09/24/2023 10:25 pm (current 09/24/2023 10:30 pm)
Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive on Tuesday ©APA/AFP
After the conquest of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in the South Caucasus, by Azerbaijan, the first refugees from the Armenian population were evacuated to the homeland of Armenia. On Sunday night, the Armenian government spoke on Facebook about 1,050 people who entered Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh. In the afternoon there were still talks of 377 people.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirsoyan called for a UN mission to the United Nations in New York to protect the tens of thousands of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. In Yerevan on Sunday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reaffirmed Armenia’s readiness to accept Karabakh Armenians.
After brief and violent attacks by the Azerbaijani military last week, defenders of the internationally unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic had to lay down their arms last week. Azerbaijan wants to reintegrate the area. The Armenians of Karabakh fear expulsion or revenge from authoritarian Azerbaijan after decades of conflict.
After the attacks, refugees from other regions of Nagorno-Karabakh flock to the capital Stepanakert. This has meant that food and medicine have become even more scarce than they already are after months of lockdown. “Families who were left homeless after the recent military operation and who want to leave the republic will be brought to Armenia,” the leadership in Stepanakert said on Sunday. This will happen in the region accompanied by Russian peacekeeping forces.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern about the situation of the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh. The US also supports Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, he wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter) after a phone call with Pashinyan. Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz also said in a conversation with Pashinyan that Karabakh Armenians must be protected.
The “truly devastating developments” in the region have shown that problems cannot be resolved “only through general statements and appeals” – said Armenian Foreign Minister Mirsoyan on Saturday in New York. A UN mission must be sent immediately to Nagorno-Karabakh to monitor the human rights, humanitarian and security situation.
An increasing flow of refugees is to be expected because Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing, Pashinyan said. The Armenian government is ready to accept the people of Karabakh if all attempts to protect their rights locally fail.
Pashinyan is scheduled to meet Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for talks on October 5 as part of the European Political Community (EPG) meeting in Granada, Spain. In preparation for this, representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Germany, France and the EU will meet in Brussels next Tuesday, as the Armenian news agency Armenpress reported on Sunday, citing the government.
Meanwhile, injured Armenian soldiers from Karabakh were taken to Armenia by ambulance. The convoy is being accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Armenian Ministry of Health in Yerevan said on Sunday. There were reports of 23 injuries. On Saturday, the ICRC helped collect injured soldiers from several regions of Karabakh in Stepanakert.
In a video message to the population, Pashinyan once again expressed his disappointment with the previous protective power, Russia. The Russian soldiers stationed there did not protect the Armenians of Karabakh, as agreed in 2020. Armenia must change its security policy, trust itself more and look for other partners.