Nagarno-Karabakh battle: Thousands of ethnic Armenians flee Azerbaijan fearing persecution
8 min read
On Monday, September 25, the primary convoy of as many as 6500 ethnic Armenians left Nagorno-Karabakh. According to experiences, the complete group of some 120,000 ethnic Armenians could also be on the verge of abandoning its ancestral homeland, after Azerbaijan seized management of the disputed areas in a lightning army onslaught final week, stoking fears of persecution by the hands of Azerbaijani authorities.
Several photos have emerged exhibiting ethnic Armenians, who’re principally Christians, getting ready to go away the Muslim-majority Azerbaijan. In the Karabakh capital, generally known as Stepanakert by Armenia and Khankendi by Azerbaijan, crowds of individuals had been loading belongings into buses and vehicles as they left for Armenia.
Image supply: SkyNews
Image supply: SkyNews
More movies and pictures emerged whereby Armenians are seen stocking up autos and sitting in tailbacks which have introduced the mountainous highway to Armenia to a standstill.
Traffic Jam At Lachin Corridor As Ethnic Armenians Flee Nagorno-Karabakh https://t.co/kNIJCyFCkY pic.twitter.com/zQi45s2PoE
— SoCalArmenianRadio (@ArmenianUS) September 25, 2023
Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated it was extremely doubtless that ethnic Armenians would flee the breakaway area of Nagorno-Karabakh, fearing persecution https://t.co/QyhOGjijyL pic.twitter.com/vhaOIeC5Sz
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 24, 2023
Ethnic Armenians Flee Nagorno-Karabakh As Yerevan Protests Grow https://t.co/SPq8zeiK81 pic.twitter.com/iyTFNucCca
— SoCalArmenianRadio (@ArmenianUS) September 25, 2023
On Sunday, September 24, Reuters quoted the ethnic Armenians, who name Karabakh house as saying that they didn’t need to stay as a part of Azerbaijan and that they would go away for Armenia as a result of they feared persecution and ethnic cleaning. The majority of Karabakh Armenians do not need religion in Azerbaijan’s guarantees to ensure their rights after the current army offensive.
Confirming the mass exodus of Armenians from Azerbaijan, the Armenian authorities stated that as of 5 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Monday, September 25, greater than 2,900 folks from Nagorno-Karabakh had crossed into Armenia.
Armenia’s PM Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan has warned that ethnic cleaning is ‘underway’ within the area. “That’s happening just now, and that is a very unfortunate fact because we were trying to urge the international community on that,” Nikol Pashinyan instructed reporters.
Nikol Pashinyan added that “responsibility for such a development of events will fall entirely on Azerbaijan, which adopted a policy of ethnic cleansing, and on the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Reportedly, the dire humanitarian disaster ethnic Armenians are dealing with in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated after the Azeri troopers launched a army assault in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19. At least ten individuals have been killed.
After Azerbaijan’s newest army offensive to regain management of the world, Turkey-backed Azerbaijan had promised to protect ethnic Armenians’ rights and to reopen the provision routes that had been lower in December. However, Artak Beglaryan, a former adviser to Artsakh’s authorities, instructed the media that persons are afraid of retaliation and ethnic cleaning, thus “almost all the villages” and big areas of the most important metropolis Stepanakert, recognized in Azerbaijan as Khankendi, “are emptying.”
The Nagorno-Karabakh battle
Trapped between Turkey and Azerbaijan is the tiny nation of Armenia. The Azeris are ethnic Turks and have the identical faith and tradition as Turkey. For a very long time, the principally Christian Armenians had been colonized by the Ottoman Empire. The Soviets took over the land within the Nineteen Twenties and Armenia was lower up between three Soviet Republics: Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
When the Soviet empire collapsed within the Nineteen Nineties, each Armenia and Azerbaijan grew to become impartial. But a portion of land, populated by ethnic Armenians, remained a part of Azerbaijan. This area is named Nagorno-Karabakh. Tensions erupted and this space declared independence within the Nineteen Nineties, supported by Armenia. The stalemate has been round for almost three a long time till Azerbaijan (with Turkish assist) unilaterally broke the ceasefire in 2020.
Following this, a serious escalation within the battle befell. Thousands of individuals had been reported killed in six weeks of fierce combating.
Azerbaijan took over giant swaths of land, and by the point either side agreed to signal a peace deal negotiated by Russia in November 2020, it had grabbed all the areas surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh managed by Armenia since 1994.
Armenian troops had been compelled to withdraw from these areas by the phrases of the settlement and have since been confined to a smaller part of the area.
The presence of Russian troopers quickly halted the violence, though tensions had been rising for months earlier than the current army operation.
What led to the most recent army onslaught by Azerbaijan troopers
Fears of renewed bloodshed arose when in December 2022, Azerbaijan successfully blocked a significant passage into the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
The Lachin Corridor is the one highway that connects the Republic of Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh’s roughly 120,000 ethnic Armenians. It is an important provide route, and inhabitants in Nagorno-Karabakh have reported critical shortages of primary meals and drugs in current months.
Azerbaijan accused Armenia of utilizing the highway to herald army provides, which Armenia denied. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan claimed that it provided meals and support a number of instances by way of one other highway however Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh refused it.
