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The number of people who entered Armenia following the operation surpassed 19,000 and continued growing, a day after a massive fuel blast on the edge of the separatist stronghold Stepanakert killed at least 20 people.

Most of the victims were stocking up on fuel for the trip along a twisting mountain road that offers the historically disputed region its lone link to Armenia.

Yerevan has warned of possible “ethnic cleansing” by Azerbaijan — a close ally of Armenia’s arch-nemesis Turkey — after Baku launched a 24-hour blitz that forced the rebels to agree to disarm last Wednesday.

Predominantly Christian Armenia and overwhelmingly Muslim Azerbaijan have fought two deadly wars over the territory since the Soviet Union’s 1991 collapse.

The area is now populated by up to 120,000 ethnic Armenians but is internationally recognised as part Azerbaijan.

The bad blood between the sides runs deep and is aggravated by memories of alleged wartime massacres of civilians and human rights abuses.

Nagorno-Karabakh: the evolution of the conflict © Valentin RAKOVSKY, Laurence SAUBADU / AFP

An AFP team allowed to access the refugees’ route to Armenia, on a tour organised by the Azerbaijani government, saw that most of the people crossing the border were women with children and the elderly.

The few Armenian men in their 20s and 30s coming out Tuesday were forced to stare into a camera for identification at the last Azerbaijani border post.

“Azerbaijan intends to apply an amnesty to Armenian fighters who laid down their arms in Karabakh,” an Azerbaijani government source told AFP.

“But those who committed war crimes during the Karabakh wars must be handed over to us,” the source said.

‘We fought well’

Armenia said earlier Tuesday that more than 19,000 refugees had fled since the first group arrived in the country on Sunday.

AFP reporters on both sides of the border saw hundreds of cars piled high with belongings moving slowly along the jam-packed road.

Some of the vehicles crept along on flat tyres, while many other people simply walked past the last Azerbaijani checkpoint.

Azerbaijani forces have shelled but still not entered the separatist stronghold Stepanakert © Hasmik KHACHATRYAN / AFP

“They expelled us,” one man said as he walked past the Azerbaijani soldiers.

Yanik Zakaryan took part in last week’s fighting.

The 37-year-old, resting on the Armenian side of the border, said he was thankful for the Russian peacekeepers patrolling the region since Azerbaijan clawed back swathes of territory in a six-week war in 2020.

“We fought well, but at one point we found ourselves surrounded,” Zakaryan told AFP. “The Russians came to get us out.”

‘Horrific, painful burns’

The humanitarian drama was heightened by a blast late Monday that rocked a fuel depot thronged by crowds of refugees.

The separatist government on Tuesday said 13 bodies were found at the scene and seven more people had died of their injuries.

It said 290 people had been hospitalised and “dozens of patients remain in critical condition”.

An explosion at a fuel depot wounded more than 200 people, according to Armenian separatist authorities © Handout / Nagorno-Karabakh Human Rights Ombudsman/AFP

Azerbaijan allowed Red Cross teams to rush in ambulances to help treat the burn victims — and for Armenia to evacuate some by helicopter.

“This is an absolute tragedy for hundreds of people now suffering from horrific, painful burns,” International Committee of the Red Cross regional director Ariane Bauer said.

The victims’ treatment was being complicated by shortages of medication resulting from a nine-month blockade Azerbaijan had imposed to bring the region to heel.

Azerbaijan on Sunday turned on the electricity for Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh’s main city, as part of its broader “reintegration” drive.

Envoys from Baku and Yerevan were in Brussels on Tuesday to prepare the first meeting between their leaders since last week’s offensive, set for October 5.

The scale of the exodus prompted Armenian opposition leaders on Tuesday to call off six days of anti-government protests that have disrupted traffic in Yerevan, so that officials can focus on taking care of the refugees.

Stay or go?

The separatists said Tuesday that 208 people had died in last week’s fighting.

The sides have since held two rounds of closed-door talks mediated by Russia focused on putting the region under Baku’s control.

But Azerbaijan’s forces have still not entered Stepanakert or fully disarmed all the rebel fighters.

Many civilians in the region appeared to be tormented by debates — some of them spilling onto social media — on wether to stay or go.

Others argue that leaving now means that Armenians might never be able to return and lose the region for good.

Sveta Moussaylyan said this was the fourth time she had been forced to move because of the decades of strife and changes in control over tiny hamlets.

“I’m not that old, but I’ve already seen so much!” the 50-year-old said.

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© 2023 AFP

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YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. 19,000 forcibly displaced persons have entered Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh as of September 26, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan said at a press conference. 

2,500 of them, who applied to the government for accommodation, have been provided accommodation. The accommodation process of another 1,200 is in process.

The remaining refused accommodation from the government and said that they have a place to stay.

The government of Armenia is providing accommodation to everyone in need.

“Everyone arriving here must be sure that they will have the necessary living conditions,” the Deputy PM said.

