Azerbaijani border guards on Tuesday, September 26, actively pursued individuals suspected of committing “war crimes” among the Armenian refugees who were fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh. This exodus followed Baku’s swift military takeover of the separatist region just last week.
Azerbaijani border guards on Tuesday sought out “war crime” suspects in a sea of Armenian refugees flooding out of Nagorno-Karabakh after Baku claimed control of the separatist statelet in a lightning offensive last week.
The number of people who entered Armenia along the so-called Lachin Corridor following the operation has now surpassed 19,000, and was growing one day after a massive fuel blast on the edge of the rebel stronghold of Stepanakert rose to 20.
Yerevan has warned of possible “ethnic cleansing” by Azerbaijan, a close ally of Armenia’s arch-nemesis Turkey, after Baku launched a 24-hour blitz that forced the rebels to agree to disarm last Wednesday.
The area is now populated by up to 120,000 ethnic Armenians but is internationally recognized as part Azerbaijan.
The few Armenian men in their 20s and 30s coming out Tuesday were forced to stare into a camera for identification at the last Azerbaijani border post.
Azerbaijan turned on the electricity of the rebel stronghold Stepanakert on Sunday, switching it to its own power grid as part of a “reintegration” drive.
Envoys from Baku and Yerevan were in Brussels on Tuesday to pave the way for the first meeting between their leaders since last week’s offensive on October 5.
The separatists said Tuesday that said 208 people had died in last week’s fighting.
The sides have since held two rounds of closed-door talks mediated by Russia focused on putting the region under Baku’s control.
But Azerbaijan’s forces have still not entered Stepanakert, occupying the strategic hights overlooking the rebel stronghold.
Many there are tormented by debates on whether to stay or go, which have also spilled out onto social media.
Some say that they cannot live under the authority of Azerbaijanis, while others argue that leaving now means that Armenians might never be able to return, losing the region for good.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
