Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh arrive in Armenia
Armenia says 1,050 folks have crossed into the nation from Nagorno-Karabakh, days after the bulk ethnic Armenian enclave was seized by Azerbaijan.
They entered after the federal government in Yerevan introduced plans to maneuver these made homeless by the preventing.
Azerbaijan retook the realm inhabited by some 120,000 ethnic Armenians early this week and says it needs to re-integrate them as “equal citizens”.
But Armenia has warned they might face ethnic cleansing.
“As of 22:00 local time (18:00 GMT), 1,050 people entered Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh,” the Armenian authorities stated in an announcement on Sunday.
It stated lots of them had already been supplied with government-funded housing.
The Armenian separatist forces within the territory agreed to disarm on Wednesday, following a lightning Azerbaijani army offensive.
Armenia says it’s going to assist anybody leaving Nagorno-Karabakh – however has repeatedly stated a mass exodus can be the fault of the Azerbaijani authorities.
In a TV handle on Sunday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated many contained in the enclave would “see expulsion from the homeland as the only way out” until Azerbaijan offered “real living conditions” and “effective mechanisms of protection against ethnic cleansing”.
He repeated that his authorities was ready to “lovingly welcome our brothers and sisters”.
But David Babayan, an adviser to Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian chief Samvel Shahramanyan, instructed Reuters he anticipated nearly everybody to leave.
His folks “do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan – 99.9% prefer to leave our historic lands”, he stated.
“The fate of our poor people will go down in history as a disgrace and a shame for the Armenian people and for the whole civilised world,” he instructed Reuters.
“Those responsible for our fate will one day have to answer before God for their sins.”
Watch: The BBC’s Olga Ivshina will get uncommon entry inside Nagorno-Karabakh, underneath the shut watch of a army escort
Nagorno-Karabakh – a mountainous area within the South Caucasus – is recognised internationally as a part of Azerbaijan, however has been managed by ethnic Armenians for 3 a long time.
The enclave has been supported by Armenia – but in addition by their ally, Russia, which has had tons of of troopers there for years.
Five Russian peacekeepers had been killed – alongside no less than 200 ethnic Armenians and dozens of Azerbaijani troopers – as Azerbaijan’s military swept in final week.
On Sunday, Azerbaijan’s defence ministry stated it had confiscated extra army tools together with numerous rockets, artillery shells, mines and ammunition.
Despite Azerbaijan’s public reassurances, there are ongoing fears in regards to the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, with just one assist supply of 70 tonnes of meals having been allowed by means of since separatists accepted a ceasefire and agreed to disarm.
Ethnic Armenian leaders say hundreds are with out meals or shelter and sleeping in basements, faculty buildings or outdoors.
In his TV handle, the Armenian prime minister additionally hinted that Russia had not come to its defence within the battle.
His feedback echoed criticism that Moscow had successfully handed Nagorno-Karabakh over to Azerbaijan – a cost Russia’s international minister has described as “ludicrous”.
“Yerevan and Baku actually did settle the situation,” Sergei Lavrov instructed the UN General Assembly. “Time has come for mutual trust-building.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Nagorno-Karabakh map
