Over 100,000 people flee Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia
Over 100,000 people have fled the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia since September 24, according to the Armenian government.
"As of today, 100,417 people have arrived from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. The Hakari Bridge has been crossed by 21,043 vehicles," Nazeli Bagdasarian, the press secretary of the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers, said at a press conference.
According to Bagdasarian, 81,139 people have already been registered, and the government has provided temporary housing to 32,200 people.
Hikmet Hajiev, an advisor to the Azerbaijani president, said on September 22 that integrating Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh into the economic, political, and social life of Azerbaijan would be difficult and that they should be prepared for some to not accept this policy and decide to leave.
President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly said that Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh will have the same rights as citizens of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan launched an operation in the region at the beginning of last week, winning a swift victory. Armenian separatists agreed to lay down their weapons on Friday.
The mountainous enclave, which was attached to Azerbaijani territory by the Soviet Union in 1921, has been the scene of two wars between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the past: between 1988 and 1994 (30,000 deaths) and in the fall of 2020 (6,500 deaths).
The latest fighting has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and caused widespread damage to infrastructure. The United Nations has called for a ceasefire and a political solution to the conflict.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
