Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan sign deal to end Karabakh war
November 9, 2020
Leaders of the three countries have signed an agreement to end the the war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The pact is expected to take effect on Tuesday.
Image: Iliya Pitalev/Sputnik/dpa/picture alliance
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Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on Tuesday said they have signed a deal to end the military conflict over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"I have signed a statement with the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan on the termination of the Karabakh war," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a statement posted to his Facebook page. He also called the move "unspeakably painful for me personally and for our people."
"The signed trilateral statement will become a [crucial] point in the settlement of the conflict," he said later in a televised online meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We believe that the achieved agreements will create the necessary conditions for a long-term and full-fledged settlement of the crisis around Nagorno-Karabakh on a fair basis and in the interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani people," Putin said.
The Russian president added that the two sides were already engaged in the exchange of prisoners of war and bodies. The pact also includes a "total ceasefire" beginning from midnight on Tuesday Moscow time (21:00 UTC)
Human toll in Azerbaijan-Armenia fight for Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been at war again over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus for over a month. Three ceasefires have failed. The conflict is taking its toll on civilians.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
Residential area reduced to rubble
The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of deliberately bombing civilian targets. For example, part of the city of Shusha in Nagorno-Karabakh's famous 19th-century cathedral was destroyed in early October. According to authorities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region , Azerbaijani troops are just a few kilometers from the strategically important city.
Image: Hayk Baghdasaryan/Photolure/Reuters
Destroyed livelihood
Ragiba Guliyeva stands in the ruins of her house in Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest city, which was hit in a rocket attack. "I was in the kitchen when beams and stones rained on me all of a sudden," she said. "I screamed as loudly as I could." Ganja is dozens of kilometers from the front. The government of Azerbaijan blames Armenian troops for the attack.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
Mourning the children
Several people were killed in the attack on Ganja, according to Azerbaijani authorities. Guliyeva's 13-year-old grandson, Artur, was one of the victims. At a church service, teachers and classmates paid their respects. According to official figures, at least 130 civilians were killed on both sides.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
Volunteering for the front
Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh say 1,200 soldiers have died since fighting started in September. Azerbaijan's government has not reported the extent of its military losses. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently mentioned a total of 5,000 people dead on both sides. Young men keep on volunteering for service at the front, such as these fighters in the Nagorno-Karabakh capital, Stepanakert.
Image: Aris Messinis/AFP
A decades-old conflict
The region has been controlled by Armenian separatists since Azerbaijan's government lost control in a territorial war from 1988 to 1994. A fragile ceasefire has been in effect since. The painting in a school in Barda honors a soldier who died.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
International intervention?
Propaganda and war rhetoric govern everyday life in Azerbaijan, which is ruled by an authoritarian regime. The government, in Baku, receives weapons and expressions of solidarity from Turkey. Russia is the protective power for Armenia's government, in Yerevan. Observers warn that the regional powers could actively intervene in the conflict.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
Holding out in shelters
Regional authorities estimate that half of the residents, or 75,000 people, could flee the fighting. Residents who remain continue to hold out in basements and shelters.
Image: Stanislav Krasilnikov/ITAR-TASS/imago images
The coronavirus in a conflict zone
Life in shelters has become routine for many Stepanakert residents. The rooms are crowded and poorly ventilated. The people are safe from the bomb attacks, but doctors warn of a rapid spread of the coronavirus. There are no officials figures, but some doctors have estimated that about half of the shelters' residents test positive on a daily basis.
Image: Vahram Baghdasaryan/Photolure/Reuters
Classrooms as emergency shelters
People fled the fighting in Azerbaijan, too, including from the town of Terter, which is right on the front. Some found refuge in neighboring Barda, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Nagorno-Karabakh, where schools have been used as emergency shelters since the end of September. But they are not safe either.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
The front approaches
Several buildings were destroyed and cars burned out during an air raid on Barda a few days ago. Azerbaijani authorities reported at least 21 dead and dozens injured. The Armenian government denied the attack, but Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, pledged "retaliation on the battlefield" and "revenge."
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
No foreseeable peace
The fighting continues. The government of Azerbaijan has demanded the complete withdrawal of Armenian troops from Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia's prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has officially asked Russia for help. The Foreign Ministry has pledged Russia's "necessary assistance" should the fighting shift to Armenian territory.
Image: Vahram Baghdasaryan/Photolure/Reuters
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Araiyak Harutyunyan, the leader of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, said on Facebook that he agreed "to end the war as soon as possible."
Turkey said the deal meant its ally Azerbaijan had secured important gains.
"The brotherly Azerbaijan has achieved an important gain on the battleground and table. I sincerely congratulate this sacred success," Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter. "We will continue to be one nation, one spirit with our
Azeri brothers."
Meanwhile, Armenian protesters angry over the agreement stormed the government headquarters in Yerevan, AFP news agency reported. Several thousand reportedly gathered outside the government building and a few hundred entered, ransacking offices and breaking windows.
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'An era of national unity'
The declaration followed six weeks of heavy fighting and advancement by Azerbaijani forces. Azerbaijan said on Monday it had seized dozens more settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh, a day after declaring victory in the battle for its second-largest city.
"The decision is made basing on the deep analyses of the combat situation and in discussion with best experts of the field," said Pashinyan. "This is not a victory but there is not defeat until you consider yourself defeated. We will never consider ourselves defeated and this shall become a new start of an era of our national unity and rebirth."
He later said he had signed the deal on the insistence of the Armenian army.
Azerbaijan says it has retaken much of the land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, which it lost in a 1991-94 war that killed an estimated 30,000 people and forced many more from their homes. Several thousand people are feared killed in the conflict, and three ceasefires have failed in the past six weeks.
