Armenians torch homes in village given up in deal
KALBAJAR, Azerbaijan — In a bitter farewell to his home of 21 years, Garo Dadevusyan wrenched off its metal roof and prepared to set the stone house on fire. Thick smoke poured from houses that his neighbors had already torched before fleeing this ethnic Armenian village about to come under Azerbaijani control.
The village is to be turned over to Azerbaijan on Sunday as part of territorial concessions in an agreement to end six weeks of intense fighting with Armenian forces. The move gripped its 600 people with fear and anger so deep that they destroyed the homes they once loved.
The settlement — called Karvachar in Armenian — is legally part of Azerbaijan, but it has been under the control of ethnic Armenians since the 1994 end of a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. That war left not only Nagorno-Karabakh but substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.
After years in which sporadic clashes broke out between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces, fullscale fighting began in late September. Azerbaijan made relentless military advances, culminating in the seizure of Shusha, a strategically key city and one of strong emotional significance as a longtime center of Azeri culture.
Two days after Azerbaijan announced it had taken Shusha, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a Russia-brokered cease-fire under which territory that Armenia occupies outside the formal borders of Nagorno-Karabakh will be gradually ceded.
Muslim Azeris and Christian Armenians once lived together in these regions, however uneasily. Although the cease-fire ends the fighting, it aggravates ethnic animosity.
“In the end, we will blowitupor set it on fire, in order not to leave anything toMuslims,” Dadevusyan said of his house.
He spoke while taking a rest fromsalvagingwhat he could from the home, including metal roof panels, and piling it onto an old flatbed truck.
The truck’s final destination was unclear.
“We are homeless now, do not know where to go and where to live. Do not knowwhere to live. It is very hard,” Dadevusyan’s wife, Lusine, said, choked by tears.
Garo Dadevusyan’s dismay extended to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Armenia and Russia have close relations, and Russia
has a sizable military base in Armenia, so many Armenians had hoped for support from Moscow. Instead, Russia facilitated the cease-fire and territorial concessions and is sending in nearly 2,000 peacekeepers to enforce it.
“Why has Putin abandoned us?” Dadevusyan said.
On Saturday, miles-long columns of cars and trucks carrying
fleeing residents jammed the road to Armenia.
For the Dadevusyans, their sudden relocation is overwhelming beyond words.
“When you spent 21 years here and now need to leave it …,” Garo Dadevusyan said, trailing off, as smoke fromnearby burning houses choked the air. Soon, he knew, his house would be one of them.