According to official figures, around 120,000 Armenians lived in the enclave before the dissolution of the self-proclaimed separatist republic was announced earlier in the week.
Published
Update
Reading time :
1 minute
:quality(50)/2023/09/30/000-33ww7pt-6517de94d34ca564385425.jpg)
The flow of departures does not dry up. The number of Armenians who left the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh has exceeded 100,000, according to the spokesperson for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. According to official figures, around 120,000 Armenians lived in the enclave before the announcement of the spectacular dissolution of this self-proclaimed separatist republic earlier in the week.
“The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic ceases to exist”announced Thursday, by decree, the leader of this self-proclaimed republic, Samvel Shahramanyan. “All government institutions and organizations will be dissolved on January 1, 2024”, he continued. This predominantly Armenian region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. But it seceded and proclaimed its independence in 1991, at the end of the Soviet Union, with the support of Armenia. For more than three decades, it opposed Baku, notably during two wars, between 1988 and 1994 and then in the fall of 2020.
Anger brews in Armenia
A week ago, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive to regain control, pushing the separatists to capitulate. The population fears reprisals. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian accused Baku of carrying out a “ethnic cleansing”. He also criticizes Russia, responsible for a peacekeeping force in the territory, for its inaction.
In an Armenia overwhelmed by exiles, anger is now brewing. Opponents of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, accused of passivity in the face of Baku’s lightning victory, planned to organize a rally on Saturday after having muted their criticism in recent days.