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☆ Karabakh refugees in Armenia face uncertainty and poverty in exile
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Elada Sargsyan, 54, a refugee from Nagorno-Karbakh region, poses for a picture in a disused kindergarten, where she now lives temporarily along with dozens of other refugees from Karabakh, in the town of Masis, Armenia November 22, 2023. Born in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, Sargsyan fled her hometown in 1988, aged 19, as the Soviet Union began to fall apart. In 2020, they lost another home, when Azerbaijan - by now closely allied with Armenians' bête noire, Turkey - reconquered much of Karabakh including their village in a second war. Like many refugees, they have struggled to find work in Armenia. Alvina, a grandmother aged 65, has become the family’s main breadwinner, earning a little money selling homemade "jingalov hats" or "green bread", a flatbread stuffed with herbs that is a staple for Karabakh Armenians.

Persons: Elada Sargsyan, Irakli, Sargsyan, I’ve, they’ll, Masis, Alina Harutyunyan, Harutyunyan, I'd, Lilia Abrahamyan, Felix Light, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Soviet Union, Mount, Karabakh, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Masis, Armenia, Azerbaijan, MASIS, Baku, Soviet, Soviet Armenia, Aknaghbyur, Turkey, Armenia’s, Yerevan, Mount Ararat, Harutyunagomer, Ottoman Turks, Karabakh's, Vanadzor, Alvina

☆ Aliyev raises Azerbaijan's flag in former breakaway region of Karabakh
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday raised the national flag in the capital of the former breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after a lightning military operation last month brought the territory back under Azerbaijan's control. "President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has raised the national flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the city of Khankendi and delivered a speech," the presidential office said. In Soviet times is remained as part of the Azeri Soviet Republic but with autonomy. In 2020, after decades of skirmishes, Azerbaijan began a military operation which became the Second Karabakh War swiftly breaking through Armenian defences. Then in September of this year, Aliyev launched a military operation against the ethnic Armenian fighters of the region, defeating them.

Persons: Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Olaf Scholz, Annegret, Ilham Aliyev, Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Aliyev, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Karabakh, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan, Berlin, Germany, Nagorno, Karabakh, Republic of Azerbaijan, Khankendi, Armenia, Artsakh, South Caucasus, Russian, Azeri Soviet Republic, Soviet Union, Karabakh's, Turkey

☆ Three Former Nagorno-Karabakh Leaders Arrive in Armenia - News Agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - Three ex-leaders of Azerbaijan's formerly ethnic Armenian-controlled region of Nagorno-Karabakh arrived safely in Armenia on Tuesday, the Armenian state news agency Armenpress quoted one of them as saying. Almost all the 120,000 or so inhabitants have since fled to Armenia, fearing for their safety. But Azerbaijan has arrested Ruben Vardanyan, a former head of Karabakh's government, and Levon Mnatsakanyan, former commander of Nagorno-Karabakh's separatist army, at border checkpoints. Former state minister Artur Arutyunyan, ex-interior minister Karen Sarkisyan and the former head of the security service, Ararat Melkunyan, all entered Armenia on Tuesday, Arutyunyan said, according to Armenpress. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Alison Williams)

Persons: Armenpress, Ruben Vardanyan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, Artur Arutyunyan, Karen Sarkisyan, Arutyunyan, Kevin Liffey, Alison Williams Organizations: Reuters, Karabakh Locations: Azerbaijan's, Nagorno, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ararat Melkunyan

☆ Four Karabakh leaders held in Azerbaijan, three more reach Armenia - agencies
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

However, three other former leaders of Karabakh have arrived safely in Armenia, the Armenian state news agency Armenpress quoted one of the three as saying. Almost all the 120,000 or so inhabitants of Karabakh have since fled to Armenia, fearing for their safety. However, former state minister Artur Arutyunyan, ex-interior minister Karen Sarkisyan and the former head of Karabakh's security service, Ararat Melkunyan, all entered Armenia on Tuesday, Artur Arutyunyan said, according to Armenpress. Karabakh is viewed internationally as part of Azerbaijan but had been run as a breakaway ethnic Armenian statelet since the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Alison Williams and Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Aziz Karimov, Armenpress, Ruben Vardanyan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, Arkady Gukasyan, Bako, Araik, David Ishkhanyan, Artur Arutyunyan, Karen Sarkisyan, Kevin Liffey, Alison Williams, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Azerbaijan's State Security Service, Press Agency, Soviet Union, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Stepanakert, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan's, Baku, Armenia, Ararat Melkunyan, Armenpress, Soviet

