Why are 120,000 people about to move from Nagorno-Karabakh?
MOSCOW, Sept 24 (Reuters) -The 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave for Armenia as they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan and fear ethnic cleansing, the leadership of the breakaway region told Reuters on Sunday.
What is going on and what does it mean?
WHY ARE THEY LEAVING?
The Armenians of Karabakh, a territory internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but previously beyond Baku's control, were forced to declare a ceasefire on Sept. 20 after a lightning 24-hour military operation by the much larger Azerbaijani military.
"Our people do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan. Ninety-nine point nine percent prefer to leave our historic lands," David Babayan, an adviser to Samvel Shahramanyan, the president of the self-styled Republic of Artsakh, told Reuters.
"The fate of our poor people will go down in history as a disgrace and a shame for the Armenian people and for the whole civilised world," Babayan said.
Azerbaijan says it will guarantee their rights and integrate the region, but the Armenians say they fear repression - and ethnic cleansing. Azerbaijan has denied any such intentions.
As the Soviet Union crumbled, what is known as the First Karabakh War erupted (1988-1994) between Armenians and their Azerbaijan. About 30,000 people were killed and more than a million people displaced.
The Armenian leaders of Karabakh said in a statement that all those made homeless by the most recent Azerbaijani military operation and wanting to leave would be escorted to Armenia by Russian peacekeepers.
WHERE WILL THEY GO?
If 120,000 people go down the Lachin corridor to Armenia, the small South Caucasian country could face a humanitarian crisis.
ArmenianPrime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Friday that space had been allocated for at least 40,000 people.
"If proper conditions are not created for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to live in their homes and there are no effective protection mechanisms against ethnic cleansing, the likelihood is rising that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will see exile from their homeland as the only way to save their lives and identity," Pashinyan said on Sunday.
It was not immediately clear where 120,000 people could be housed in Armenia, whose population is just 2.8 million, ahead of winter.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had started registering people who were looking for unaccompanied children or who had lost contact with loved ones.
WHAT DOES AZERBAIJAN SAY?
For Azerbaijan, the exit of Armenians from Karabakh is a major victory that brings an apparent close to many years of war and squabbling over the region.
President Ilham Aliyev said his iron fist had consigned the idea of an independent ethnic Armenian Karabakh to history and that the region would be turned into a "paradise" as part of Azerbaijan.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE WIDER REGION?
A mass exodus could change the delicate balance of power in the South Caucasus region, a patchwork of ethnicities crisscrossed with oil and gas pipelines, where Russia, the United States, Turkey and Iran are jostling for influence.
Armenia'sPashinyan has said the crisis showed that his country could not rely on Russia to defend its interests, though Moscow has retorted that Armenia has few friends other than Russia.
Many Armenians blame Pashinyan, who lost a 2020 war to Azerbaijan over Karabakh, for losing Karabakh. Protests this week in the capital Yerevan called for his resignation.
Pashinyan said that unidentified forces were seeking to stoke a coup against him, and has accused Russian media of fighting an information war against him.
Russia has a military base in Armenia and regards itself as the prime security guarantor in the region.
This month, Armenia hosted a joint army exercise with the United States, which has criticised Azerbaijan's military operation. Turkey, a NATO member, supports Azerbaijan.
Karabakh's 120,000 Armenians will leave for Armenia - adviser to leader L1N3B001U
ANALYSIS-Questions about Russia's clout in ex-USSR grow after Karabakh crisis L8N3AY24C
FACTBOX-Why the volatile South Caucasus is important for oil and gas supplies L4N3AY2TR
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge
Editing by Bernadette Baum
Últimas notícias
Isenção de Responsabilidade: As entidades do XM Group proporcionam serviço de apenas-execução e acesso à nossa plataforma online de negociação, permitindo a visualização e/ou uso do conteúdo disponível no website ou através deste, o que não se destina a alterar ou a expandir o supracitado. Tal acesso e uso estão sempre sujeitos a: (i) Termos e Condições; (ii) Avisos de Risco; e (iii) Termos de Responsabilidade. Este, é desta forma, fornecido como informação generalizada. Particularmente, por favor esteja ciente que os conteúdos da nossa plataforma online de negociação não constituem solicitação ou oferta para iniciar qualquer transação nos mercados financeiros. Negociar em qualquer mercado financeiro envolve um nível de risco significativo de perda do capital.
Todo o material publicado na nossa plataforma de negociação online tem apenas objetivos educacionais/informativos e não contém — e não deve ser considerado conter — conselhos e recomendações financeiras, de negociação ou fiscalidade de investimentos, registo de preços de negociação, oferta e solicitação de transação em qualquer instrumento financeiro ou promoção financeira não solicitada direcionadas a si.
Qual conteúdo obtido por uma terceira parte, assim como o conteúdo preparado pela XM, tais como, opiniões, pesquisa, análises, preços, outra informação ou links para websites de terceiras partes contidos neste website são prestados "no estado em que se encontram", como um comentário de mercado generalizado e não constitui conselho de investimento. Na medida em que qualquer conteúdo é construído como pesquisa de investimento, deve considerar e aceitar que este não tem como objetivo e nem foi preparado de acordo com os requisitos legais concebidos para promover a independência da pesquisa de investimento, desta forma, deve ser considerado material de marketing sob as leis e regulações relevantes. Por favor, certifique-se que leu e compreendeu a nossa Notificação sobre Pesquisa de Investimento não-independente e o Aviso de Risco, relativos à informação supracitada, os quais podem ser acedidos aqui.
