Karabakh refugees cross to Armenia as Azerbaijan takes control

KORNIDZOR, Armenia: Ethnic Armenian refugees began to leave Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday for the first time since Azerbaijan launched an offensive designed to seize control of the breakaway territory and perhaps end a three-decade-old conflict.

This week´s lightning operation could mark a historic geopolitical shift, with Azerbaijan victorious over the separatists and Armenia publicly distancing itself from its traditional ally Russia.

“Yesterday, we had to put down our rifles. So we left,” a man in his thirties from the village of Mets Shen told AFP as a first group of a few dozen people crossed the border and registered with Armenian officials in Kornidzor.

“We had 15 minutes to pack everything up, we couldn´t bring anything,” said 28-year-old farmer Shamir, regretting having left his livestock and the grave of his three-year-old daughter behind in Mets Shen. “I didn´t tell her goodbye. I hope to go back.”

According to the Armenian government, by Sunday evening 377 “forcefully displaced persons” had crossed from Azerbaijan to Armenia. Most of the refugees seen by AFP were women and children, including some from Eghtsahogh, where people took shelter around a Russian peacekeeping base after their village allegedly came under Azerbaijani shelling.

Separatist leaders have said they are negotiating the fate of some 120,000 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh in talks with Azerbaijani officials mediated by Russian peacekeepers. Many have seen shortages of food, water and power during a nine-month blockade.

The Armenian health ministry said 23 ambulances were carrying seriously wounded citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh to the border, accompanied by medics and Red Cross workers. Crowds of angry relatives gathered on the Armenian side awaiting news.

As drama unfolded on the border, Armenia´s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan -- himself a target of protests over the crisis -- sought to deflect the blame onto long-standing ally Russia, signalling a breakdown in the countries´ security pact.

In nationally televised comments, the Armenian leader said the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and Moscow-Yerevan military-political cooperation were “insufficient” to protect the country, suggesting that he would seek new alliances.

The CSTO members pledge to defend one another from outside attack. But, bogged down in its own war in Ukraine, Russia refused to come to Armenia´s assistance in the latest Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, arguing that Yerevan itself had recognised the disputed region as part of Azerbaijan.

Now, Russian peacekeepers are helping Azerbaijan disarm the Karabakh rebels. Pashinyan said Armenia should ratify the treaty which established the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war.