(Baku) First talks between Azerbaijan and the Armenian separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh began Thursday after a lightning military victory for Baku to regain control of this secessionist territory of which the authorities accuse the Azerbaijanis of having violated the ceasefire -fire.
In images broadcast by the official Azerbaijani press agency Azertag, six men in suits are around a table to negotiate a reintegration of this territory, mainly populated by Armenians, into Azerbaijan.
Among them, a representative of Nagorno-Karabakh is visible, David Melkoumian.
A column of black 4X4s had previously arrived at the scene of the discussions, in Yevlakh, 295 km west of the Azerbaijani capital, followed by a vehicle on which a Russian flag flies and bearing Russian registration plates. Russian army.
Since the end of 2020 and a previous war, Russia has had a peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday called on his country to take “the path” to peace, even if it is “not easy”.
As the talks began in Yevlakh, shots, the origin of which was not immediately known, were heard in Stepanakert, the capital of the Armenian separatists, by an AFP correspondent present on site.
“The Azerbaijani armed forces used various weapons from the surroundings of Stepanakert, violating the agreement on the ceasefire” which came into force on Wednesday, the secessionists accused.
Allegations immediately qualified as “disinformation” by Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov.
In Geneva, Armenia at the same time described the Azerbaijani military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh as a “crime against humanity”, assuring before the UN Human Rights Council that “ethnic cleansing » was “in progress”.
“Peaceful reintegration”
According to the latest assessment of the Armenian separatists, the Azerbaijani offensive which ended in 24 hours at midday on Wednesday left at least 200 dead and 400 injured. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that two Russian soldiers were killed on Wednesday when their car was fired upon.
Cornered by the firepower of Azerbaijani units and Armenia’s decision not to come to their aid, the separatists agreed to surrender all their weapons and participate in initial talks on “reintegration” into Azerbaijan of Nagorno-Karabakh.
At the same time, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council will take place in the afternoon.
On the eve of the negotiations, Hikmet Hajiev, an advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, assured that Azerbaijan had “the objective of the peaceful reintegration of the Armenians of Karabakh” and a “normalization” of relations with Armenia.
He promised “safe passage” to Armenian separatist forces, ensuring that “all actions” carried out “on the ground” were coordinated with the Russian peacekeeping contingent.
Twenty-four hours after the launch of its military offensive, Azerbaijan has “reestablished its sovereignty” over Nagorno-Karabakh, Mr. Aliev said on Wednesday.
This Azerbaijani victory fuels fears of a massive departure of the 120,000 inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh, while images broadcast by local media showed a crowd gathered at Stepanakert airport, controlled by the Russians.
More than 10,000 people, including women, children and the elderly, have already been evacuated from the enclave, a separatist official said Wednesday evening.
Russian peacekeepers said Thursday morning they had taken care of around 5,000 evacuees.
Pashinian under pressure, Aliev strengthened
The capitulation of the separatists increased pressure on the Armenian prime minister, criticized for not having sent aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The day after clashes in front of the government headquarters, thousands of demonstrators, supporters of the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists, gathered again on Wednesday evening and incidents broke out with the police. Nikol Pashinian “must leave, he cannot lead the country,” declared one of them, Sarguis Hayats, a twenty-year-old musician.
Using the oil windfall to strengthen his army, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev is on the verge of succeeding in his challenge of regaining control of this region mainly populated by Armenians, which was the scene of two wars between the former republics. Soviet regions of the Caucasus that are Azerbaijan and Armenia: one from 1988 to 1994 (30,000 deaths) and the other in the fall of 2020 (6,500 deaths).
This victory “will certainly increase the popularity of Ilham Aliev”, in power for twenty years, underlined Shahin Hajiev, an independent Azerbaijani expert.
And this while the Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed Ankara’s “unreserved support” for Baku on Thursday during a telephone interview with his Azerbaijani counterpart.
Russia as mediator
Totally absorbed by the war in Ukraine for more than a year and a half, Russia played a mediating role in the signing of this ceasefire, said the separatists and Baku. But Moscow, which judges that the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh is an “internal affair” of Azerbaijan, has so far said nothing about the agreement.
On Wednesday evening, Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, declared that negotiations on the future of this enclave would take place with “the mediation” of Russian forces deployed on the ground.
Fearing that the resumption of hostilities would destabilize the entire Caucasus, the West and Russia called on Tuesday for an immediate end to the fighting.
The Azerbaijani authorities launched their “anti-terrorist” operation that day following the death of six people in the explosion of mines planted, they claimed, by Armenian “saboteurs”.