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Outside forces pushed Baku to carry out ethnic cleansing in Karabakh — Armenian PM

The prime minister pointed out that the goal had been to make ethnic Armenians leave the region and move to Armenia to change the government in the country

YEREVAN, March 12. /TASS/. "Outside forces" pushed Azerbaijan to carry out ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

The prime minister pointed out at a press conference that the goal had been to make ethnic Armenians leave the region and move to Armenia to change the government in the country.

"I’m not sure at the moment that I’m doing the right thing but I will say that some outside forces were pushing the main force (Azerbaijan - TASS) to carry out ethnic cleansing in order to make Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians leave. Why was this done? [Anti-government forces] in Armenia had announced the start of a process to change the government, taking advantage of the Karabakh issue. They brought resources to Armenia at Karabakh’s expense to make a revolution happen. This ambition is still there," Pashinyan said.

President of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree on September 28 to dissolve the unrecognized state from January 1, 2024. Its people were urged to consider the terms of reintegration in Azerbaijan, which were offered by Baku, and stay put if they choose to do so. The Armenian opposition blamed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government for what had happened. The Armenian prime minister and other high-ranking officials had repeatedly said that they recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.