AMN
Nearly 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will be exiling from their homeland and migrate to Armenia for fear of ethnic cleansing. The leadership of the breakaway region told a news agency on Sunday that they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also said the Karabakh Armenians were likely to leave the region, and that Armenia was ready to take them in.
The Armenians were forced to declare a ceasefire on 20th of September following an intense military operation by the Azerbaijani military. Even after Azerbaijan’s assurance guarantying rights and to integrate the region, the Armenians say they fear repression. The Armenian leaders of Karabakh said in a statement that all those made homeless by the Azerbaijani military operation and wanting to leave would be escorted to Armenia by Russian peacekeepers.
It is not known yet, when the bulk of the population would move down the Lachin corridor which links the territory to Armenia. Experts say, a mass exodus could change the delicate balance of power in the South Caucasus region. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan, which is mainly Muslim, has said the Armenians, who are Christian, can leave if they want.