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“It is with infinite pride that I announce to my people the liberation of Agdam. Agdam is ours!” This was stated by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, after Armenia handed over to Azerbaijan the first of the ceded territories according to the agreement reached with Russian mediation, AP reported.
Aliyev said his armed forces seized control of the Agdam region, a territory ceded to Armenia under a ceasefire agreement that ended the latest escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Russian-mediated ceasefire provides for Armenia to hand over control of some of its territories outside Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. Agdam is the first of them that Yerevan broadcasts.
Aliyev also noted that the transfer of the territory was carried out “without a single shot or casualties” and called it a “great political success”, made possible by the “brilliant victory obtained on the battlefield.” Azerbaijani forces defeated the Armenians and Yerevan acknowledged that they accepted the deal because they were on the verge of “losing everything.” Nagorno-Karabakh is an internationally recognized territory as part of Azerbaijan.
Nagorno-Karabakh is in Azerbaijan, but it has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the separatist war ended in 1994. This war left not only Nagorno-Karabakh, but also an important adjacent territory in Armenian hands. However, the Armenian occupation came to an end. The latest agreement was hailed as a victory in Baku. Ethnic Armenians are leaving their homes to be handed over to Azerbaijan. Many houses were burned down by the Armenians.
Azerbaijan
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