Friday, September 29 2023 13:58

ArmInfo. On Tuesday, Parliament will debate the dire situation in Nagorno-Karabakh,  following Azerbaijan's recent military seizure of the mountainous South Caucasus enclave. This is stated in a statement published on the official website of the European Parliament.

According to the source, "Azerbaijan's latest offensive against  Nagorno-Karabakh on 19 September saw Baku regain military control of  the long-disputed region and has resulted in a mass exodus of ethnic  Armenians from their homes. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  has also warned of ethnic cleansing in the area, despite Azeri public  reassurances that any ethnic Armenians choosing to stay in  Nagorno-Karabakh will be treated as equal citizens of Azerbaijan.

The mountainous enclave, internationally recognised as part of  Azerbaijan but governed by Armenian separatists for decades, has been  the subject of a bloody military conflict between Armenia and  Azerbaijan since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Following the plenary debate with representatives of the Spanish  Presidency of the Council and the European Commission, a resolution  will be put to a vote on Thursday."

On September 19, Azerbaijan, under the pretext of an "anti-terrorist  operation," undertook another act of aggression against Artsakh. As a  result of enemy aggression, hundreds of Artsakh residents were  injured, more than 200 deaths were reported, including civilians, and  more than 10,000 were evacuated.

On September 20, Artsakh fell. Azerbaijan began the forcible  subjugation of the NKR.  On September 20, late in the evening it  became known that Azerbaijan had deliberately shot at the car of the  Russian peacekeeping contingent, killing 5 people, including the  deputy commander of the RPC. Today, there were reports that one  soldier was killed and another was wounded as a result of shooting at  another RPCvehicle.  On September 21, a meeting between  representatives of Baku and Stepanakert was held in Yevlakh.   Azerbaijan demanded the disarmament of the Artsakh Defense Army, the  surrender of all military personnel and the abolition of all  government bodies.

On September 22, the process of abolishing the Artsakh Defense Army  began. There are reports that the enemy side exterminated the  population of the villages captured on September 19-20. During search  operations from September 21 to 24, the NKR Ministry of Internal  Affairs discovered the bodies of 105 Artsakh residents, including  brutally murdered children and elderly people.

As of the morning of September 28, about 90 thousand forcibly  displaced Artsakh residents had already arrived in Armenia. 

On September 25 it also became known that Artsakh was connected to  the energy system of Azerbaijan.  Protests demanding the resignation  of the RA Prime Minister continue in Yerevan and regions.  We add  that as a result of the explosion that took place in the fuel depot  near Stepanakert on September 25, according to preliminary data, more  than 290 people were injured, 170 more died, there are still missing  people.   

The EU stated that it would allocate an additional 5 million euros to  assist internally displaced people from Artsakh. Earlier, USAID  Administrator Samantha Power, who is on a visit to Armenia, said that  "the United States will provide Armenia with support in the amount of  $11.5 million for the humanitarian needs of people displaced from  Nagorno-Karabakh." In addition, as ArmInfo previously reported with  reference to the Swedish Ambassador to Armenia, Sweden, through the  Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA),  allocated 15 million Swedish kronor to the International Committee of  the Red Cross to meet the humanitarian needs of the population of  Nagorno-Karabakh.  France promised to allocate another 7 million  euros.  Germany announced an increase in subsidies to the ICRC from 2  to 5 million euros, to direct them to humanitarian needs of the  Armenians of Nagorno- Karabakh.  Another 1 million euros will be  provided by Spain and $2.5 million by Canada.