By decree, Nagorno-Karabakh ‘will cease to exist’

Yerevan, Armenia: The self-proclaimed state of Nagorno-Karabakh’s long and bloody dream of independence will end at the end of the year after its leader announced the ethnic Armenian breakaway state in Azerbaijan will cease to exist.

The moves came after Azerbaijan carried out a lightning offensive last week to reclaim full control over the region and demanded that Armenian troops in the region disarm and the separatist government dissolve itself. Analysts believe Azerbaijan, which is backed by Turkey, may have received a green light from Russia which previously backed Armenia.

An ethnic Armenian from Nagorno-Karabakh sits in an old Soviet style car as she flees in Armenia’s Goris in Syunik region.Credit: AP

A decree signed by the region’s separatist President Samvel Shakhramanyan cited an agreement reached on September 20 to end the fighting under which Azerbaijan will allow the “free, voluntary and unhindered movement” of Nagorno-Karabakh residents to Armenia.

That touched off the mass exodus of ethnic Armenians from the mountainous region inside Azerbaijan on Sunday. By Thursday morning, more than 66,000 people — more than half of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population of 120,000 had fled to Armenia, and the influx continued with unabating intensity, according to Armenian officials.

The region is recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan but the ethnic Armenian enclave first claimed independence of the territory in 1991 and styled itself as the Republic of Artsakh.

Many are leaving the tiny enclave for the first time in 10 months. Late last year, Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin route and constructed a checkpoint at the border, imposing a blockade that created difficulties with supplies of food, energy and medicine.

A delegation of Australians of Armenian descent and current and former politicians visited a humanitarian mission to the border village of Goris on Wednesday to witness the growing humanitarian crisis.

Victorian state Liberal MP Kim Wells said on the way to the border town they saw families evacuating with what little they could, children crammed into cars, and parents desperate.

“Many of these people have nowhere to go. We are here witnessing this in real-time and international action is needed immediately,” he said.

Tim James, a NSW state MP, said the situation was a lesson for the international community.

“We are seeing some of the consequences of the worst of humanity. This is the tragic outcome of a totalitarian regime that the world has left unchecked,” he said.

After separatist fighting ended in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia. Then, during a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of the region in the south Caucasus Mountains along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed earlier.

a long traffic jam of vehicles along the Lachin corridor in the Nagorno-Karabakh region as thousands flee Azerbaijan’s takeover.Credit: Maxar Technologies

Nagorno-Karabakh was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory.

In December, Azerbaijan imposed a blockade of the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, alleging the Armenian government was using the road for mineral extraction and illicit weapons shipments to the region’s separatist forces.

Armenia alleged the closure denied basic food and fuel supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan rejected the accusation, arguing the region could receive supplies through the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam – a solution long resisted by Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, who called it a strategy for Azerbaijan to gain control of the region.

Former Australian human rights commissioner Tim Wilson, who is part of the trip, said the consequence of the silent genocide was now clear.

“The trauma of the aggression is evidenced by the ambulances who pick up victims of violence overtaking the cars laden with families and the remainder of their worldly possessions,” Wilson said.

“Governments need to pressure Azerbaijan to stop and let people live free from their aggression.”

Weakened by the blockade, with Armenia’s leadership distancing itself from the conflict, ethnic Armenian forces in the region agreed to lay down arms less than 24 hours after Azerbaijan began its offensive last week. Talks have begun between Baku and Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist authorities on “reintegrating” the region back into Azerbaijan.

A Russian peacekeepers’s military helicopter transports a wounded person from a field hospital in Nagorno-Karabakh to the Armenian side on Tuesday.Credit: Russian Defence/AP

Azerbaijani authorities have pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies.

Many residents, however, have decided to leave for Armenia, fearing reprisals. The only road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia quickly filled with cars, creating a massive traffic jam on the winding mountain road.

There have been no reports so far of residents burning down their houses before leaving — something that happened in 2020 when people fled territories taken over by Azerbaijan.

Michael Kolokossian, the executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia, said Australia’s Armenian community stood united in its mission to assist those in need during this humanitarian crisis.

“We call upon all Australians to join us in this vital effort and unequivocally condemn this ethnic cleansing.”

Azerbaijan’s border guard officers hold Ruben Vardanyan, centre. The former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government was detained after he tried to cross into Armenia on Wednesday.Credit: AP

On Thursday, Azerbaijani authorities charged Ruben Vardanyan, the former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government, with financing terrorism, creating illegal armed formations and illegally crossing a state border. Vardanyan, a billionaire banker who was arrested on Wednesday, faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted, according to Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti.

Azerbaijani officials said Vardanyan, who made his fortune in Russia, was detained as he was trying to enter Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh along with thousands of others and taken to Baku.

With agencies