Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians dissolve their republic and continue their exodus

The Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh They announced this Thursday the dissolution of their separatist republic on January 1, a week after the military victory of Azerbaijanwhich forced more than half of the population to flee.

In a decree, Samvel Shajramanyanleader of the Armenian-majority enclave, announced the dissolution of the “all government institutions and organizations (…) from January 1, 2024”.

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This means that “the republic of Nagorno Karabakh”known to Armenians as Artsakh and founded more than three decades ago, “ceases to exist”.

From Yerevan, the Prime Minister of ArmeniaNikol Pashinyan said that according to his predictions “In the next few days there will be no Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh”after about 65,000, more than half the population, fled the enclave.

Pashinyan accused Azerbaijan of “ethnic cleansing” in this Caucasus territory, and urged the international community to “act”.

mass flight

The mountainous region is within the international borders of Azerbaijan. The Armenians separated when the Soviet Union disintegrated, and since then they have been in conflict with the power of Azerbaijan, with whom they fought two wars, one from 1988 to 1994 and the second in the autumn of 2020, in which they lost several territories.

Last week, Azerbaijan launched a lightning military offensive and forced the Armenians to capitulate within 24 hours, without the intervention of Russian peacekeepers, deployed here since the end of 2020.

Armenia, which supported that territory for decades, also did not intervene militarily this time, which paved the way for the effective reintegration of the region to Azerbaijan.

Since then, tens of thousands of Armenians have fled Azerbaijani troops, fearing repression, through the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with the republic of Armenia.

Armenian authorities reported, on Thursday, the arrival of more than 68 thousand displaced people from the enclave, that is, more than half of its population, officially 120 thousand inhabitants.

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The Armenian government has only managed to accommodate 2,850 people so far, portending a humanitarian crisis. “Armenia lacks resources and will not be able to achieve this without external help”political analyst Boris Navasardyan told AFP.

He Kremlinhowever, he indicated that he “takes note” of the announcement of the dissolution of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno Karabakh, but noted that he “sees no reason” for people to abandon the enclave.

For its part, the Armenian Parliament announced that at its plenary meeting on Tuesday it will vote on the ratification of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court (ICC)to the chagrin of Russia, which when Yerevan expressed its intention to join that court, classified the decision as “hostile”.

The Russian president is the target of an arrest warrant issued by that court for war crimes.

More than 100 missing

To increase the suffering in Nagorno Karabakh, more than 100 people are still missing after the explosion of a fuel tank taken by residents on Monday night. The drama caused at least 68 deaths and 290 injuries.

Azerbaijani authorities on Wednesday detained businessman Ruben Vardanyan, who led the enclave’s Armenian separatist government from November 2022 to February 2023, as he tried to reach Armenia.

He was accused of financing terrorism and creating an illegal armed organization, according to the US security service. State of Azerbaijanand placed in provisional detention for four months.

Referring to those who eventually decide to stay, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev promised that the rights of Armenians in the enclave will be “guaranteed”.

Last week’s offensive left 213 people dead on the Armenian side. Baku He said he lost 192 of his soldiers and one civilian.

Following the appeal for the protection of civilians launched Tuesday by the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkenher German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, asked Baku to allow international observers to enter Nagorno Karabakh.

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Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.