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Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict

Baku promises amnesty to Karabakh fighters who lay down arms

Hikmet Hajiyev pledged that Baku would respect the rights of Karabakh’s Armenian population, making this a part of the reintegration process

BAKU, September 22. /TASS/. Azerbaijan is looking at amnestying members of Karabakh armed groups who give up their weapons, Azerbaijani presidential adviser Hikmet Hajiyev said on Friday.

Hajiyev told Reuters that Baku is looking at amnesty for those Karabakh fighters who surrender arms. "Even with regard to former militaries and combatants, if they can be classified in such a way, and even for them we are envisaging an amnesty or alluding to an amnesty as well," Reuters quoted him as saying.

He pledged that Baku would respect the rights of Karabakh’s Armenian population, making this a part of the reintegration process. He said that three trucks with humanitarian cargoes will be sent to the region later on Friday.

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 Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for the situation.

Russia called on the conflicting sides to prevent civilian casualties and return to a diplomatic solution. On September 20, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced that an agreement had been reached in coordination with the Russian peacekeeping contingent to suspend the anti-terrorist operation in Nagorno-Karabakh as of 12:00 p.m. Moscow time. On September 21, representatives of Baku and the Armenian population of Karabakh met in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh "to discuss reintegration issues."

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Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict

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