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YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenian leaders in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh on Thursday met with Azerbaijani officials to discuss the dissolution of their unrecognized state, in the wake of a lightning offensive that they say left them with no choice but to surrender.
Following a two-hour summit in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh on Thursday, the office of Azerbaijan’s president issued a statement saying that the meeting had been held “in a constructive and positive environment, discussions were held on the issues of reintegration of the Armenian population of Karabakh, restoration of infrastructure and organization of activities based on the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
At the same time, officials say they presented plans that would see the Armenian-held region accept being governed by Azerbaijan and urged “quick implementation” of agreed issues. They also pledged to provide urgently needed supplies of humanitarian aid and fuel amid warnings of severe shortages.
The surrender comes after Azerbaijan on Tuesday launched an offensive against the region, which is located inside Baku’s internationally recognized borders but has been controlled by its ethnic Armenian population since a war that followed the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
After less than 24 hours of fighting and heavy artillery bombardment by Azerbaijani forces this week, local officials said that they had been forced to sign a Moscow-brokered cease-fire to prevent further bloodshed.
However, even as the two sides met Thursday, reports emerged that the cease-fire had effectively collapsed. Four ethnic Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh told POLITICO they had heard loud explosions and gunfire close to the de facto capital, Stepanakert, and had been ordered to leave their homes for makeshift shelters.
“There’s gunfire, it’s very close, it sounds like they’re coming from the top of the city,” one local, granted anonymity for fear of potential reprisals, said. “It could be an Azeri celebration,” said another, “but it could be battles. Hearing it in the city.”
Artak Beglaryan, who served as an official in the Karabakh Armenian administration before resigning earlier this month along with its president, claimed that the cease-fire had been violated repeatedly, alleging Azerbaijani forces “killed … a civilian in the occupied Haterq village,” and were “shooting/moving to Stepanakert.” Azerbaijan’s defense ministry denied the reports as “disinformation.”
In a televised address overnight, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said “the illegal junta regime must fold its so-called flag … put it in its pocket, and leave our land. That is our sovereign right.”
At the same time, though, Aliyev said his government would guarantee the rights of the civilian population, including “educational rights, cultural rights, religious rights, and municipal electoral rights, because Azerbaijan is a free society.”
However, fears remain of potential ethnic cleansing, with reports that Russian peacekeepers had “evacuated” as many as 2,000 people from the enclave, sparking warnings of a large-scale forced displacement.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is facing severe criticism from his political opponents for not doing more to prevent the military defeat, said his government had no involvement in the development of the cease-fire agreement, adding only that Russian peacekeepers had by default “fully assumed responsibility” for the survival of the population. However, his office on Thursday said it had “made preparations” in case the need for a mass evacuation arose.
According to Karabakh Armenian officials, as of 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, there had been “at least 200 deaths and more than 400 wounded persons” as a result of the Azerbaijani offensive.
A humanitarian crisis is now unfolding with displaced people congregating in the center of Stepanakert and outside the Russian peacekeeping headquarters at a disused airfield on the city’s outskirts.
