Karabakh Armenians seek security guarantees before giving up arms
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Karabakh Armenian officials accuse Azerbaijan of breaking a truce established on Wednesday after an Azerbaijani attack forced them to disarm.
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Representatives of the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan's government, and a representative of the Russian peacekeeping contingent attend the talks in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh, Azerbaijan, on September 21, 2023. (AP)
An advisor to Nagorno-Karabakh's leader said on Thursday that Karabakh Armenians need security guarantees before handing over their weapons, a day after Azerbaijan announced it had retaken control of the enclave.
Armenian officials in Karabakh accused Azerbaijan of breaking a truce established on Wednesday after an Azerbaijani attack forced Karabakh Armenians to disarm.
Three years since the end of the 2020 war, the situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains volatile, as discreet cross-border skirmishes persisted all throughout the summer.
Just last week, on September 13, Pashinyan officially acknowledged that his country recognizes the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region as part of Azerbaijan's sovereign territory.
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The Defense Ministry in Baku stated that the claim that its soldiers violated the ceasefire was "completely false". According to two reports in Karabakh's largest city, heavy gunfire was heard on Thursday morning, but it was unclear who was shooting.
On his part, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh is largely being observed, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.
"Units of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Army remain in the places where they were at the time the truce was signed. The same applies to the Azerbaijani Armed Forces," Pashinyan was quoted as saying in a video address.
"Unfortunately, today an incident occurred in the vicinity of Stepanakert, but in general the truce remains, although sometimes there are violations," Pashinyan said.
TASS news agency cited Pashinyan as saying Armenia was prepared to accept refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh.
David Babayan, an advisor to Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian leader Samvel Shahramanyan, told Reuters that the agreement for the cessation of military action is there, but they are awaiting a final agreement.
Babayan proclaimed that security guarantees were needed to avoid the death of his people, noting that a "whole host of questions" remain unanswered.
"At any moment they could destroy us, engage in genocide against us."
Azerbaijan and representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh met in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh.
On Wednesday, President Ilham Aliyev stated that Armenians will have full educational, cultural, and religious rights, citing that all ethnic groups and faiths will become "one fist" for Azerbaijan, for dignity, for the Motherland."
