Baku, Azerbaijan – After Azerbaijan’s one-day navy operation in Karabakh final week, hundreds of ethnic Armenians who dominated the area are fleeing, citing considerations about their rights and security.
After declaring victory over the long-troubled mountainous space, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev promised to guard them, describing them as “our residents” in a single breath, as he decried their “felony” separatist leaders in one other.
However most of the enclave’s Armenian audio system have reservations about Baku’s said goals for a seamless integration course of.
Azerbaijan has rejected these considerations, saying it has dedicated to safeguarding the rights of all residents, ensured pressing humanitarian challenges are being addressed, and held talks with representatives of the ethnic Armenian group. Aliyev’s administration says peaceable integration is feasible, so long as separatists disarm and disband.
However Armenia says 13,350 “forcibly displaced individuals” have entered the nation following final week’s offensive.
Ethnic Armenian separatists and Azerbaijanis have fought two wars for management of the area and an environment of mutual hostility and mistrust stays, regardless of the ceasefire which was agreed upon with the involvement of Russia, which has had peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh for the reason that final battle resulted in 2020.
Azerbaijan was sharply condemned by Western powers for its September 19 assault, which it started after claiming six individuals died in two landmine accidents within the Azeri Khojavend district it blamed on separatists.
Armenia, which like Azerbaijan is a former Soviet nation, is consistent with the worldwide group because it formally recognises Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijan’s territory, but it surely had lengthy referred to as for its autonomy.
Yerevan has expressed disappointment within the Russian peacekeepers deployed to the world, saying they allowed Azerbaijan’s advance. Some Azerbaijanis too, are sceptical of Moscow’s position.
Azerbaijani political scientist Ilgar Valizadeh advised Al Jazeera that Azerbaijan’s method has shifted from making proposals to dictating phrases.
In his view, ethnic Armenian separatists “should chorus from pursuing separatist tendencies going ahead”.
“Any such situations will likely be met with quick and stringent measures. Individuals should adapt to this new actuality, as residents additionally bear tasks to the state,” he stated.
Hundreds of Azerbaijanis have been displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh and 7 surrounding Azerbaijani-majority territories within the Nineties, when ethnic Armenians took management of those areas after a struggle that adopted the Soviet Union’s collapse.
Valizadeh stated he expects the return of Azerbaijanis to areas throughout the area, together with the revival of their tradition, music, TV channels and the development of mosques.
He stated Azerbaijan should guarantee these adjustments don’t disrupt the lifetime of ethnic Armenians, and that Baku shouldn’t be perceived as exerting ideological or ethical strain.
Zaur Shiriyev, an analyst of the Worldwide Disaster Group for the South Caucasus area, identified that anticipating integration to happen in a single day is unrealistic.
“The state of affairs at hand is advanced, grappling with the aftermath of a one-day navy operation. Even earlier than addressing present humanitarian wants, there’s the duty of implementing ceasefire phrases which require the disarmament of native forces and dismantling present constructions within the Armenian-populated Karabakh,” Shiriyev stated.
He emphasised the significance of a transitional interval to guard the pursuits of Armenians residing within the area to stop chaos.
In the meantime, concern is rising amongst Azerbaijan’s authorities concerning the potential for worldwide repercussions.
Armenian leaders have accused Azerbaijan of planning to “ethnically cleanse” the area.
Some worldwide organisations have referred to as for a brief evacuation, with the choice for residents to return as soon as stability is restored.
“Azerbaijani authorities ought to take quick steps to make sure the security and humanitarian wants of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian inhabitants, permitting humanitarian entry immediately,” Human Rights Watch stated. “Azerbaijan ought to permit civilians who want to evacuate briefly to Armenia, in addition to individuals in pressing want of medical care who want to go away, whereas respecting their proper to return.”
In line with Shiriyev on the Worldwide Disaster Group, native representatives of Armenian audio system and Azerbaijani officers should interact in dialogue to debate the position of Azerbaijani regulation within the area.
“Discussions and agreements on learn how to protect the rights of the native populace are essential. In any other case, a compelled integration might be doomed to fail from the outset,” he stated.
Like many Azerbaijanis, Parvana Vagifgizi, a resident of Baku, has been glued to the information however stated she has doubts that ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani populations can stay in concord collectively.
After Azerbaijan’s Aliyev declared Baku had “restored sovereignty” to Nagorno-Karabakh, protests erupted in Yerevan in opposition to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, with Armenians accusing him of abandoning the trigger.
“I don’t belief the opposite occasion, they, themselves have created this lack of belief. After I see the rallies in opposition to Pashinyan and listen to the slogans and calls from peculiar Armenians, it’s very regarding. Not everybody feels this fashion, however lots of them appear to have a really unfavorable opinion about us. Till belief is re-established, I don’t maintain a lot hope for coexistence and integration.”
Maya Guliyeva, who’s initially from the Agdam district, which Azerbaijan liberated in 2020, stated she endured compelled displacement for practically 30 years.
Her eldest son, Khalid, was killed through the battle referred to as the second Karabakh struggle. In contrast to Vagifgizi, she believes peace is feasible.
“Some Armenians have been residing there since Soviet occasions, and you may’t forcibly take away somebody from their house. Nonetheless, there are others who don’t want to stay with us. The Azerbaijani authorities ought to deal with their departure in accordance with all the correct procedures.
“Those that are prepared to stay alongside us must also be given alternatives. This hostility wants to finish, it should be resolved, and profitable integration ought to be our aim.”
