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    Emil Lazarian
  • 1 year ago
    • Categories: 2023

In pictures: Ethnic Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh

CNN
Sept 28 2023

Tens of thousands of people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia after Azerbaijan launched an offensive to take back full control of the breakaway region.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan's borders but for decades has operated autonomously with a de facto government of its own.

The short offensive ended in a Russia-brokered ceasefire in which separatist Armenian fighters agreed to surrender and lay down their arms. Azerbaijan says Karabakh Armenians can remain in the region if they accept Azerbaijani citizenship, but many people have preferred to leave their homes.

The landlocked mountainous region is home to 120,000 ethnic Armenians who make up the majority of the population.

Azerbaijan says it will guarantee the rights of those living in the region. But Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and international experts have repeatedly warned of the risk of ethnic cleansing.

The self-declared republic will cease to exist from next year after its president, Samvel Shahramanyan, signed a decree dissolving state institutions.

See all the photos at 

Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS