- Karabakh to dissolve in 2023.
- Population decline amid conflict.
- Concerns of ethnic cleansing.
The leader of the self-declared Republic of Karabakh has declared that it will cease to exist in the coming new year.
On Thursday, Samvel Shahramanyan announced that he had signed an order dissolving all state institutions effective January 1.
The region, which had been under Armenian authority for thirty years, was taken over by Azerbaijan last week.
According to officials, more than half of its majority Armenian population has now departed.
Internationally, the region is recognized as belonging to Azerbaijan, but Armenia seized control in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Mr. Shahramanyan stated that the decision to dissolve the state was “based on the priority of ensuring the physical security and vital interests of the people,” citing Azerbaijan’s agreement that “free, voluntary, and unrestricted travel is guaranteed to residents.”
He urged residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, including those residing outside the region, to “familiarize themselves with the conditions of reintegration” into Azerbaijan. Authorities in Baku and Karabakh have begun discussions on this matter.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expects no Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh in the coming days.
Azerbaijan’s effective obstruction of a vital route into the enclave in December 2022 sparked fears of new violence.
On September 20, a ceasefire ended twenty-four hours of combat.
However, many of the region’s 120,000 Armenians believe that they have no future in Nagorno-Karabakh. Mr. Pashinyan stated that “ethnic cleansing” had begun in the area.
He called for international action on the issue on Thursday.
“If the condemnation is not followed by adequate political and legal decisions, then these condemnations become acts of agreement with what is happening,” he told his cabinet members.
Azerbaijan has refused international observers into Karabakh to assess its treatment of people despite Western pressure.
The former enclave leader has been charged with financing terrorism by Azerbaijani authorities.
Ruben Vardanyan, who led the separatist government from November 2022 to February 2023, was arrested while attempting to depart for Armenia on Wednesday, according to officials.
An Azerbaijani government source told Agence France-Presse earlier this week that the country intended to grant amnesty to Armenian fighters who set down their arms in Karabakh, but that those who had committed “war crimes” would have to be handed over.
Mr. Vardanyan has been confined in pre-trial detention, where he is anticipated to remain for several months.
The Armenian government is adamant that it can handle the increasing number of refugees escaping Nagorno-Karabakh. A senior official told that assisting Armenia’s regional “brothers and sisters” was a matter of principle.
Family automobiles with products in the trunks and roof racks have been on the Karabakh-Armenia road for days.
Close to the border, in the town of Goris, the aid operation is intensifying. Local hotels are full, offering free rooms, and Armenians are posting on social media, offering refugees lodging throughout the country.
Due to the high demand, authorities are establishing a second hub two hours away in Vayk.