☆ More than 100,000 refugees arrive in Armenia as exodus swells
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh region sit in a bus upon their arrival in the border village of Kornidzor, Armenia, September 29, 2023. "Many are hungry, exhausted and need immediate assistance," Filippo Grandi, head of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, said on social media late on Friday. Italy said Armenia had asked the European Union for temporary shelters and medical supplies to help it deal with the refugees. "This exodus is already unbearable physically because we have already spent 16 hours on this road... Reporting by Emma Farge, Angelo Amante and Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Irakli, Filippo Grandi, Siranush Sargsyan, Sargsyan, Emma Farge, Angelo Amante, Giles Elgood, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, UNHCR, European Union, Armenia, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, Italy, Azerbaijan, Republic of Artsakh, Soviet Union, Artsakh, Kalbajar

Armenian officials said that 84,770 people had left Nagorno-Karabakh by Friday morning out of a total population of around 120,000. In the 1990s, the Azerbaijani population was itself expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced within Azerbaijan. Some of those who fled the regional capital, Stepanakert, said they had no hope for the future. After six years of separatist fighting ended in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia. In December, Azerbaijan blockaded the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, accusing the Armenian government or using it for illicit weapons shipments to the region’s separatist forces.

Persons: Anahit Avanesyan, Nikol Pashinyan, ”, ” Laurence Broers, ” Broers, Samvel Shakhramanyan, “, Ani Abaghyan, Narine Karamyan, Ghazaryan, Ruben Vardanyan, David Babayan, ___ Emma Burrows Organizations: Armenian Health, Armenian, Ministry, Analysts, Associated Press, “, Emergency Service Locations: YEREVAN, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Caucasus, London, Baku, Stepanakert, Soviet Union, Armenian, Goris, Aghdam, Russia

[1/4] Residents in vehicles attempt to leave the city of Stepanakert following a military operation conducted by Azerbaijani armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inhabited by ethnic Armenians, September 24, 2023. Whatever the history and the lack of independent reports on events inside the isolated territory, several international legal experts believe the mass flight fits the legal definition of a war crime. For Azerbaijan, however, retaking control of Nagorno-Karabakh helps to redress the traumas of 1988-94. "It would almost assuredly result in the forced displacement of Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and the widespread commission of genocidal atrocities, reflecting those committed in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War of 2020 and subsequent hostilities," it said. "If the Armenians of Artsakh were to be displaced ... it would result in the genocidal destruction of a people, as the Artsakh Armenians would lose their distinct identity."

Persons: Vladimir, Hikmet Hajiyev, Ilham Aliyev, Priya Pillai, Melanie O'Brien, Pillai, O'Brien, Luis Moreno Ocampo, it's, Thomas de Waal, Anthony Deutsch, Stephanie van den Berg, Andrew Grey, David Lewis, Kevin Liffey Organizations: HAGUE, University of Minnesota, International Association of, Big, International Criminal Court, ICC, Lemkin Institute for Genocide, Thomson Locations: Stepanakert, Nagorno, Karabakh, Russian, Azerbaijan, Republic of Artsakh, Soviet Union, Armenia, Yerevan, Brussels, Baku, Peace, Artsakh, Nairobi

[1/3] Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev arrives for a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. "The stars aligned for certain reasons and President Aliyev saw the alignment," said Suleymanov, who previously worked in Aliyev's office. "President Aliyev is completing something that his father could not do because he ran out of time," said one of the sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to give comments to the media. Aliyev's father, then President Heydar Aliyev, was forced to agree to a ceasefire that cemented Armenia's victory. "President Aliyev has delivered the testament of his father," said Suleymanov, the ambassador to Britain.

