2023-09-21 01:00:03
An injured civilian helped by Russian peacekeepers following the launch of a military operation by Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, in a screenshot from a video published on September 20, 2023. RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE VIA REUTERS
After more than thirty years of conflict, Azerbaijan forcibly brought down the self-proclaimed authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh. A ceasefire agreement was signed on Wednesday, September 20, under the aegis of Russia, putting an end to the large-scale offensive launched the day before by Baku’s forces on the disputed enclave.
According to this document, separatist leaders agree to lay down their arms and begin negotiations on the reintegration of this territory into Azerbaijan. A historic turning point, which marks Baku’s victory for control of this small mountainous region of the Caucasus, located on its territory but populated mainly by Armenians.
In detail, the text provides “the withdrawal of the remaining units and servicemen of the armed forces of Armenia (…), the dissolution and complete disarmament of the armed formations of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army ». It specifies that the holding of a first round of negotiations on guaranteeing the rights and security of the inhabitants of the enclave will be held between the two parties on September 21 in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh.
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Azerbaijan has “restored its sovereignty” in Nagorno-Karabakh, Ilham Aliev triumphed on Wednesday in a televised speech; the Azerbaijani president added that his army had “destroys most” of the forces and equipment of the Armenian separatists, and that they had ” begin “ to give up their arms.
However, no scene of jubilation was visible in the streets of Baku on Wednesday, according to several people contacted on site. “There is no celebration for now, people are waiting for the outcome of the talks tomorrow [jeudi] »explains a human rights defender who prefers to remain anonymous.
For Baku, a “clear military victory”
Negotiations on guaranteeing the rights and security of Armenians in the enclave, self-proclaimed independent in 1991, will be held “in small groups”asserts Monde Elchin Amirbayov, the special representative of the President of Azerbaijan; the delegation will be led by Ramin Mammadov, an MP from Karabakh. Armenian side, “two or three people are expected, specifies Mr. Amirbayov. These will not be members of the puppet government, because we do not intend to grant it any legitimacy. Their security will probably be provided by the Russians, but it will be a bilateral dialogue in which the Russians will not take part. »
Russia, anxious not to lose its influence in the region despite its weakening due to the war in Ukraine, does not see it that way. “These negotiations will take place with the mediation of the leadership of the Russian peacekeeping contingent”, said Vladimir Putin, according to a Kremlin press release. Some 2,000 Russian interposition soldiers have been deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh since the end of the second war in the disputed enclave in 2020.
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