After Azerbaijan’s military victory in this secessionist region, thousands of Nagorno-Karabakh residents fled their region by car or on foot.
They take the path to exile. About 28,120 refugees have arrived in Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian authorities said on Tuesday, September 26. Nagorno-Karabakh is a breakaway territory inhabited primarily by Armenians and where Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive last week.
Azerbaijan opened the only road leading from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia on Sunday, four days after the separatists’ surrender and a ceasefire agreement that puts the separatist territory under the control of Baku.
An endless stream of vehicles raced to the last Azerbaijani checkpoint before Armenian territory on Tuesday. Some people passed by on foot. “They expelled us,” said a man who walked past the Azerbaijani soldiers. On Monday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev reiterated a promise that the rights of Armenians in the enclave would be “guaranteed.” Azerbaijan also promised to allow rebels who surrender their weapons to travel to Armenia.
France denounces “Russia’s complicity.”
France estimated on Tuesday that the “massive” exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh took place “with the complicity of Russia,” which stationed a peacekeeping force there in 2020. Paris recalled that it would hold “Azerbaijan fully responsible for the fate of the Armenian people.” “We will resist any challenge to Armenia’s territorial integrity,” Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna also warned the National Assembly.
The European Union will host high-level representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Brussels on Tuesday. Azerbaijan and Armenia as well as France and Germany are represented by their national security advisors. The following week, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and the Azerbaijani President will meet in Spain on October 5, with the participation of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Council President Charles Michael.