Over 100,000 individuals have evacuated the Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to Armenian officials. This departure signals that nearly the entire populace of the ethnic Armenian enclave has vacated since Azerbaijan took control of the region a week ago.
Although Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan, it has been governed by ethnic Armenians for the past thirty years, with support from Armenia and its ally, Russia. The recent Azerbaijani military operation resulted in the deaths of a minimum of 200 ethnic Armenians and multiple Azerbaijani soldiers. As a component of a ceasefire agreement, the separatists have consented to relinquish their weapons.
Nazeli Baghdasaryan, spokesperson for the Armenian Prime Minister, reported that the count of refugees arriving in Armenia over the recent week has exceeded 100,417. This is out of an estimated 120,000 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. Additionally, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) confirmed the large-scale exodus, emphasizing that many of the evacuees “are hungry, exhausted and in immediate need of assistance.”
Artak Beglaryan, an ex-separatist official from Armenia, revealed via social media that the remaining residents of Nagorno-Karabakh are predominantly officials, emergency workers, volunteers, and some individuals with special requirements.
Tragically, apart from the casualties from the military campaign, a substantial explosion at a fuel depot in Nagorno-Karabakh claimed the lives of at least 170 individuals on Monday. The blast’s cause remains uncertain.
The UN has disclosed its intentions to dispatch a delegation to Nagorno-Karabakh to evaluate the humanitarian circumstances after receiving the green light from Azerbaijan. However, Armenia’s ambassador-at-large, Edmon Marukyan, expressed concerns regarding the mission’s timing, while emphasizing the significance of UN officials witnessing firsthand the circumstances that ethnic Armenians endured.
