Thousands of Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan takeover

The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on 'reintegration'.

Thousands of Armenians streamed out of Nagorno-Karabakh after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed full control of the breakaway region while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Azerbaijan Monday in a show of support to its ally.

The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan after three decades of separatist rule.

A second round of talks between Azerbaijani officials and separatist representatives began in Khojaly Tuesday following the opening meeting last week.

While Azerbaijan pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies after a 10-month blockade, many local residents feared reprisals and said they were planning to leave for Armenia.

The Armenian government said that 4,850 Nagorno-Karabakh residents had fled to Armenia as of midday Monday.

“It was a nightmare. There are no words to describe. The village was heavily shelled. Almost no one is left in the village,” said one of the evacuees who spoke to The Associated Press in the Armenian city of Kornidzor and refused to give her name for security reasons.

Moscow said that Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh were assisting the evacuation.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said Monday that two of its soldiers were killed a day earlier when a military truck hit a land mine. It didn’t name the area where the explosion occurred.