Baku, Azerbaijan – After Azerbaijan’s one-day military operation in Karabakh last week, thousands of ethnic Armenians who dominated the region are fleeing, citing concerns about their rights and safety.

After declaring victory over the long-troubled mountainous area, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev promised to protect them, describing them as “our citizens” in one breath, as he decried their “criminal” separatist leaders in another.

But many of the enclave’s Armenian speakers have reservations about Baku’s stated aims for a seamless integration process.

Azerbaijan has rejected these concerns, saying it has committed to safeguarding the rights of all residents, ensured urgent humanitarian challenges are being addressed, and held talks with representatives of the ethnic Armenian community. Aliyev’s administration says peaceful integration is possible, as long as separatists disarm and disband.

But Armenia says 13,350 “forcibly displaced persons” have entered the country following last week’s offensive.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars for control of the region and an atmosphere of mutual hostility and distrust remains, despite the ceasefire which was agreed upon with the involvement of Russia, which has had peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh since the last conflict ended in 2020.

Azerbaijan was sharply condemned by Western powers for its September 19 attack, which it began after claiming six people died in two landmine accidents in the Azeri Khojavend district it blamed on separatists.

Armenia, which like Azerbaijan is a former Soviet nation, is in step with the international community as it officially recognises Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijan’s territory, but it had long called for its autonomy.

Yerevan has expressed disappointment in the Russian peacekeepers deployed to the area, saying they allowed Azerbaijan’s advance. Some Azerbaijanis too, are sceptical of Moscow’s role.

Azerbaijani political scientist Ilgar Valizadeh told Al Jazeera that Azerbaijan’s approach has shifted from making proposals to dictating terms.

In his view, Armenian speakers in Karabakh “must refrain from pursuing separatist tendencies going forward”.

“Any such instances will be met with immediate and stringent measures. People must adapt to this new reality, as citizens also bear responsibilities to the state,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani-majority territories in the 1990s, when ethnic Armenians took control of these areas after a war that followed the Soviet Union’s collapse.

Valizadeh said he expects the return of Azerbaijanis to areas within the region, along with the revival of their culture, music, TV channels and the construction of mosques.

He said Azerbaijan must ensure these changes do not disrupt the life of ethnic Armenians, and that Baku should not be perceived as exerting ideological or moral pressure.

Zaur Shiriyev, an analyst of the International Crisis Group for the South Caucasus region, pointed out that expecting integration to occur overnight is unrealistic.

“The situation at hand is complex, grappling with the aftermath of a one-day military operation. Even before addressing existing humanitarian needs, there’s the task of implementing ceasefire terms which require the disarmament of local forces and dismantling existing structures in the Armenian-populated Karabakh,” Shiriyev said.

He emphasised the importance of a transitional period to protect the interests of Armenians living in the region to prevent chaos.

Meanwhile, concern is growing among Azerbaijan’s government about the potential for international repercussions.

Armenian leaders have accused Azerbaijan of planning to “ethnically cleanse” the region.

Some international organisations have called for a temporary evacuation, with the option for residents to return once stability is restored.

“Azerbaijani authorities should take immediate steps to ensure the safety and humanitarian needs of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population, allowing humanitarian access without delay,” Human Rights Watch said. “Azerbaijan should allow civilians who wish to evacuate temporarily to Armenia, as well as people in urgent need of medical care who wish to leave, while respecting their right to return.”

According to Shiriyev at the International Crisis Group, local representatives of Armenian speakers and Azerbaijani officials must engage in dialogue to discuss the role of Azerbaijani law in the region.

“Discussions and agreements on how to preserve the rights of the local populace are crucial. Otherwise, a forced integration could be doomed to fail from the outset,” he said.

Like many Azerbaijanis, Parvana Vagifgizi, a resident of Baku, has been glued to the news but said she has doubts that ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani populations can live in harmony together.

After Azerbaijan’s Aliyev declared Baku had “restored sovereignty” to Nagorno-Karabakh, protests erupted in Yerevan against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, with Armenians accusing him of abandoning the cause.

“I don’t trust the other party, they, themselves have created this lack of trust. When I see the rallies against Pashinyan and hear the slogans and calls from ordinary Armenians, it’s very concerning. Not everyone feels this way, but many of them seem to have a very negative opinion about us. Until trust is re-established, I don’t hold much hope for coexistence and integration.”

Maya Guliyeva, who is originally from the Agdam district, which Azerbaijan liberated in 2020, said she endured forced displacement for nearly 30 years.

Her eldest son, Khalid, was killed during the conflict known as the second Karabakh war. Unlike Vagifgizi, she believes peace is possible.

“Some Armenians have been living there since Soviet times, and you can’t forcibly remove someone from their home. However, there are others who do not wish to live with us. The Azerbaijani government should handle their departure in accordance with all the proper procedures.

“Those who are willing to live alongside us should also be given opportunities. This hostility needs to end, it must be resolved, and successful integration should be our goal.”