YEREVAN, September 22. /TASS/. Karabakh residents may move to Armenia if staying in their own homes becomes impossible and 40,000 beds have been set aside for them in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a government meeting.
"Our stance in regard to the potential relocation of compatriots from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia is as follows. It will happen if it is recognized that it is impossible to stay in their own homes. At this moment, this situation is real. And if it doesn’t improve, then this issue will be on our agenda. We did some work here and currently, 40,000 beds have been prepared in Armenia," Pashinyan said.
The prime minister also noted that Armenians leaving Nagorno-Karabakh is not the Armenian government’s Plan A. On the contrary, everything should be done so that they can safely remain in their homes without fear.
On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku announced it was launching what it described as "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan, in turn, said there were no Armenian forces in Karabakh, calling what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression." Residents of the Armenian capital took to the streets to protest outside the Armenian government building, blaming the country’s leadership and Pashinyan for the situation.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on the parties to the conflict to stop the bloodshed, end hostilities, prevent civilian casualties, and go back to trying to settle the Karabakh issue diplomatically. On September 20, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that an agreement was reached with the participation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to suspend anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh starting from 12:00 p.m. Moscow time. On September 21, in the Azerbaijani town of Yevlakh, a meeting was held between the representatives of Azerbaijan and Karabakh’s Armenian residents in order "to discuss the issues of reintegration."