Thousands of Armenians flee after Azerbaijan seizes disputed enclave

Thousands of ethnic Armenian refugees have left their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh after the disputed enclave was seized by Azerbaijan.

Following a military operation by Azerbaijan forces last week, the Armenian separatist forces in the territory quickly handed over weapons including:

• a T-72 tank and a few armoured vehicles;
• barrelled weapons including machine guns, grenade launchers, assault rifles; and
• rounds of munitions, mines and grenades.  

By Tuesday morning, at least 13,550 of the 120,000 ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh had fled into Armenia saying they feared ethnic cleansing. Hundreds of cars and buses, many with belongings tied to the roof, were pictured packed onto the road heading from Karabakh into Armenia, while at least 20 people were killed after an explosion at a petrol station where cars had queued up for fuel. 

America called on Azerbaijan to allow international aid and observers into the enclave. 

“We are calling on Azerbaijan to maintain the ceasefire and take concrete steps to protect the rights of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Samantha Power, the US aid chief, told Reuters in Yerevan. 

Nagorno-Karabakh, which is recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated by ethnic Armenians, has been at the centre of an on-off conflict between the two countries for three decades. 

• Violence has broken out three times since 1994. 
• Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Armenia has allied itself with Russia, while Azerbaijan has leaned on Turkey for support. 
• After war broke out in 2020 Russia brokered a peace agreement – but that did not help resolve the future of the  “Nagorno-Karabakh republic”.
• Russian peacekeepers remained in the enclave but did not stop Azerbaijan from closing the “Lachin corridor” that connects the region to Armenia or stop violence breaking out again. 
• The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), created by Russia and including Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, has also refused to support Armenia during the clashes on the border. 
• Earlier this year, Armenia refused to host CSTO drills and took part in common drills with the US instead.

“There is a lot of disappointment that Russia did not do enough,” said Alissa de Carbonnel of the International Crisis Group. But she said Russian peacekeepers would likely stay in the region until 2025 to protect the remaining ethnic Armenian population. How many ethnic Armenians feel safe under this agreement remains to be seen.