Thousands of ethnic Armenians on Tuesday fled their homes in the breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, as Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, publicly blamed Russia for failing to ensure the country’s security.
The mass exodus comes after a lightning military operation by Azerbaijan last week that saw it take full control of the region that has endured more than three decades of conflict.
The 24-hour offensive ratcheted up fears of major unrest throughout the Caucasus — the border region between southeast Europe and west Asia.
The U.S. has called for Azerbaijan to maintain a cease-fire and “take concrete steps” to protect the rights of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The landlocked territory of Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan in 1991 and, with the support of Armenia, has fought two wars with Azerbaijan in the space of 30 years. The territory is currently home to an estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians.
Hundreds of cars, buses and open-top trucks were seen Tuesday snaking their way through the last Azerbaijani checkpoint to enter Armenia via the so-called Lachin Corridor, a mountain road that connects Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The first convoys of civilians leaving the region began on Sunday. As of Tuesday morning, at least 13,350 people were estimated to have entered Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the Armenian government.
It said it would provide accommodation to all those fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh who have no place to live.
Separately, at least 20 people were reported to have been killed on Monday in an explosion at a fuel depot in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to local Armenian authorities. The cause of the blast remains unclear.
Local human rights official Gegham Stepanyan said via X, formerly known as Twitter, that the number of people injured in the explosion exceeded 200.
‘Unacceptable insinuations’
Armenia, which has typically looked to Russia as a security guarantor, said Azerbaijan’s military operation last week was an attempt to cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh, a charge it denies ethnically.
Speaking on Sunday in an address to the nation, Armenia’s prime minister said the likelihood was rising that people would seek to flee the Nagorno-Karabakh region “as the only way to save their lives and identity,” Reuters reported.
“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,” Pashinyan said. He added that the government’s strategic partnership with Moscow was not enough to protect the country’s external security.
Source: CNBC