Persons: Ilham Aliyev, Ilya Pitalev, Aliyev, Elin Suleymanov, Suleymanov, Hikmet Hajiyev, Hajiyev, Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Aliyev's, Heydar Aliyev, Ilham, Heydar, Vladimir Putin, Putin, David Babayan, Babayan, Andrew Osborn, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Economic Council, Sputnik, REUTERS, Reuters, Reuters Graphics, Kremlin, Russia, Karabakh, Baku, Armenian, European Commission, Armenia, West, Moscow, Karabakh Armenian, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Armenia, West, Britain, Baku, Caucasus, Iran, Turkey, Ukraine, Russian, Washington, Soviet, Stepanakert

☆ US to announce disaster response team for South Caucasus amid Karabakh crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday will announce it has deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team in the South Caucasus region to coordinate the U.S. humanitarian response to the crisis after Azerbaijan took back control of Nagorno-Karabakh last week. "The United States is deeply concerned about the safety of vulnerable populations in Nagorno-Karabakh and the more than 50,000 people who have fled to Armenia," Power said in the statement. Power traveled to Armenia and Azerbaijan this week following Azerbaijan's defeat of the breakaway region's fighters in a conflict dating from the Soviet era. The Armenians are not accepting Azerbaijan's promise to guarantee their rights as the region is integrated. "Azerbaijan must protect civilians, uphold its obligations to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all individuals in its country, and ensure its forces comply with international humanitarian law," Power said.

Persons: Samantha Power, Irakli, Power, Ilham Aliyev, Daphne Psaledakis, Peter Graff Organizations: Agency for International Development, USAID, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, U.S . Agency for International Development, Karabakh, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, United States, South Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Soviet, Washington, Soviet Union

Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh region ride in a truck upon their arrival at the border village of Kornidzor, Armenia, September 27, 2023. Earlier, Ethnic Armenian authorities in Karabakh said they were dissolving the breakaway statelet they had defended against Azerbaijan for three decades. Many of those leaving have said they fear persecution and ethnic cleansing at the hands of Azerbaijan. Suleymanov, who issued a call on social media appealing to ethnic Armenians to stay and be part of a multi-ethnic Azerbaijan, said he understood why many civilians were frightened, but that those who chose to stay would benefit from planned rebuilding and infrastructure projects. HISTORIC MONUMENTSKarabakh Armenians will enjoy the same rights and protections as other citizens of Azerbaijan, he said.

Persons: Irakli, there's, Elin Suleymanov, Suleymanov, we're, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Azerbaijan, Reuters, Baku, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Britain, Baku, Nakhchivan, Iran, Turkey

☆ More than half of Nagorno-Karabakh's ethnic Armenians have left
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh region ride in a truck upon their arrival at the border village of Kornidzor, Armenia, September 27, 2023. Azerbaijan says it is prepared to respect ethnic Armenian rights as it reabsorbs the region, but with a history burdened by folk memories of alleged genocide, ethnic cleansing, pogroms and at least two wars, the Armenians are fleeing in fear. In Soviet times, Nagorno-Karabakh enjoyed autonomy within the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. But as the Soviet Union crumbled the First Karabakh War erupted. About 30,000 people were killed between 1988 and 1994 and more than a million people displaced, more than half of them Azeris.

Persons: Aliyev Aliyev, David, Ruben Vardanyan, Nikol Pashinyan, Samantha Power, Ilham Aliyev, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, USAID, Soviet, KARABAKH, Wednesday, Armenian, West, U.S . Agency for International Development, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, Yerevan, Azerbaijan, South Caucasus, Soviet Union, Soviet, Russia, United States, Turkey, Iran, Ukraine, Moscow, Baku, Lachin

☆ Armenian priest fears for Karabakh's Christian heritage amid mass exodus
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive last week to retake the whole region, prompting a mass Armenian exodus. More than 50,000 people had crossed the border into Armenia by early Wednesday afternoon, nearly half of Karabakh's estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians. Prior to last week's offensive, the Karabakh Armenians had lived under an effective 10-month Azerbaijani blockade which had led to chronic shortages of food, fuel and medicines. ANCIENT CHRISTIAN LANDConflict in the region between Armenians and Azeris goes back more than a century. There are churches in Azerbaijan which the authorities say are Caucasian Albanian rather than Armenians, something Armenians strongly dispute.

