After the Azerbaijani military regained full control of Nagorno-Karabakh, thousands of Armenians fled the breakaway region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Azerbaijan on Monday emphasized support for its ally.
Last week, the Azerbaijani military quickly defeated Armenian forces, leading the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and begin talks on reintegrating Nagorno-Karabakh into Azerbaijan after decades of separatist rule.
In Khojaly, a second round of discussions between Azerbaijani officials and separatist representatives commenced on Tuesday after the opening meeting last week.
RUSSIA ACCUSES WEST OF FUELING CONFLICT, AVOIDS DISCUSSING UKRAINE IN SPEECH ON DAY 5 AT UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Despite Azerbaijan’s assurance of respecting the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restoring supplies after a 10-month blockade, many local residents feared retaliation and planned to relocate to Armenia.
The Armenian government reported that 4,850 Nagorno-Karabakh residents had fled to Armenia as of Monday noon.
“It was a nightmare. There are no words to describe. The village was heavily shelled. Almost no one is left in the village,” said an evacuee who spoke to The Associated Press in Kornidzor, Armenia, declining to provide her name for security reasons.
Moscow confirmed that Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh were facilitating the evacuation.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry announced on Monday that two soldiers were killed the day before when a military truck hit a landmine. The explosion location was not named.
In a nationwide address on Sunday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that his government was collaborating with international partners to safeguard the rights and security of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“If these efforts fail to yield concrete results, the government will welcome our sisters and brothers from Nagorno-Karabakh into the Republic of Armenia with utmost care,” he said.
An ethnic Armenian boy from Nagorno-Karabakh looks on from a car as he arrives in Armenia’s Goris on Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Vasily Krestyaninov)
Protesters in Armenia’s capital continued to block main avenues on Monday while occasionally clashing with the police, demanding Pashinyan’s resignation.
Since 2020, Russian peacekeepers have been present in the region, following a Russian-brokered ceasefire that ended a six-week war between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinyan and many others in Armenia accused the peacekeepers of failing to prevent the conflict and protect the Armenian population. Moscow dismissed the allegations, stating that its troops had no legal grounds to intervene, particularly after Pashinyan recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
“We categorically oppose blaming the Russian side, especially the Russian peacekeepers, who have shown true heroism,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
When asked about the continued presence of Russian peacekeepers in the region, Peskov refrained from providing a definitive answer, stating that “no one can say anything for sure right now.”
NHL PLAYER NIKITA ZADAROV SPEAKS OUT AGAINST RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE
In the separatist fighting that ended in 1994, Nagorno-Karabakh fell under the control of ethnic Armenian forces supported by the Armenian military. Azerbaijan recaptured parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territory claimed by Armenian forces during the previous conflict in 2020.
In December, Azerbaijan imposed a blockade on the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, alleging that the Armenian government was using the road for mineral extraction and illicit weapons shipments to the region’s separatist forces.
Armenia argued that the closure deprived Nagorno-Karabakh’s approximately 120,000 residents of essential food and fuel supplies. Azerbaijan rejected the accusation, claiming that the region could obtain supplies through the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam – a solution that Nagorno-Karabakh authorities had long resisted, suspecting it was a strategy for Azerbaijan to gain control of the region.
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged support for Armenia and Armenians on Sunday, stating that France would provide food and medical aid to the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, and work towards a “sustainable peace” in the region.
With a substantial Armenian diaspora, France has played a mediating role in Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. Over the weekend, a few hundred people gathered outside the French Foreign Ministry, demanding sanctions against Azerbaijan and accusing Paris of insufficiently protecting Armenian interests in the region.
“France is very attentive to Armenia’s territorial integrity because that is what is at stake,” Macron said in an interview with France-2 and TF1 television. He accused Russia of complicity with Azerbaijan and claimed that Turkey threatened Armenia’s borders.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Russia has been Armenia’s primary ally and sponsor, maintaining a military base there. However, Moscow’s influence in the region has diminished rapidly due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, while Turkey, Azerbaijan’s primary ally, has gained more influence.
Erdogan arrived in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave on Monday to discuss Turkey-Azerbaijan relations, as well as regional and global issues, with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Nakhchivan is geographically separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenian territory, but it has a narrow border with Turkey.
During his one-day visit, Erdogan will also participate in the opening of a gas pipeline and a modernized military base, as announced by his office.
Regarding Erdogan’s visit, Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, expressed hope that it would “contribute to regional security and help normalize life in Karabakh.”
Meanwhile, Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, visited Armenia on Monday to reaffirm U.S. support for Armenia’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and democracy. Her office stated that the visit aimed to address the humanitarian needs arising from the recent violence in Nagorno-Karabakh. U.S. Department of State Acting Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim accompanied her.
“The United States is deeply concerned about reports of the humanitarian conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls for unimpeded access for international humanitarian organizations and commercial traffic,” said USAID.
