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The Azerbaijani army announced on Friday morning that it had entered the Aghdam district, on the border with Nagorno-Karabakh, the first of three restitutions under an agreement to end hostilities under the auspices of Russia, which ended a six-week war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Agerpres, citing France Presse.
“Units of the Azerbaijani army have entered the Aghdam district,” the defense minister said of the territory, which has been controlled by Armenian separatists for nearly 30 years and was forced to give in after being defeated in a bloody conflict this fall. . .
A war in the 1990s between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has left tens of thousands dead, as well as hundreds of thousands displaced, especially the Azerbaijani population of Aghdam, according to AFP.
“According to the trilateral declaration (ending hostilities) signed by the President of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Russia, the Azerbaijani army units entered the Aghdam region on November 20,” the ministry said. of Defense of Azerbaijan in a short statement.
This Nov. 9 deal, brokered by Vladimir Putin, marks Armenian defeat after six weeks of fighting this fall that likely killed thousands. Although the self-proclaimed republic of Karabakh is losing many territories, it sees its survival assured, AFP notes.
In addition to the conquests of Nagorno-Karabakh, especially Shusha, the province’s second city, Baku is regaining control of the seven Azerbaijani districts that have been the security “glacis” of the separatists.
Four were returned with weapons and three will be returned: Aghdam on Friday, Kalbajar on November 25 and China on December 1.
Some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have also been deployed to ensure that the belligerents comply with the ceasefire.
At the scene, local Armenians did not wait for the Azerbaijani forces to flee.
In the village of Nor Maragha in the district of Aghdam – Kyzyl Kengerli – AFP has seen in recent days residents slaughter their livestock, gather fruits and move their belongings.
In the village of Nor Karmiravan (Papravend for Azerbaijan), residents loaded furniture onto trailers. Some set their houses on fire to leave only ruins for the Azeris.
In Aghdam, a nearly 30-year-old ghost town where separatists had a base, Armenian soldiers destroyed their bulldozers on Thursday and set the local headquarters on fire before leaving the area.
At the end of the war in the 1990s, the reverse exodus occurred when the entire Azerbaijani population fled these regions. Armenia then encouraged its repopulation by Armenians.
The ceasefire agreement marks a humiliating defeat for Armenia, notes AFP. He is denounced by the opposition, which accuses Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of a “traitor” and demands, so far without success, his resignation. The government, in turn, denounced a plot to assassinate the head of government.
However, the street demonstrations were limited to several thousand people.
In turn, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, appeared this week in triumph, dressed as a military man, with his wife, the country’s vice president, in some emblematic places of the reconquered territories.
The end of hostilities was welcomed by the international community. However, France has asked Moscow to remove some “ambiguities” from the text, particularly on the role of Turkey, a staunch supporter of Azerbaijan and sworn enemy of Armenia.
Although Turkey is not mentioned anywhere in the agreement to end hostilities, Ankara was quick to say after its signing that Turkish troops would participate in observing the ceasefire at a joint coordination center with Russia in Azerbaijan.
However, the Russian president assured that Turkish soldiers will not be deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Furthermore, the agreement to end the fighting does not mention the resumption of negotiations on the status of the breakaway region, an issue that has poisoned relations in the South Caucasus for decades.
Publisher: VM
