MASIS/ARTASJAT, ARMENIA (Dagbladet): – They said they would protect us, but left us in the lurch, says Davit Davitjan.
– We felt very safe when the Russians came after the peace agreement in 2020. No one would have thought that things would turn out like they are now, says his mother Nora Gasparian.
As Armenia fills up with refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, anger is spreading against Vladimir Putin and Russia.
Homeless people
For Nora, Davit, his wife Diana and their two-year-old daughter Mariam, three beds at a refugee reception in Artashat outside Armenia’s capital Yerevan have become their home.
All belongings are distributed between a couple of bags next to the beds.
Over 100,000 ethnic Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh in the space of a few days, after Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive against Armenian self-government authorities in the area.
Tens of thousands of refugees are homeless, in limbo at refugee reception and registration offices scattered around Armenia.
Volunteers and local authorities are working hard to find temporary housing for the refugees.
Nagorno-Karabakh
A region in Azerbaijan near the border with Armenia. The majority of the population are ethnic Armenians. Internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but since 1994 Armenian self-governing authorities have controlled parts of the area. Despite Armenian dominance, Nagorno-Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan during the Soviet era. In 1988, the local parliament tried to get the area annexed by Armenia, which led to war in 1991, when the Soviet Union fell. Around 30,000 people were killed and over a million displaced. In 1994, the parties signed a cease-fire, but without agreeing on a peace treaty. In 2020, war broke out again between Azerbaijan and Armenian self-governing authorities supported by Armenia. The war lasted for a month and a half and ended with victory for Azerbaijan, which recaptured parts of Nagorno-Karabakh.19. On 9 September, Azerbaijan launched a massive attack on the positions of the self-governing authorities and quickly took full control over the rest of Nagorno-Karabakh. In recent days, thousands of Armenians have fled Azerbaijan. The majority of the population in both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are Christians and belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church the church. In Azerbaijan, the majority of the population is Muslim.
Facts: AFP /NTB
Sea view
Cut off
Ahead of the mass exodus, Nagorno-Karabakh has been cut off from the outside world in a nine-month blockade of the only supply route in.
The same narrow road was completely congested when the entire population fled in a short week. The conditions on the road are described as intolerable.
Thirsty, tired, scared and hungry, the family got on a bus from the city of Stepanakert on their way to Armenia. The journey took two days.
– We were terrified, the whole way, says Davit.
– Saw people die
In Masis, 20 minutes away, new arrivals register with local authorities. They must then be distributed among temporary residences.
Here, Dagbladet meets 77-year-old Aleksandr Maghakeljan and his son Arstrun Maghakeljan (48). Aleksandr’s wife, Arstrun’s mother, is handicapped and has no legs. Arstrun is blind.
SO PEOPLE DIE: Aleksandr Maghakeljan (77) and his son Arstrun (48) spent three days in the car queue from Stepanakert into Armenia. On the way they saw people die, says Aleksandr. Photo: Hans Arne Vedlog / Dagbladet Show more
– I helped my disabled wife into the car. Then we drove. It took three days, says Aleksandr Maghakeljan to Dagbladet.
The 77-year-old bursts into tears several times as he tells about the nightmarish journey from Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.
– We saw people die on the road. We saw women, children and pregnant women sitting on the plane on trucks.
Arstrun Maghakeljan is most concerned with the political dividing lines. He places great responsibility on the Kremlin for what has happened.
Nagorno-Karabakh dissolves
– Created the problem
Armenia has seen Vladimir Putin and Russia as a guarantor of security in the region, and a close ally.
– The Russians could never be peacemakers. They were involved in the conflict from the beginning. In reality, it was they who created this problem, says Arstrun.
– Putin can never be considered an ally of the Armenians. Especially not those who live in Nagorno-Karabakh. When he signed the peace agreement, parts of Nagorno-Karabakh were ceded without any opposition to Azerbaijan. It is Putin himself who has developed this agreement.
– EMPTIED: The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh has triggered a refugee disaster in the middle of Putin and Erdogan’s backyard. Over 100,000 refugees are now in Armenia. Reporter: Ivar Benjamin Østebø. Video: Hans Arne Vedlog / Dagbladet Show more
The peace agreement
Both families have left everything they own for the second time, having to leave their hometowns in favor of Stepanakert in 2020 when war again broke out over the territory.
Thousands of lives were lost in the war, which ended in an armistice negotiated by the Russians.
WAITING: At receptions throughout Armenia, refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh are now waiting for temporary residences. Photo: Hans Arne Vedlog / Dagbladet Show more
Nevertheless, Azerbaijan took complete control of the area in a lightning offensive on 19 September. After one day, Azerbaijan declared full control of the area.
This happened after a nine-month blockade of the Latchin Corridor, the only road connection, and also the only supply line, between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
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Russian presence
The blockade led to the choking off of food and medicine to the approximately 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. No one was allowed to travel in or out of the territory.
Following a ceasefire agreement negotiated by Putin in 2020, Russia has had 2,000 peacekeeping soldiers deployed in the area. But on September 19, Azerbaijan attacked Armenian self-governing authorities, in what Azerbaijan itself refers to as an anti-terrorist operation.
24 hours later, the Armenian self-governing authorities’ military forces in Nagorno-Karabakh laid down their weapons. They have dissolved themselves, and will cease to exist on 1 January 2024.
WAITING: Hundreds of refugees, including several families with children, are now hoping to be granted a roof over their heads. Photo: Hans Arne Vedlog / Dagbladet Show more
At freezing point
The flow of refugees along the one road between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia was constant from 24 September. On 2 October, the last minibus with evacuated civilians crossed into Armenia.
At the same time, the political distance between Armenia and Russia is increasing. The country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has commented on several occasions in September that Russia is no longer a security guarantor for Armenia.
The Kremlin, for its part, has responded with clear warnings against the former Soviet republic.
Nor has the relationship improved since Armenia ratified the Rome Agreement on Tuesday. It obliges the country, in theory, to arrest Vladimir Putin following the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) arrest warrant against him – if he sets foot on Armenian soil.
– Wants to go home
As of October 2, just under half of the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh had been resettled in temporary shelters, according to Armenian authorities.
For the Davitjan family, it is completely unclear where their next home will be.
Their hope is to stay in the area around Artashjat, and not have to move far, says Diana. But from what they have been told, it is now completely full.
They haven’t had the opportunity to think any longer.
– All hope is gone, and everyone is sad. It is difficult to think about the future. We have left everything behind. We just want to go home, she says.
2023-10-05 10:09:26
#Left #lurch
