13,550 Flee Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia

Armenian media reports that the housing and hotels intended for displaced persons from Karabakh in Syunik and Vayots Dzor regions are almost at capacity. Since yesterday evening, people have been settled in the Gegharkunik region.

Despite the meetings held between the representatives of the de facto government of Karabakh and the government of Azerbaijan, the population of Karabakh is leaving their homes en masse and moving to Armenia. They believe that security guarantees are insufficient. Traffic jams have been created from Stephanakert, the capital of unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh, to the Armenian border and the roads are congested; some people are trying to cross into the territory of Armenia on foot.

Yesterday, September 25, at least 20 people were killed in an explosion at a fuel depot near the Askeran-Stepanakert connecting highway. According to information from the Armenian side, a total of 290 people with burns of various degrees have been transported to medical centers. This morning, a group of doctors left Armenia for Karabakh by helicopter, and patients in serious condition were transferred to Armenia

On September 19, Azerbaijan launched its so-called ‘’anti-terrorist operation,’’ as a result of which a number of settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of Azerbaijan. At least 200 people, including civilians, were killed in military operations conducted by Azerbaijan. More than 400 citizens were wounded. In total, 120 thousand people lived in Karabakh.

International law considers the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh part of Azerbaijan. The region is mainly populated by Ethnic Armenians. During the Soviet rule, the Karabakh region was transformed into an autonomous district. In 1988, the people of Karabakh wanted it to be transferred from Soviet Azerbaijan to Soviet Armenia. The conflict escalated into a full-scale war in the early 1990s. The hostilities continued until 1994, and eventually, the region came under the control of the local Armenians, who declared independence on the territory of Karabakh. The Republic of Karabakh was not recognized by any country, including Armenia. In the fall of 2020, the renewed military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in which 7,000 soldiers and 170 civilians were killed, ended with a cease-fire agreement mediated by Russia. Baku regained control over a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding territories. According to the agreement, Russian soldiers were deployed as peacekeepers in the Karabakh region.