Russia announced Thursday that it had recorded five violations of the ceasefire in Nagorno Karabakh, the day after its establishment as part of the capitulation of Armenian separatists in the face of a lightning offensive from Azerbaijan, while the parties say they are ready to continue the talks started during the day.
“Since the conclusion of the cessation of hostilities agreement, five ceasefire violations have been recorded in the districts of Chucha (two) and Mardakert (three),” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. communicated.
When the talks began in Yevlakh, shots, the origin of which is not known, were heard in Stepanakert by an AFP correspondent present on the spot.
However, despite “isolated violations”, the ceasefire which came into force on Wednesday is “generally” respected, said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Aroutioun Gasparian, a businessman from Stepanakert, spoke of an exchange of fire outside the city.
Azerbaijan and the Armenian separatists of Nagorno Karabakh are nevertheless ready to continue the talks started the same day on a reintegration of this secessionist territory where the Azerbaijani army has just won a lightning victory.
In Baku, the presidency, which described as “constructive” the two hours of discussions that the protagonists had in Yevlakh, a town 295 km west of the capital, announced that a new meeting would take place. as quickly as possible”.
“The parties insisted on the need to discuss all existing problems in a peaceful environment and expressed their willingness to continue the meetings,” the separatists commented in a statement.
Six men sat around a table. Among them, a representative of Nagorno Karabakh was visible, David Melkoumian.
The day before, Hikmet Hajiev, an advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, assured that Azerbaijan had “the objective of the peaceful reintegration of the Armenians of Karabakh”, who are the majority there.
Nikol Pashinian on Thursday accused Russia, a contingent of which has been deployed in Nagorno Karabakh since the last war of 2020, of having failed in its peacekeeping mission in the secessionist territory.
“I do not think we should turn a blind eye to the failure of the (peacekeeping) contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Nikol Pashinian said in a televised speech.
For its part, Azerbaijan gave on the same day for the first time the number of Russian peacekeepers killed – six in number – during two separate incidents during Baku’s offensive in Nagorno Karabakh.
President Aliyev presented “his apologies” to Mr. Putin on Thursday for these soldiers who fell during the offensive.
In the central square of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Prime Minister’s office denouncing a risk of “genocide” in Karabakh.
“We must save the children of Karabakh from genocide!” could be read on a banner, among many Armenian flags waved by the demonstrators.
“I don’t know where my family members are. Are they alive? We are facing a genocide,” said Anush Hyusnunts, a 48-year-old nurse from Karabakh.
The capitulation of the separatists increased pressure on the Armenian Prime Minister, accused of not having helped them.
On Thursday, the head of government urged Armenians to take “the path” to peace, even if it is “not easy”.
Nikol Pashinian “led the country to disaster,” Galia Karamyan, a 56-year-old economist, told AFP.
“This is our day of shame. Nikol stole our homeland,” added Arkady Balayan, a 32-year-old pharmacist.
The streets of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, are “filled with displaced, hungry and frightened people”, Gegham Stepanian, the head of the separatist authority for the defense of rights, said Thursday.
“People are desperate for each other,” he continued on X, formerly Twitter.
During a telephone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that “the rights and security” of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh be guaranteed.
The military success of the Azerbaijanis is fueling fears of a massive departure of the 120,000 inhabitants of this enclave.
Armenia has promised that no mass evacuations are planned.
However, it is prepared to welcome “40,000 families” of refugees, Nikol Pashinian assured Thursday, even if no “direct threat” weighs on the local population.
In Geneva, Armenia, which described the Azerbaijani operation as a “crime against humanity”, had earlier denounced “ethnic cleansing” before the UN Human Rights Council.
More than 10,000 people, including women, children and the elderly, have been evacuated from Nagorno Karabakh, a separatist official said Wednesday evening.
About half of them were taken care of by Russian peacekeepers, deployed in this region since the end of the last war in the fall of 2020.
According to the latest assessment of the Armenian separatists, the Azerbaijani offensive which ended in 24 hours at midday on Wednesday left at least 200 dead and 400 injured.
Cornered by the firepower of Azerbaijani units and Armenia’s decision not to come to their aid, the separatists agreed to hand over all their weapons and participate in talks.
At the same time, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council is planned for the afternoon.
Fearing that the resumption of hostilities would destabilize the entire Caucasus, the West and Russia, for which it is an “internal matter” of Azerbaijan, called on Tuesday for an immediate end to the fighting.
The Azerbaijani authorities launched their “anti-terrorist” operation that day following the death of six people in the explosion of mines planted, they claimed, by Armenian “saboteurs”.
21/09/2023 21:54:09 – Yevlakh (Azerbaijan) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
