X
    Categories: 2023

Last bus leaves Nagorno-Karabakh, deadly clashes continue

DW – Deutsche Welle, Germany
Oct 2 2023

A UN mission said it was struck by the "sudden manner" more than 100,000 people left the separatist region over the past week. Meanwhile, Armenia called for on the European Union to sanction Azerbaijan.

The last bus carrying ethnic Armenians from the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan left on Monday, Gegham Stepanyan, the region's human rights ombudsman, said.

Azerbaijani forces seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh from separatists, primarily ethnic Armenians, triggering an exodus of more than 100,000 people in less than a week.

According to the Armenian government, 100,514 of the region's estimated 120,000 residents crossed into Armenia by Monday.

Armenia wants the European Union to sanction Azerbaijan for its military operation, the country's envoy to Brussels said on Monday.

Tigran Balayan said sanctions could include a price cap on Azerbaijani oil and gas and the suspension of EU talks on closer relations with Baku.

He has also urged the West to deliver "bold" security assistance to Armenia.

Armenia reported that an Azerbaijani attack killed a soldier in a border region, highlighting the ongoing instability.

Moscow said Russian peacekeepers and Azerbaijani forces also came under sniper fire on Monday.

"A joint Russian-Azerbaijani patrol was shot at by an unknown person using a sniper weapon. There were no casualties," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

A United Nations team that arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday said it was "struck by the sudden manner in which the local population fled their homes and the suffering that the experience must have caused them."

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, however, added the team did not see any damage to civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, and housing or to cultural and religious sites after the recent fighting.

Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of carrying out a campaign of "ethnic cleansing," a charge denied by Baku.

It had urged ethnic Armenians of the enclave to "reintegrate" into Azerbaijan.

lo/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)

https://www.dw.com/en/last-bus-leaves-nagorno-karabakh-deadly-clashes-continue/a-66984970

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