For January 1st
Local authorities: Nagorno-Karabakh will be dissolved
Tens of thousands of people fled Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia
© Stepan Poghosyan / Photolure / AP / DPA
Tens of thousands of people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan’s military attack. Authorities are now announcing the dissolution of the unrecognized republic.
The government of the internationally unrecognized Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) after the defeat against Azerbaijan decided to dissolve all authorities under its authority by January 1, 2024. Armenian media reported this on Thursday, citing a document signed by Prime Minister Samvel Shakhramanyan. “Then the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) will also end its existence,” it continued.
Accordingly, the decision was made because of the difficult political and military situation. It aims to protect the security and lives of the predominantly Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh. The dissolution was part of the terms of surrender.
The region has been disputed between the ex-Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia for decades. In the 1990s, Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies on Azerbaijani territory but is predominantly inhabited by Armenians, was able to break away from Baku in a bloody civil war with the help of Yerevan. Azerbaijan, which is well-equipped with oil and gas revenues and is under authoritarian rule, achieved revenge in 2020 when it recaptured large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh
The ceasefire that was subsequently concluded and which was supposed to be monitored by Russian troops also proved to be fragile. After brief, intense attacks last week, Azerbaijan was finally able to force the surrender of the government in Nagorno-Karabakh and fully conquer the territory.
Escalation again
Attack on Nagorno-Karabakh: This is what the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is about
After the dissolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, the population must familiarize themselves with Azerbaijan’s laws on the integration of the region in order to then decide for themselves whether they want to return to Nagorno-Karabakh, Shakhramanyan said in the decree.
After the Azerbaijani victory, a mass exodus of Armenians began, fearing violence and persecution from the victors. 65,000 people have now fled to the motherland of Armenia. More forced resettlements are on the way. Satellite images show long traffic jams along the Lachin corridor, which is the only connection from the remote mountainous region to Armenia. The Azerbaijani military, which had previously blocked the corridor for months and thus provoked a humanitarian catastrophe in Nagorno-Karabakh, has opened the route for Armenians to leave the country.
Ex-head of government arrested
However, under strict control. The authorities in Baku arrested the former head of government of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ruben Vardanyan, at the border crossing on Wednesday. In Azerbaijan, the businessman who was once active in Russia is now accused of, among other things, financing terrorism, as Azerbaijani media reported on Thursday.
Experts expect that virtually all Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh will leave the region. According to official information, there were recently 120,000 people.