food and medicine.
The Azeri troops “are around Stepanakert, they are on the outskirts,” Armine Hayrapetian, spokesperson for the local authorities, told AFP, specifying that people are hiding “in the basements.”
According to an adviser to President Ilham Aliev, Azerbaijan has promised the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to send aid and treat wounded separatist soldiers, and ambulances have been authorized to travel from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to Armenian separatists, the Azerbaijani military operation, which ended at noon on Wednesday within 24 hours, left at least 200 dead and 400 wounded.
Baku’s victory is fueling fears that many of Nagorno-Karabakh’s 120,000 residents will leave, even though Armenia promised that a mass withdrawal is not planned. However, Armenia said it was willing to host “40,000 families” of refugees.
Accused of passivity towards Azerbaijan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian admitted on Friday that “the situation” remains “tense” in Nagorno-Karabakh, where “the humanitarian crisis continues.”
But “there is hope for a positive dynamic,” added the head of the Armenian Government, for whom the ceasefire has been, “in general,” respected.
People hostile to Pashinian demonstrate every day in Yerevan to protest against the executive’s management of the crisis, and several opposition leaders have also announced their intention to begin an impeachment process for the head of government in Parliament.
According to Armenian police, 98 protesters were detained on Friday, at a time when Pashinian had called for calm and the “path” to peace.
Source: TSF