Furthermore, observers claimed a buildup of Azerbaijani forces in the course of the interval of siege of the Lachin hall, which Baku denied.
In mid-September, a small variety of reduction autos run by the International Committee of the Red Cross had been allowed into Nagorno-Karabakh by way of the Lachin Corridor and, independently, the Aghdam Road from Azerbaijan.
However, sustaining these transportation hyperlinks, significantly the Lachin Corridor, has been extremely reliant on the presence of Russian troopers stationed within the space since 2020 however the Russian invasion of Ukraine has distracted Moscow’s consideration and army assets from the area.
Last week, the battle between Azerbaijan and Armenia as soon as once more escalated the Turkey-backed Azerbaijani forces launched a army offensive within the area. The onslaught that lasted for twenty-four hours claimed the lives of as many as 10 harmless civilians and left a number of injured.
The following day, a cease-fire deal mediated by Russia was struck. The settlement acknowledged that the army forces of Karabakh could be solely disarmed and abolished. There will now be discussions about integrating the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave into Azerbaijan.
On September 20, the prime minister acknowledged that Armenia was not a celebration to the deal, accusing Baku, the capital metropolis of Azerbaijan of trying to attract Armenia right into a confrontation. Pashinyan additionally urged Russia to “fulfil its obligations” and safe ethnic Armenians’ security in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinyan acknowledged the subsequent day in a speech that, “if peacekeepers have proposed a peace deal, it means that they completely and without any reservations accepted the responsibility of ensuring the security of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, and provide the conditions and the rights for them to live on their land and in their homes safely.”
Amidst all this, over 1,20,000 ethnic Armenians dwelling within the area began fleeing Muslim-majority Azerbaijan fearing persecution and ethnic cleaning by the Azeri authorities.
Karabakh Crisis
The ethnic Armenians, who kind the bulk in Nagorno-Karabakh are dealing with a dire humanitarian disaster and grave uncertainty about their future.
Azerbaijan’s newest blitz comes after months of hardship in Nagorno-Karabakh brought on by Azerbaijan’s blocking of the Lachin highway connecting the world to Armenia. Since mid-June, Azerbaijan has barred any humanitarian support despatched by Russian troopers and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC).
For months, the area’s inhabitants (tens of 1000’s of ethnic Armenians) has confronted extreme shortages of meals, medication, sanitation commodities, and different requirements. Azerbaijan’s embargo has additionally prevented the Red Cross from transferring medical sufferers out of the enclave on a number of events.
Nagorno-Karabakh victory brings delight: Turkey hails Azerbaijan army onslaught that rendered 1000’s of ethnic Armenians homeless
It is notable right here that at a time when 1000’s of those ethnic Armenians, together with aged, girls and kids, have been rendered homeless, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have hailed Baku’s army victory in Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to experiences, Turkey’s Erdogan arrived in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave on Monday (September 25) and at a joint information convention with Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, Erdogan stated Azerbaijan’s victory in Karabakh impressed delight.
“It is a matter of pride that the operation was successfully completed in a short period of time, with utmost sensitivity to the rights of civilians,” Erdogan stated.
Russia’s silence over Azerbaijan offensive that has resulted in a large humanitarian catastrophe
Russia has traditionally served as Armenia’s safety guarantor, particularly in moderating tensions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. After Azerbaijan grabbed areas in and round Nagorno-Karabakh, killing 1000’s, Russia negotiated a ceasefire deal between the 2 South Caucasus nations in 2020, which was overseen by Russian troops.
However, the once-friendly relationship between Armenia and Russia has deteriorated dramatically in current months, with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan publicly questioning Moscow’s lack of consideration throughout its invasion of Ukraine. In one other indicator of Armenia’s distrust of Moscow, the nation staged a joint army coaching with the United States in September this yr.
Hinting on the betrayal, Armenian officers stated Tuesday that they had not been warned by Moscow of Azerbaijan’s plans after Baku stated it gave Russia advance discover.
Meanwhile, Russia has principally remained silent, at the same time as Armenia’s prime minister and ethnic Armenians within the area implored the Russian govt to strike one other truce deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In such a state of affairs, Azerbaijan’s present army offensive has additional fuelled the flames somewhat than repairing the schism between Russia and Armenia.
According to media experiences, days earlier than Tuesday’s (September 19) escalation, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed a journalist about escalating tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh that Armenia’s management had de facto acknowledged Azerbaijan’s sovereignty. “If Armenia itself recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, what do we have to do with it?” he stated.
How the West turned a blind eye in direction of the Armenian disaster
What has been taking place to the ethnic Armenians in Ngorno-Karabakh is a serious humanitarian disaster. An ethnic battle with a spiritual divide. The Muslim majority Turks on one facet and the Christian majority Armenians on the opposite. Two a lot bigger and extra highly effective nations coming collectively to crush a tiny neighbor. Thousands of individuals killed. Thousands of civilians compelled to flee their houses.
But why is the West, particularly the worldwide liberals who has all the time been steadfast in defending the human rights of even stone pelters and terrorists, by no means spoken about this? When Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine final yr, Western liberals went loopy lambasting Russia for reoccupying Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine, and getting concerned within the conflict militarily. The information went on the entrance pages of worldwide newspapers for months. However, 1000’s of ethnic Armenians leaving their houses behind? Their lives have turn out to be footnotes in international media.
