[ad_1]
Armenia and Azerbaijan signed an agreement, under the auspices of Russia, to end weeks of fierce fighting for control of Nagorno Karabakh, after a series of Azerbaijani victories in their fight to regain the disputed region.
Since the end of September, the bloodiest fighting in nearly 30 years has been fought between the Armenian separatists in Nagorno Karabakh and the Azerbaijani army.
The agreement, which came into effect at 21:00 GMT (18:00 Chilean) on Monday, was signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia is deploying nearly 2,000 peacekeepers to ensure compliance with the text in the region.
According to Putin, the belligerents maintain “the positions they occupy”, which revalidates the territories recovered by Azerbaijan.
The announcement led to demonstrations of joy in Azerbaijan and protests in Armenia, where crowds of protesters invaded the headquarters of the government and Parliament at night.
In a statement on Facebook, Pashinyan assured that signing the agreement was an “incredibly painful decision for me and for our people”, but that he had to take it after “analyzing the military situation in depth”, alluding to the Azeri advances on the ground. .
For his part, the President of Azerbaijan proclaimed the “capitulation” of his enemy, even though he has not reconquered all of Nagorno Karabakh.
“I said we would drive (Armenians) out of our land like dogs, and we did,” he said, treating the Armenian prime minister as a “coward” for not signing the statement in front of the cameras.
Turkey, which positioned itself in favor of Baku, praised the “important conquests” of Azerbaijan against Armenia in the enclave.
The first Iliushin 76 planes, with Russian peacekeeping forces, took off from Russia for Karabakh, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. In total, 1,960 soldiers, 90 tanks and 380 vehicles will be mobilized.
“Traitor”
According to Aliyev, Azerbaijan regains control of districts around Nagorno Karabakh, a kind of security cordon created by Armenians around the self-proclaimed republic for 30 years. Baku also conquered territories of the separatist province itself.
The sectors under Armenian control remain, and also a land corridor between these territories and Armenia, according to Putin.
Shortly after the announcement of the agreement, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Armenian government headquarters, shouting at Pashinyan “traitor” and “resignation”.
| French Media Agency
Hundreds of them entered the building, smashed windows and looted offices, especially the council of ministers room, a journalist from Agence France-Presse found. The same happened with the seat of Parliament.
On Tuesday morning, the Armenian police regained control of the two institutions.
A military defeat in Nagorno Karabakh could threaten the future of the Armenian prime minister, who came to power after a popular uprising in 2018. Before the announcement of the agreement, 17 opposition parties called for his resignation.
The patriarch of the Armenian Church called for restraint and avoiding violence and disturbances, while the authorities established controls at the entrance to Yerevan, according to a source interviewed by AFP, as the government would fear that the disgruntled fighters, come back to the front.
In contrast, in Azerbaijan the inhabitants were jubilant. Many took to the streets during the night and also in the morning, dancing and waving flags, shouting: “Karabakh is Azerbaijan!” or “We are back!”
“I am very happy, congratulations to our country. I hope that these lands remain ours until the end, ”Elnar Hajiyev told AFP.
Strategic achievement
The agreement came after Azerbaijani forces announced on Sunday the conquest of Shusha, a strategic city located 15 kilometers from the separatist capital, Stepanakert, located on a vital axis connecting the self-proclaimed republic with Armenia.
On Tuesday, Nagorno Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan admitted that Armenian forces had lost the city on Saturday.
“If the hostilities had continued, we would have lost everything in a few days”he explained on Facebook. “Morale in the army was disappointing. There were diseases, coronavirus, “he said, still assuring that” this is not the end. “
The conflict has left at least 1,300 dead since September 27, according to the available balances, very partial. For weeks Russia and other powers tried to achieve a ceasefire, but three attempts failed, all of them right after these humanitarian truces came into effect.
[ad_2]
