Armenian PM Hopes Ethnic Armenians Can Remain in Nagorno-Karabakh

Hikmet Hajiyev, a foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijan’s president, also said Azerbaijan would guarantee an amnesty for Karabakh Armenian fighters who gave up their arms, though he claimed some Karabakh military units had said they would continue their resistance.

Meanwhile, a Karabakh representative told Agence France-Presse news agency that Azerbaijani troops were on the edge of the region’s capital, Stepanakert, which is known in Azerbaijan as Khankendi, prompting residents to hide in basements in fear.

“The situation in Stepanakert is horrible, Azerbaijani troops are all around the city, they are on the outskirts and people fear Azerbaijani soldiers could enter the city at any moment and start killings,” said Armine Hayrapetyan, a separatist spokesperson.

Pashinyan stressed on Thursday evening that the ceasefire in the breakaway region had largely been held. But other Armenian officials said Azerbaijan was preparing for an “ethnic cleansing” in the region.

Speaking at a meeting of the UN security council, Armenia’s foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, said: “The intensity and cruelty of the offensive makes it clear that the intention is to finalise ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

There have also been warnings over a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Karabakh. Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman, Gegham Stepanyan, said on social media that the streets of Stepanakert were “filled with displaced people, hungry, scared, and in uncertainty.”