The self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh will cease to exist on January 1, 2024, separatists announce, after Azerbaijan’s offensive

The self-proclaimed separatist republic of Nagorno-Karabakh announced, Thursday, September 28, the dissolution “of all government institutions and organizations (…) as of January 1, 2024”, a week after a lightning offensive by Azerbaijan after 30 years of conflict. The decree of the leader of this enclave, Samvel Chakhramanian, establishes that as a result, “the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) ceases to exist.”

The Armenian separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh in Armenian) suffered a military defeat in twenty-four hours last week which forced them to capitulate to Azerbaijan, the country from which they seceded after the fall of the USSR , in 1991. This offensive has already pushed 65,000 refugees into an exodus towards Armenia, or more than half of the inhabitants of this separatist region, according to Yerevan.

The Armenian Prime Minister, for his part, accused Azerbaijan on Thursday of “ethnic cleansing” in Nagorno-Karabakh, estimating that all the Armenians of this secessionist region will have left it in “the next days”. Armenia also calledto the international community “to act”.