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Today, Kalbajar was the first area to be transferred from the Armenians to the Azerbaijanis.
This region is the northernmost, between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.
The inauguration would be carried out as part of the ceasefire agreement between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. But now the Russian news agency Tass reports that Azerbaijan has postponed the deadline for Armenians by ten days.
CHAOS: This is how it was last night on a highway that goes from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia through the Kalbajar region.
Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky / AP
The reason is that there is chaos on the only road that goes from this area to Armenia.
Read more: Residents set fire to their own house in Nagorno-Karabakh
Traffic jams of kilometers
In Kalbajar, ethnic Armenians have been in control since the ceasefire in 1994. But depending on the ceasefire, Armenian forces and civilians who wish it will withdraw from this and several other areas in the coming weeks.
Azerbaijan TAKES CONTROL: Armenians in the Kalbajar region burn their houses before leaving to prevent Azerbaijanis from taking over. Kilometer-long traffic jams are reported on the road to Armenia.
Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky / AP
In recent days, many Armenians in Kalbajar packed their things and left the area, reports the Russian news agency RIA. Many have also burned their houses to prevent Azerbaijanis from taking them over.
There have been several kilometers of traffic jams on the narrow highway to Armenia.
– Now we are homeless, we do not know where to go or where to live. It’s difficult, Lusine Dadevusjan tells the AP news agency.
PROMISE: An icon is taken from a monastery in the area that will now be taken over by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev promises that Christian churches will be protected.
Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky / AP
Before the war between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists in the early 1990s, the Kalbajar region was mainly inhabited by Azerbaijanis who had to flee.
Therefore, the takeover of this area is an important symbol for Azerbaijan today.
The country’s authorities see the ceasefire agreement as a great victory.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev promises that Christian churches will be protected in the areas now occupied by Azerbaijan.
Read more: “Russia shows strength with a new agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh”
Russian forces instead
Following the signing of the ceasefire agreement, Russian peacekeepers began to advance towards Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding areas.
WATCHING: Russian peacekeepers guard the front lines between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Some 2,000 Russian soldiers will be in the area for at least five years.
Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky / AP
They will remain in the front line between Armenians and Azerbaijanis and will ensure that the ceasefire is not broken.
They will also control the only highway that is now open between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.
Initially, the 2,000 Russian soldiers will be in the region for five years, but there is a possibility of an extension.
VERY LOADED: the Armenians take everything they can when they leave the first zone taken by Azerbaijan.
Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky / AP
Russia has a military cooperation agreement with Armenia. It is also a Russian military base in the country. Among the Armenians now traveling from Kalbajar, there is disappointment that the Russians did not help the Armenians before.
– Why has Putin left us? Asks Garo Dadevusjan according to the AP news agency.
Also read: “Coup attempt in Armenia is avoided”
Unpopular agreement in Armenia
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pasjinjan has come under fire after the signing of the ceasefire. The opposition has organized demonstrations in the capital, Yerevan, demanding Pasjinjan’s resignation.
PROTESTS: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pasjinjan is heavily criticized for entering into a ceasefire with Azerbaijan.
Photo: TIGRAN MEHRABYAN / AFP
Many regard the military defeat and the transfer of large areas to Azerbaijan as a powerful humiliation.
But the prime minister says that the Azerbaijanis could have taken all of Nagorno-Karabakh if a ceasefire had not been reached.
Last night there were reports that the Armenian security police had prevented an assassination attempt in Pasjinjan. It is said that the people in the circle around the previous prime minister wanted to take power in Armenia.
In connection with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenian separatists took control of Nagorno-Karabakh. 30,000 people lost their lives in the war for the region, about a million were forced to flee, mainly Azerbaijanis. The area is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory.
