Pashinian stressed at the same time that the government still hopes that the Karabakh Armenians will be able to continue living in their homeland “without fear.”
This became extremely problematic after the authorities in Stepanakert agreed to disband Karabakh’s armed forces as part of a ceasefire deal reached on Wednesday after two days of heavy fighting with advancing Azerbaijani forces. The deal thus paved the way for the restoration of full Azerbaijani control over the Armenian-populated territory. Few of its 120,000 or so residents seem willing to live under Azerbaijani rule.
Pashinian admitted that their evacuation to Armenia is a real possibility as he opened a weekly cabinet meeting held amid continuing anti-government protests in Yerevan. He said Armenian authorities have already prepared temporary housing for up to 40,000 Karabakh families and will make sure that they have food and access to healthcare.
“In this regard, we can say that we are ready and keep getting ready,” he said.
“The important thing is that Karabakh’s depopulation, that is to say the evacuation of our compatriots from Karabakh, is not our Plan A,” added Pashinian. “We must do everything to make sure that Karabakh residents are able to live in their homes without fear and in dignified and safe conditions.”
A senior aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, meanwhile, that he has discussed the fate of the Karabakh Armenians with representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross and “other international partners.” Hikmet Hajiyev indicated that Karabakh residents are free to leave the region for Armenia through the Lachin corridor that has been blocked by Baku for more than nine months.
“Those who want to go are mostly family members of military personnel,” he wrote on the X social media platform. “Military personnel who voluntarily lay down their weapons are free [to do the same,] as we openly stated.”
In separate comments to the Reuters news agency, Hajiyev said Baku is ready to grant amnesty to Karabakh soldiers laying down their weapons.
The Azerbaijani leadership is facing growing calls from the European Union and its key member states to refrain from further violence against Karabakh’s population.
“Azerbaijan bears the responsibility to ensure the rights and security of the Karabakh Armenians, including their right to live in their homes without intimidation and discrimination,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement issued on Thursday. “Forced displacement of the civilian population through military or other means will be met with a strong response by the EU.”
“The EU stands ready to take appropriate actions in the event of a further deterioration of the situation,” warned Borrell.
The two-day fighting displaced a large part of Karabakh’s population of an estimated 120,000, with thousands of people fleeing their homes and taking refuge in Stepanakert or at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeepers. The fate of many others remained unknown on Friday due to continuing disruptions in transport and telephone links with their communities surrounded by Azerbaijani troops.
Those include the towns of Martakert and Martuni. Azerbaijani authorities on Friday allowed a convoy of International Committee of Red Cross vehicles to evacuate wounded soldiers and civilians from Martuni to Stepanakert.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service by phone, several Karabakh residents said they are desperate to leave their homeland for security reasons. One of them said she implored Russian soldiers to evacuate her and her loved ones to Armenia.
“They said they have no such orders,” she said. “They said they will evacuate us but don’t know when.”
“Nobody wants to stay here, everybody wants to get out,” said another woman. “Some were wondering how they are going to live without this land. That’s what I also did three or four days ago. I thought that I would rather die of hunger with my daughter here in my place than get out of here. But I have heard so many stories for the last two days that I don’t want to stay here anymore.”