The separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh has announced that it will dissolve itself and the unrecognised republic will not exist by January 1, 2024, as more than half the population flees to Armenia.
Azerbaijan carried out a rapid offensive to reclaim full control over its breakaway region and demanded that Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh lay down their weapons and the separatist government dissolve itself.
A decree to that effect was signed by the region’s separatist President Samvel Shakhramanyan.
The document cited an agreement reached last week to end the fighting under which Azerbaijan will allow the “free, voluntary and unhindered movement” of Nagorno-Karabakh residents and disarm troops in Armenia in exchange.
But many local residents feared consequences and have chosen to flee for Armenia.
By Thursday morning more than half of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population — 66,500 people — had fled to Armenia, and the influx continues, Armenian officials said.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of Azerbaijan that came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994.
During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of the region along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict.
Following the latest offensive and a cease-fire agreementmade by Russian peacekeepers, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh separatist authorities have begun talks on “reintegrating” the region back into Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani authorities have pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies after a 10-month blockade.
Residents began leaving in droves on Sunday evening, and suffered a lengthy traffic jam on the single road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.
On Monday night, a fuel reservoir exploded at a gas station where people seeking to leave were lining up for gas.
At least 68 people were killed and nearly 300 injured, with more than 100 still missing.
President Shakhramayan’s decree on Thursday urged Nagorno-Karabakh’s population — including those who left — “to familiarise themselves with the conditions of reintegration offered by the Republic of Azerbaijan, in order to then make an individual decision about the possibility of staying in (or returning to) Nagorno-Karabakh.”
On Thursday, Azerbaijani authorities charged Ruben Vardanyan, the former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government, with financing terrorism, creating illegal armed formations and illegally crossing a state border.
Azerbaijani officials said the billionaire who made his fortune in Russia was detained as he was trying to cross into Armenia from the breakaway region. He was escorted to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.
Mr Vardanyan moved to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2022 and served as the head the regional government for several months before stepping down earlier this year.
