The authorities of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which the Armenians call Artsakh, accepted this Wednesday a ceasefire proposed by Russia and the demands of Azerbaijan: stop fighting and disarm. The cessation of hostilities agreement, which came into force on September 20 at 1:00 p.m. (09:00 GMT), appears to put an end to the offensive that the Baku forces launched on Tuesday and that threatened a new war, the third, between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the protector of that territory.
The agreement has been reached with the mediation of the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities indicated. 24 hours of hostilities have thus ended after the Azerbaijani Army began bombing Nagorno-Karabakh in order to restore “constitutional order” in the separatist territory, populated by some 120,000 Armenians.
Military clashes have left at least 34 dead in that region of the South Caucasus. The Karabakh separatists reported 32 deaths and more than 200 injuries, while they had to evacuate about 7,000 inhabitants in 16 towns. The Azerbaijani side reported two civilian deaths in areas under its control.
The ceasefire pact includes the withdrawal of the remaining units and soldiers of the Armenian Armed Forces remaining in the deployment zone of the Russian peace contingent, the dissolution and complete disarmament of the Nagorno-Karabakh defense army and the withdrawal of heavy weapons and equipment from the enclave “for their next elimination.
Azerbaijan confirmed the suspension of its military operation in the separatist territory. Its Defense Ministry reported that Armenian forces in Karabakh had agreed to “lay down their arms, abandon their positions and military combat posts, as well as completely disarm.” All weapons and heavy equipment are being handed over to the Azerbaijani army, he added.
“The issue regarding the reintegration of Nagorno Karabakh (in Azerbaijan), the guarantee of rights and security of Nagorno Karabakh Armenians within the framework of the Constitution of Azerbaijan, according to the agreement reached, will be discussed at the meeting between the representatives of the local Armenian population and representatives of the central authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which will be held in the city of Yevlax on September 21, 2023 and during subsequent meetings,” says the statement issued by the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities.
The Azerbaijani city of Yevlax has 71,000 inhabitants and is located 265 kilometers west of Baku and 100 kilometers east of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, which in Azerbaijan is called Jankendi.
The Baku Government confirmed that negotiations for the reintegration of the region will begin this Thursday.
The Karabakh separatists said that in their offensive on Tuesday Azerbaijani forces had broken through their lines and seized several strategic heights and road junctions while the world stood by and did nothing.
Under these circumstances, the Republic of Artsakh had no choice but to cease hostilities.
A few hours earlier, Baku had reproduced a conversation between the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, with the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, in which the former said that the offensive would continue as long as the Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh do not “lay down the weapons”.
“The civilian population and infrastructure are not an objective. Only legitimate military objectives are destroyed,” he assured.
Aliev stated that the Azerbaijani presidency had proposed “many times” to hold talks with representatives of Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh to “discuss the issue of their reintegration” in Azerbaijan. “But they have refused,” he said.
The Azerbaijani leader stressed that the army had launched this operation after the death on Tuesday of “civilians and police” in that region due to the explosion of mines, of which Baku accuses Armenian “saboteurs.”
Nagorno-Karabakh is a majority Armenian territory but internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
In the 1992-1994 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the latter emerged victorious. Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed itself an independent country and Armenia, as its protector, occupied several surrounding Azerbaijani provinces as a security zone.
In the 2020 war, the Baku Army turned the situation around, recovering the Azerbaijani areas that the Armenians had taken three decades earlier, as well as part of Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia’s mediation managed to stop a conflict that Azerbaijan clearly won, reaching a ceasefire and a peace agreement.
The offensive that Azerbaijan launched this week occurred after subjecting the region to a blockade of more than nine months. In December 2022, it cut the Lachin corridor, the only communication route between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