Persons: David, Irakli, Priest, Father David, Gareth Jones, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Christianity, Thomson Locations: Goris, Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, KORNIDZOR, Azerbaijan, Republic of Artsakh, Soviet Union, Baku, Shusha, Moscow, Russian, Armenia's, Albania, Albanian, Turkey, Iran, Ottoman Turks

☆ USAID Chief to Raise Karabakh Humanitarian Situation in Azerbaijan Visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Daphne PsaledakisWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Biden administration officials arrived in Azerbaijan on Wednesday amid a humanitarian crisis and an exodus of tens of thousands of people after Azerbaijan took back control of Nagorno-Karabakh in a lightning offensive last week. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Samantha Power, joined by U.S. State Department Acting Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim, will raise the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the importance of Azerbaijan following through with its commitments in a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev. Power "will also address the prospects for a durable and dignified peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, based on mutual respect for each others’ territorial integrity and sovereignty," USAID said in a statement. The Armenians are not accepting Azerbaijan's promise to guarantee their rights as the region is integrated. The Nagorno-Karabakh leadership told Reuters the region's 120,000 Armenians did not want to live as part of Azerbaijan for fear of persecution and ethnic cleansing.

Persons: Daphne Psaledakis WASHINGTON, Samantha Power, Yuri Kim, Ilham Aliyev, Aliyev, Daphne Psaledakis, David Holmes Organizations: Biden, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, U.S . State, Power, Karabakh, Reuters Locations: Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Europe, Armenia, Washington, Soviet Union

☆ Azerbaijan arrests former top Karabakh minister as exodus tops 50,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic Armenians who broke away in the 1990s in the first of two wars there since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Karabakh authorities said more than 50,000 had left so far, out of an estimated ethnic Armenian population of 120,000. Azerbaijan rejects Armenian accusations of ethnic cleansing, but images of tens of thousands of desperate people on the move have provoked widespread international alarm. Germany added its voice to U.S. calls for Azerbaijan to allow international observers into Karabakh. Karabakh authorities said they lost at least 200 people in Azerbaijan's offensive last week.

Persons: Ruben Vardanyan, Veronika Zonabend, Morris Tidball, Binz, Annalena Baerbock, Matthew Miller, Washington, Irakli, Ilham Aliyev, Zonabend, Miller, Vera Petrosyan, Daphne Psaledakis, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones, Philippa Fletcher, Alison Williams Organizations: Twitter, U.S . State Department, REUTERS, Reuters, Local, Russian, Russia, State, Washington, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan Karabakh, Germany, GORIS, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Baku, Soviet Union, Kornidzor, Russia, Ukraine, Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, United States, Washington

☆ Exclusive: Senior US officials traveling to Armenia as Karabakh's Armenians start to leave
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh region arrive at a temporary accommodation centre in the town of Goris, Armenia, September 25, 2023. Power will meet with senior government officials and will "affirm U.S. support for Armenia’s democracy, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and commitment to address humanitarian needs stemming from Nagorno-Karabakh," the official said. Thousands of Karabakh Armenians have been left without food. In 2020, after decades of skirmishes, Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, won a 44-day Second Karabakh War, recapturing territory in and around Karabakh. That war ended with a Russian-brokered peace deal that Armenians accuse Moscow of failing to guarantee.

Persons: Irakli, Samantha Power, Yuri Kim, Nikol Pashinyan, Daphne Psaledakis, Donna Bryson, Michael Perry Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Biden, U.S, Reuters, U.S . Agency for International Development, . State, USAID, Karabakh, International Committee, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Goris, Armenia, Soviet, Europe, United States, Azerbaijan, Russia, Soviet Union, Turkey, Russian, Moscow

☆ In pictures: Karabakh's Armenians start to leave en masse for Armenia
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[2/17]A refugee from Nagorno-Karabakh region is carried out of a vehicle upon arrival at a temporary accommodation centre in the town of Goris, Armenia, September 25. REUTERS/Irakli GedenidzeGORIS, ARMENIA

Organizations: REUTERS Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Goris, Armenia, GORIS, ARMENIA

☆ Hollywood deal, Kosovo monastery siege and ethnic Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Hollywood writers reach a preliminary labor agreement with major studios. Thousands of ethnic Armenians flee the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan takes control. In Kosovo, Serb gunmen on the run after deadly monastery siege. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. Further ReadingStriking Hollywood writers reach tentative deal with studiosNagorno-Karabakh's Armenians start to leave en masse for ArmeniaSerb gunmen battle police in Kosovo monastery siege; four deadUS government shutdown: What is it and who would be affected?

