The Third Armenian-Azerbaijan War is winding down, ending in a total Azerbaijan victory. The conflict has been ongoing since the breakup of the Soviet Union, when many Armenians lived in what became Azerbaijan. While the separatist Republic of Artsakh survived for many years, this came at an end in 2021 when Azerbaijan finally broke through defenses.
Following the 2021 War, Russia placed itself as a peacekeeper guaranteeing Artsakh’s autonomy. With commitments in Ukraine, it failed to stop Azerbaijan’s total victory. Now, ethnic Armenian Christians are making the difficult choice to leave their historic homeland to escape upcoming ethnic cleansing. Compact Mag reports:
An exodus of Armenian Christians has begun. The Lachin Corridor is blocked again, now by thousands of Armenians fleeing for their lives, with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Although Baku promises the outside world that it will “reintegrate” them, Armenians find that impossible to believe. A news blackout prevents the world from seeing what’s happening, but there are many credible reports of atrocities.
No surprise. For at least a generation, the Aliyev regime in Baku has lied to its citizens, claiming that Armenian Christians, who have lived in Karabakh for centuries, are invaders—alien, subhuman, a cancer. Wherever it has had a chance, the Baku regime has destroyed Armenian churches and gravesites to erase evidence of Armenians’ indigeneity to the territory. Armenians know what’s coming. The only realistic hope for them is to leave—which has been Baku’s plan all along.
Armenian leaders are already being arrested by Azerbaijan authorities. The brutal regime’s reputation played a large part in the exodus towards Armenia itself. France 24 says:
A former head of the breakaway enclave was arrested by Azerbaijan on Wednesday as he tried to escape into Armenia as part of the exodus. Ruben Vardanyan, a billionaire banker and philanthropist, headed Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government between November 2022 and February 2023.
His wife Veronika Zonabend said on his Telegram channel that he had been arrested while trying to flee as part of a mass departure by ethnic Armenians. Azerbaijan’s border service said he had been taken to the capital Baku and handed over to other state agencies.
This catastrophe will deeply hurt Russia’s relationships with remaining friends in its orbit. Armenia has moved to closer ties with the United States and the West in a bid to save itself from further aggression by Azerbaijan and Turkey. Whether this holds remains to be seen.
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