The commander of the victorious army watched on in triumph as his troops goose-stepped in columns through the central square of the former breakaway capital they had captured in a brazen attack just weeks before.
The commander, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, was taking a victory lap last week around the Nagorno-Karabakh city of Stepanakert, also known as Khankendi, a ghost town after its ethnic Armenian residents fled in fear as Azerbaijani troops captured the area.
“The enemy has knelt before us,” Mr. Aliyev, dressed in camouflage, said as he hailed his troops from a small podium.
Azerbaijan seized full control over Nagorno-Karabakh, including Stepanakert, in late September after defeating separatist forces, extending gains made in 2020 when a Russia-brokered cease-fire allowed it to take over most of the territory that Armenia had seized in a yearslong war in the 1990s.
Persons:
Ilham Aliyev, ” Mr, Aliyev
Locations:
Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Stepanakert, Russia, Armenia