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UN team visits Nagorno-Karabakh, calls for need to build trust

According to the statement, the mission was struck by the sudden manner in which the local population left their homes and the suffering the experience must have caused

GENEVA, October 2. /TASS/. A UN team visited Nagorno-Karabakh and called for efforts to build trust in the area, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

"The team stresses the need to build trust and confidence, adding this will require time and effort from all sides," the statement said.

Led by Vladanka Andreeva, the resident coordinator in Azerbaijan, the team set out on a mission to "assess the situation on the ground and identify humanitarian needs of both people remaining and on the move," according to the statement. In Khankendi (Stepanakert), UN officials met with people and community representatives and saw first-hand the situation regarding health and education.

"The mission was struck by the sudden manner in which the local population left their homes and the suffering the experience must have caused," the statement said.

The UN in Azerbaijan plans to continue to regularly visit the region.

"The UN is responding to the needs of new arrivals at reception centers in Armenia," the statement said.

Tensions reignited in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19. Baku announced it was starting "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan said there were no Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and described the situation as "an act of large-scale aggression." Russia called on the sides of the conflict to halt the bloodshed and return to diplomacy. On September 20, an agreement was reached to halt hostilities. Representatives of Azerbaijan and the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh held a meeting in the Azerbaijani town of Yevlakh on September 21 to discuss the issues of the region’s reintegration into Azerbaijan.

The president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree on September 28 to dissolve the unrecognized state from January 1, 2024. Its people have been urged to consider the terms of reintegration in Azerbaijan, which were offered by Baku, and stay put if they choose to do so.