YEREVAN, 1 Oct. The process of moving refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenia is coming to an end, said Nazeli Baghdasaryan, press secretary of the country's government.
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"The intensity (of the flow. — Ed.) has decreased significantly. We can say that the last people who wanted to move to Armenia did so and the process is coming to its logical conclusion,” she said.
Nevertheless, according to Baghdasaryan, today from Goris to A bus left Stepanakert to pick up people. She added that Armenia will continue to provide transport for those wishing to leave Karabakh.
The government spokeswoman noted that since September 24, 100,514 people have arrived in the republic. Temporary housing was provided to 48,649 displaced people.
Aide to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev said on September 22 that the integration of Karabakh Armenians into the economic, political and social life of the republic will take place with difficulties and one must be prepared for the fact that some will not accept this policy and decide leave. At the same time, President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly stated that the Armenians of Karabakh will have the same rights as citizens of the country.
According to Yerevan, before the latest exacerbation, 120 thousand people lived in the region.
The Azerbaijani Army launched a military operation in Karabakh on September 19. In Baku they called it “anti-terrorist measures of a local nature” to restore the constitutional order. In Yerevan, the incident was regarded as an aggression against Karabakh, emphasizing that there were no Armenian units in the region.
A day later, through the mediation of Russian peacekeepers, Baku and Stepanakert reached an agreement on a ceasefire. Among the conditions of the truce were, in particular, the disarmament of Armenian forces and the withdrawal of heavy equipment from Karabakh. Afterwards, several rounds of negotiations took place between local Armenians and representatives of Azerbaijan. The discussion was about the integration of the region into the republic.
In turn, Nagorno-Karabakh, which announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan SSR 35 years ago and after the armed conflict with the republic in 1992-1994, was in the status of an unrecognized republic for many years, announced the cessation its existence from January 1, 2024.