Nagorno-Karabakh will 'cease to exist' as half of population flees
The separatist leader of Nagorno-Karabakh on Thursday ordered the dissolution of all state institutions by the end of the year, saying the separatist enclave will "cease to exist" from 1 January.
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In a decree that was issued as tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians fled in the wake of an assault by Azerbaijan, separatist leader Samvel Shakhramanyan said the state would be dissolved by 1 January, 2024.
Residents should "familiarise themselves with the conditions of reintegration" offered by Azerbaijan and make "an independent and individual decision" on whether to stay.
The order also said that an agreement struck with Azerbaijan would ensure the "free, voluntary and unhindered passage" for all those who wanted to leave.
The decision to dissolve the state was "based on the priority of ensuring the physical security and vital interests of the people of Artsakh", the Armenian name for the region, Shakhramanyan said.
Separatists disband
Last week, Nagorno-Karabakh separatists lay down their arms following a lightning military offensive by Azerbaijan.
More than 65,000 Armenians have since already fled the region for Armenia, Yerevan said Thursday, as the exodus continued from the breakaway enclave which Azerbaijan recaptured last week in a lighting offensive.
By Thursday morning, "65,036 forcefully displaced persons crossed into Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh," Armenian government spokeswoman, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, said in a statement.
Some 120,000 ethnic Armenians were estimated to be living in the territory before Baku's offensive.
"The state is providing suitable housing to all those who do not have a predetermined place of residence," she added.
Mass exodus
On Sunday, Azerbaijan reopened the sole road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, the Lachin corridor policed by Russian peacekeepers, four days after Armenian separatist forces agreed to lay down arms and disband their army.
The return of the Armenian-populated separatist enclave under the control of the central government in Baku has led to a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians.
Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan this Thursday accused Azerbaijan of carrying out a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" in Nagorno-Karabakh and said all Armenians will have fled in "the coming days".
He urged international action over the crisis.
Internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh, broke away from Baku three decades, and was at the centre of two wars between mostly Christian Armenia and predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have since fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, in which tens of thousands have died.
Yerevan's attempts to absorb the sea of homeless and hungry ethnic Armenians come with officials still trying to identify the whereabouts of more than 100 people reported missing in a fuel depot blast Monday that claimed 68 lives.
(with AFP)
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