The Prime Minister of Armenia – Nikol Pashinyan today, i.e., Tuesday, November 10, 2020 announced signing an extremely painful agreement which seeks to end the ongoing war with Azerbaijan in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
This comes hours after the President of Azerbaijan – Ilham Alivey announced that his troops have captured a key town of Shusha in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Expressing his anguish on Facebook, Pashinyan posted, “I have made a difficult, extremely difficult decision for personally me and all of us. I have signed a declaration with the Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan on stopping the war starting from 01:00 (local time).”
He further stated that the decision to sing the peace agreement was made after analysing the military situation and on the conviction that it is the best possible outcome. The agreement comes after 6 weeks of continuous war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. A number of ceasefire agreements have been brokered since fresh tension erupted but all of them didn’t work out.
A ceasefire was unavoidable after the loss of Shusha. Battles were already taking place on the outskirts of Karabakh’s main city, Stepanakert, and if the conflict had continued, the whole of Karabakh would have been lost by Armenia.
The region is internationally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan but has been run by ethnic Armenians since 1994. In the same year, a truce was signed after fighting but not a peace deal. The primary matter of contention between the warring sides is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that escalated to war between 1988 and 1994, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
By the end of the war in 1994, the Armenians were in fullcontrol of the enclave (with the exception of the Shahumyan Province) in addition to areas of Azerbaijan proper connecting the enclave to Armenia. A Russian-brokered ceasefire, the Bishkek Protocol, was signed in May 1994 but numerous violations of the ceasefire have occurred since then. At least 30,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes before the 1994 ceasefire.
Under the new deal, Azerbaijan will hold onto the areas of Nagorno-Karabakh that it has taken during the conflict. Armenia will withdraw troops from several other adjacent areas over the next few weeks. Besides, both sides will also exchange the prisoners of war.
In a televised speech, the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin said that 1,960 Russian peacekeepers would be deployed in the region to patrol the frontlines. Meanwhile, Turkey, who supports Azerbaijan, will also be deployed in the peacekeeping process.
Speaking on the occasion, the President of Azerbaijan – Ilham Alivey tweeted (Translated from Russian), “Today is a historic day. The Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict ends.” (Original tweet in Russian: Сегодня исторический день. Прекращается армяно-азербайджанский нагорно-карабахский конфликт).
This statement has historic significance. This statement constitutes Armenia’s capitulation. This statement puts an end to the years-long occupation. This statement is our Glorious Victory!
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) November 10, 2020
He further tweeted (Translated from Russian), “This statement is of historical significance. This statement means the surrender of Armenia. This statement ends the occupation that has lasted for many years. This statement is our Glorious Victory!” (Original tweet in Russian: Это заявление имеет историческое значение. Это заявление означает капитуляцию Армении. Это заявление прекращает оккупацию, длившуюся долгие годы. Это заявление -наша Славная Победа!)
The Defence Ministry of Azerbaijan had posted a video on Monday, i.e., November 9, 2020, showing the country’s flag flying on public buildings in the Shusha. The video also presented deserted streets and damaged buildings. Later, Azerbaijan apologized for downing a Russian helicopter near the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, saying it was an accident. The helicopter was downed using a portable surface-to-air missile. The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan issued an apology for downing of the helicopter.