Organizations: Apple, Google, Reuters, Thomson, Striking Hollywood, Armenia Serb Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, masse

☆ Ethnic Armenians will leave Nagorno-Karabakh - adviser to their leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave for Armenia as they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan and fear ethnic cleansing, the leadership of the breakaway region told Reuters on Sunday. Azerbaijan says it will guarantee their rights and integrate the region but the leadership of the Armenians in Karabakh told Reuters that they would leave. He said it was unclear when the Karabakh Armenians would move down the Lachin corridor which links the territory to Armenia, where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has faced calls to resign for failing to save Karabakh. The process of giving up the weapons of the ethnic Armenian fighters is underway, Babayan said. Azerbaijan, which is mainly Muslim, has said the Armenians, who are Christian, can leave if they want.

Persons: David Babayan, Samvel Shahramanyan, Nikol Pashinyan, Babayan, Pashinyan Organizations: Reuters, Sunday, Karabakh, Soviets, International Committee Locations: Stepanakert, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Armenia, Soviet Union, Republic of Artsakh, Russians, Ottomans, South Caucasus, Russia, United States, Turkey, Iran

☆ The Nagorno-Karabakh crisis raises serious questions for Russia — and the West
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The contested mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it has been under de-facto Armenian control since the early 1990s. It follows an abrupt 24-hour offensive by Azerbaijani forces on Tuesday that swiftly broke through ethnic Armenian lines, seized strategic positions and resulted in the surrender of separatist forces. Armenia, which has typically looked to Russia as a security guarantor, said Azerbaijan's military operation was an attempt to ethnically cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh, a charge Baku has denied. Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh accused Azerbaijan of violating a cease-fire agreement, with Reuters reporting gunfire could be heard in the region's capital on Thursday. Armenians attend a rally in Yerevan on September 21, 2023, following Azerbaijani military operations against Armenian separatist forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Persons: Karen Minasyan, Ilham Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan, Japaridze, Pashinyan, Karabakh, Kusa, Pashynian's Organizations: Government, Armenian, Afp, Getty, CNBC, Eurasia Group, Kremlin, Collective Security, Organization, NATO, Anadolu Agency, Ukrainian Institute, Russian Embassy Locations: Yerevan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus, South Caucasus, Russia, Baku, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, London

Karabakh Armenian authorities accused Azerbaijan of violating a ceasefire agreed on Wednesday after a lightning Azerbaijani offensive forced the separatists to agree to disarm. When asked about giving up weapons, Babayan said his people could not be left to die, so would security guarantees first. Talks took place on Thursday in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh between Azerbaijan and representatives of the Republic of Artsakh, as the Karabakh Armenians call themselves. He said the region's ethnic Armenians would enjoy full educational, cultural and religious rights. An aide to Aliyev said Baku had given Yerevan a new draft peace agreement, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

Persons: Pashinyan, GORIS, David Babayan, Samvel Shahramanyan, Babayan, Ilham Aliyev, Melkumyan, Stringer, Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan, Khankendi, Gayane Sargsyan, Felix Light, Guy Faulconbridge, Nailia Bagirova, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Azerbaijan reclaims, Protesters, Reuters, National Assembly of, REUTERS, Karabakh, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh's, Azerbaijani, Yevlakh, Republic of Artsakh, Artsakh, Soviet Union, AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA, Caucasus, Baku, Yerevan, Russia, Moscow, Stepanakert, Goris

☆ Turkey says it played no direct role in Karabakh operation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Azerbaijan mounted a lightning offensive to retake control of its breakaway Karabakh region on Tuesday. On Wednesday, NATO ally Turkey publicly threw its support behind Baku's "steps to preserve its territorial integrity" but it had been unclear whether Ankara played any active role in the 24-hour military operation. "It was Azerbaijan army's own operation, there was no direct involvement of Turkey," a Turkish defence ministry official told reporters on Thursday. The move was condemned by Azerbaijan, Turkey and Ukraine. In a phone call with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev late on Wednesday, Erdogan reiterated Turkey's "heartfelt support" of Azerbaijan, his office said.

