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Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Karabakh refugees have to wait for hours to enter Armenia via Lachin corridor

Another refugee said he had left Martuni with his relatives and is now going to Yerevan

SHUSHA, September 26. /TASS/. Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh have to wait in line for hours to enter Armenia via the Lachin corridor road, a TASS correspondent reported from the area on Tuesday.

"I started from Stepanakert, and now I’m waiting. I think in an hour, it will be 12 hours in line. And we have no idea why it is like that," one of the refugees told TASS. "We are heading for Armenia. However, if there is a place for us in Russia, we may go there. Of course, we would rather stay [in Nagorno-Karabakh], but that is not possible."

Another refugee said he had left Martuni with his relatives and is now going to Yerevan.

"We are from Nagorno-Karabakh, the city of Martuni. We departed at 10 a.m. and stopped for the night near Shusha," he said. "We have been waiting here for about five hours. We are on our way to Yerevan, but we have nowhere to stay there. <...> So, we’ll see."

According to the TASS correspondent, hundreds of cars are now waiting in line. Many families with children are among them, some with pets too. Cars and trucks are fully loaded with household items and personal belongings. Vehicles are leaving the nearby city of Stepanakert mostly in groups. Their safety is ensured by Russian peacekeepers and Azerbaijani armed forces.

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." Russia 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, an agreement was reached to cease hostilities, and the next day representatives of Baku and the Karabakh Armenian population met in the Azerbaijani town of Yevlakh "to discuss reintegration issues."

Some Karabakh residents began to leave for Armenian territory on September 24. A refugee center opened in the city of Goris not far from the border. A total of 20,000 refugees have already arrived there.

Tags

Armenia Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh

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