Day: October 4, 2023

A wreck of a van was abandoned on the side of the road on the outskirts of the city of Stepanakert, retaken last week by Azeri troops, during an Azeri government organised media trip, in Azerbaijan’s controlled region of Nagorno-Karabakh, on Monday. — AFP photo

Armenian separatists from Nagorno-Karabakh said on Monday their officials would stay in the region after Azerbaijan’s offensive for rescue operations, as Yerevan reported ‘casualties’ in a border shoot out with Baku’s forces. 

Separatists says over 200 people were killed in fighting Azerbaijan late last month and that a further 170 died when a fuel depot exploded as scores of civilians fled Karabakh over fears of ethnic cleansing.

After three decades of Armenian control, the separatist authorities have agreed to disarm, dissolve their government and reintegrate with Azerbaijan in the wake of Baku’s one-day military operation in late September.

Almost all of the around 1,20,000 residents of the mountainous region fled after Baku’s offensive.

The separatist government however said leader Samvel Shahramanyan will stay in Karabakh’s main city of Stepanakert with a group of officials ‘until the search and rescue operations for the remainder of those killed and those missing’ were completed.

‘The government continues to focus on the issue of those citizens who want to move to the Republic of Armenia,’ the government added in a statement.

Separatist official Artak Beglaryan said ‘a few hundred’ Armenian representatives remained in Karabakh.

He said they included ‘officials, emergency service, volunteers, some persons with special needs.’

Separatist official Artak Beglaryan said ‘a few hundred’ Armenian representatives remained in Karabakh.

He said they included ‘officials, emergency service, volunteers, some persons with special needs.’

Yerevan reported ‘casualties’ on its side, saying Azerbaijani forces had fired on ‘a vehicle carrying food’ for its soldiers in a border region.

Armenia said the incident took place near the eastern village of Kut. Azerbaijan rejected the claim.

Yerevan has accused Azerbaijan of conducting a campaign of ‘ethnic cleansing’ to clear Karabakh of its Armenian population.

Baku has denied the claim and called on Armenian residents of the territory to stay and ‘re-integrate’ into Azerbaijan, saying their rights would be guaranteed. 

AFP journalists on Monday saw a convoy carrying water and communications workers that was allowed to enter Stepanakert.

The convoy was escorted by the Azerbaijani army.

They also saw a bus carrying officials who planned to open a ‘re-integration’ office in the city for any ethnic Armenians wishing to register with Azerbaijani authorities.

Azerbaijan is holding ‘re-integration’ talks with separatist leaders.

Several senior representatives of its former government and military command have been detained, including Ruben Vardanyan — a reported billionaire who headed the Nagorno-Karabakh government between November 2022 and February.

His four children released a statement on social media Monday demanding his release ‘from the illegal imprisonment on the territory of Azerbaijan’, saying they ‘feared for his life and health.’

Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev said criminal investigations had been initiated into war crimes committed by 300 separatist officials.

‘I urge those persons to surrender voluntarily,’ he told journalists on Sunday.