Persons: Siranush Sargsyan, Tayyip Erdogan, Baku's, Nikol, Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Erdogan, Turkey's, Huseyin Hayatsever, Gareth Jones, Alex Richardson Organizations: Rights, NATO, United Nations General Assembly, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Stepanakert, Nagorno, Karabakh, Rights ANKARA, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkish, Ankara, Azerbaijani, Russian, Baku, Yerevan, New York, Ukraine

☆ Armenians wait forlornly for relatives at border with Azerbaijan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] People gather near the Armenian border guard post on the road leading from Armenia to Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia September 21, 2023. Azerbaijan this week launched a lightning offensive to retake Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region where ethnic Armenians had enjoyed de facto independence since a war in the early 1990s. The men at the hillside border checkpoint were waiting in the hope of greeting relatives escaping from Karabakh. In three hours spent at the checkpoint near the Armenian village of Kornidzor, Reuters reporters did not witness any reunions. They spent the time drinking coffee, arguing with Armenian border guards who refused to allow them to go any further, and voicing fears for the fate of their relatives.

Persons: Irakli, Armen Petrosyan, Petrosyan, Hayk, Oksana, Felix Light, Mark Trevelyan, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Armenia, Karabakh, Kornidzor, KORNIDZOR, Azerbaijan, Sisian, Ottoman, Goris

☆ Armenian protesters demand Pashinyan ouster after Karabakh surrender
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The protesters gathered on Republic Square in the heart of Yerevan. Many demanded the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who presided over defeat to Azerbaijan in a 2020 war, and now the final collapse of Karabakh's Armenian authorities. Some of those in Republic Square yelled "Artsakh! Others threw bottles and stones at the prime minister's office on Republic Square. Azerbaijan said that it wanted a "smooth reintegration process" for Karabakh's Armenians, and rejected Armenian accusations that it wanted to "ethnically cleanse" the region.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, we've, Pashinyan, Irakli, Reuters Graphics Samvel Sargsyan, Sargsyan, Khachatur Kobelyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Alex Richardson Organizations: Karabakh, . Riot, Protesters, REUTERS, Reuters Graphics Samvel, Theatre, Cinema University, Thomson Locations: YEREVAN, Karabkh, Azerbaijan, Yerevan, Karabakh, Nagorno, Armenia, Artsakh, Karabakh's, USA, Russia, Ottoman

Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh by Armenians, is a mountainous region within Azerbaijan that is internationally recognised as part of that country. But its 120,000 inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians who broke away during a first war in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In a 44-day war in 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured seven surrounding districts and took back about a third of Nagorno-Karabakh itself. Azerbaijan has been tightening pressure on Nagorno-Karabakh for months, effectively blocking its lifeline road connection with Armenia - the "Lachin corridor". Such a deal would put Azerbaijan close to achieving all its objectives, while any further fighting could increase the risk of a bigger war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Persons: Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan's, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Russian Defence Ministry, Reuters, Russian, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Thomson Locations: Askeran, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Armenia, KARABAKH, Artsakh, Soviet Union, AZERBAIJAN, Moscow, Ukraine, Aghdam, Turkey, Russia, Iran, South Caucasus, Baku, United States, EU

☆ Azerbaijani leader sends Karabakh Armenians and Armenia message of cooperation and peace
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Nailia Bagirova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 20 (Reuters) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday offered the ethnic Armenians of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region and also neighbouring Armenia prospects of cooperation, reconciliation and joint development after his forces took control of the enclave. He said Azerbaijan had nothing against Karabakh's Armenian people - "they are our citizens" - but only against their "criminal" separatist leadership. A separatist Armenian human rights official said on Wednesday that at least 200 people had been killed and more than 400 wounded in the fighting. The Kremlin denied this, saying Russia was "not going anywhere" and would remain the guarantor of security. Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Kevin Liffey; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev, Mikhail Metzel, Aliyev, Azerbaijan's, Nailia Bagirova, Kevin Liffey, Grant McCool Organizations: Armenia's, Eurasian, Sputnik, Wednesday, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Karabakh, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Baku, Yerevan, Nagorno, Soviet Union, Stepanakert, Karabakh's, South Caucasus, Georgia, Armenian, Ukraine

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