First evacuees from Nagorno-Karabakh cross into Armenia
The first several hundred refugees from war-torn Nagorno-Karabakh have crossed into Armenian territory, as a historic evacuation begins that could lead to a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians while Azerbaijan appears on the brink of taking control of the breakaway region.
They are the first civilians to have crossed from Nagorno-Karabakh into Armenia in nearly a year, reuniting families after a 10-month blockade and an intensive Azerbaijan military offensive this week that has left hundreds dead, wounded or missing.
Rima Elizbaryan and her two daughters crossed the border in the early afternoon and were met by her brother, waiting with chocolates and sweets.
It was the first they had seen each other in nearly a year, and the family embraced and cried as they prepared to travel to a relative’s home near the city of Goris, close to the border.
“I’m just so happy right now,” Elizbaryan said. Her brother said: “I always knew they would come, I knew they would be OK.”
Officials in the breakaway Armenian government in Nagorno-Karabakh have said they plan to evacuate thousands of displaced people from the region into Armenia.
Azerbaijan’s blockade of the territory has led to desperate shortages of food, fuel and water in the local capital, Stepanakert, and surrounding areas.
The local ethnic Armenian government has called for Azerbaijan to open up the road along the Lachin corridor into Armenia to allow humanitarian aid into and the local population out of Nagorno-Karabakh. Many fear a campaign of ethnic cleansing when Azerbaijani authorities take control.
The local government said evacuees would be accompanied across the border from the disputed region into Armenia by Russian peacekeepers.
“Dear compatriots, we would like to inform you that, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, the families who were left homeless as a result of the recent military operations and expressed their desire to leave will be transferred to Armenia,” a statement read. “The government will issue information about the relocation of other