YEREVAN: Thousands of Armenians streamed out of Nagorno-Karabakh after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed full control of the breakaway region while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Azerbaijan Monday in a show of support to its ally.
The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh鈥檚 鈥渞eintegration鈥� into Azerbaijan after three decades of separatist rule.
A second round of talks between Azerbaijani officials and separatist representatives began in Khojaly Tuesday following the opening meeting last week.
While Azerbaijan pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies after a 10-month blockade, many local residents feared reprisals and said they were planning to leave for Armenia.
The Armenian government said that 4,850 Nagorno-Karabakh residents had fled to Armenia as of midday Monday.
鈥淚t was a nightmare. There are no words to describe. The village was heavily shelled. Almost no one is left in the village,鈥� said one of the evacuees who spoke to The Associated Press in the Armenian city of Kornidzor and refused to give her name for security reasons.
Moscow said that Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh were assisting the evacuation.
Azerbaijan鈥檚 Defense Ministry said Monday that two of its soldiers were killed a day earlier when a military truck hit a land mine. It didn鈥檛 name the area where the explosion occurred.
In an address to the nation Sunday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his government was working with international partners to protect the rights and security of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
鈥淚f these efforts do not produce concrete results, the government will welcome our sisters and brothers from Nagorno-Karabakh in the Republic of Armenia with every care,鈥� he said.
Demonstrators demanding Pashinyan鈥檚 resignation continued blocking the Armenian capital鈥檚 main avenues Monday, clashing occasionally with police.
Russian peacekeepers have been in the region since 2020, when a Russian-brokered armistice ended a six-week war between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinyan and many others in Armenia accused the peacekeepers of failing to prevent the hostilities and protect the Armenian population. Moscow rejected the accusations, arguing that its forces had no legal grounds to intervene, particularly after Pashinyan鈥檚 recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
鈥淲e are categorically against attempts to put the blame on the Russian side, especially the Russian peacekeepers, who have shown a true heroism,鈥� Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
He demurred when asked whether the Russian peacekeepers would remain in the region, saying that 鈥渘o one can really say anything for now.鈥�
Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. During the war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict.
In December, Azerbaijan imposed a blockade of the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, alleging that the Armenian government was using the road for mineral extraction and illicit weapons shipments to the region鈥檚 separatist forces.
Armenia charged that the closure denied basic food and fuel supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh鈥檚 approximately 120,000 people. Azerbaijan rejected the accusation, arguing the region could receive supplies through the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam 鈥� a solution long resisted by Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, who called it a strategy for Azerbaijan to gain control of the region.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged support for Armenia and Armenians, saying that France will mobilize food and medical aid for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, and keep working toward a 鈥樷€檚ustainable peace鈥欌€� in the region.
France, which has a big Armenian diaspora, has for decades played a mediating role in Nagorno-Karabakh. A few hundred people rallied outside the French Foreign Ministry over the weekend, demanding sanctions against Azerbaijan and accusing Paris of not doing enough to protect Armenian interests in the region.
鈥淔rance is very vigilant about Armenia鈥檚 territorial integrity because that is what is at stake,鈥� Macron said in an interview with France-2 and TF1 television, accusing Russia of complicity with Azerbaijan and charging that Turkiye threatens Armenia鈥檚 borders.
Russia has been the main ally and sponsor of Armenia and has a military base there, but it also has sought to maintain friendly ties with Azerbaijan. But Moscow鈥檚 clout in the region has waned quickly amid the Russian war in Ukraine while the influence of Azerbaijan鈥檚 top ally Turkiye has increased.
Erdogan arrived in Azerbaijan鈥檚 Nakhchivan exclave on Monday for talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to discuss Turkiye-Azerbaijan ties and regional and global issues. Nakhchivan is cut off from the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenian territory but forms a slim border with Turkiye.
During his one-day trip to the region, Erdogan will also attend the opening of a gas pipeline and a modernized military base, his office added in a statement.
Asked about Erdogan鈥檚 visit, Peskov, the Kremlin鈥檚 spokesman, voiced hope that it will 鈥渃ontribute to the regional security and help normalize life in Karabakh.鈥