At least 19,000 refugees from the Nagorno-Karabakh region entered Armenia, according to a new count announced Tuesday by a senior Armenian official, amid an exodus of civilians from the separatist enclave now controlled by Azerbaijan.
“So far, 19,000 forcibly displaced persons have arrived in Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh”Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khatchatrian said on television.
On September 19, the Azerbaijani army launched an offensive on Armenian positions in the enclave, classifying the action as an ‘anti-terrorist operation’ and demanding that the Armenians lay down their arms and that the separatist government (which has since been ‘de facto’ the power is) 1994) resignation dissolve.
A day later, authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh agreed to military demands, but talks on how the region will be integrated into Azerbaijan were inconclusive.
A week after the Azerbaijani offensive in that secessionist region of the Caucasus, thousands of residents are trying to flee and cross to Armenia.
This Tuesday morning, the Armenian government announced that it had already welcomed more than 13,000 refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, as a steady stream of vehicles carrying families and their belongings gathered on rooftops at the last Azerbaijani border checkpoint before entering Armenian territory. , through the Latchin Corridor. Some cross on foot.
“They kicked us out”a man said as he walked in front of the Azerbaijani soldiers.
On Monday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev reiterated his promise that the rights of the enclave’s Armenian population would be “guaranteed.”
The Azerbaijani head of state spoke alongside his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a central player in the region, just a few days after the victory of Azerbaijani forces over forces from the self-proclaimed ‘republic’ of Nagorno-Karabakh – annexed in 1921 by Soviet power to Azerbaijan .
This Tuesday in Brussels, the European Union (EU) will receive high-level representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics that clashed militarily between 1988 and 1994 (30,000 deaths) and in the autumn of 2020 (6,500 deaths). According to the Armenian side, the toll due to last week’s lightning invasion amounts to 200 deaths.
Simon Mordue, the chief diplomatic adviser to European Council President Charles Michel, will chair this meeting in the Belgian capital. Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as France and Germany, will be represented by their respective national security advisers. And the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Estonian diplomat Toivo Klaar, will also participate.
In turn, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian and the Azerbaijani President will meet on October 5 in Granada, Spain, in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the President of the European Council. , Charles Michel – a long-planned meeting that has not been canceled.
Azerbaijan has committed to allowing rebels who surrender their weapons to Armenia.
Many fear that Armenians will flee Nagorno-Karabakh en masse if Azerbaijani forces take over. In addition to the fear that prevails among the approximately 120,000 inhabitants, the humanitarian situation is precarious.
The influx of refugees from the enclave into Armenia led to huge traffic jams on the only road connecting the breakaway region’s capital, Stepanakert, with that country.
Last week, Pachinian announced that his country of 2.9 million was preparing to receive 40,000 refugees.
Russia, which considers the Caucasus its territory and sent a peacekeeping force to the mountainous enclave three years ago after a brief offensive by Azerbaijan, on Monday firmly rejected criticism from Pachinian, who was accused of abandoning its ally.
Source: DN
