The Armenian government said that a total of 6,650 people crossed into Armenia through the Lachin corridor by 5 p.m. local time. It pledged to provide accommodation to those arriving refugees who “do not have a predetermined place of residence” in Armenia.
The exodus reportedly caused a massive traffic jam on the road connecting Armenia to Karabakh. The authorities in Stepanakert urged the region’s remaining population of over 100,000 to stay put for now to allow them to evacuate first people wounded and displaced during the two-day Azerbaijani offensive. A statement released by them the morning stressed that “all citizens who wish to move from Artsakh to Armenia will have that opportunity.”
Nagorno-Karabakh - An elderly woman and children sit on bags of belongings as residents gather in central Stepanakert to leave Nagorno-Karabakh, September 25, 2023.
“The authorities of Artsakh will continue to remain in place and carry out state administration until they fully complete the transfer of citizens wishing to travel to Armenia,” added the statement.
It also announced that the authorities will start distributing in the afternoon free fuel to Karabakh residents keen to join the mass exodus in their own cars.
“The relocation of the population is carried out in stages, for which there are no set deadlines,” read another Karabakh government statement released shortly afterwards.
The two-day offensive forced Karabakh’s leadership to agree to disband its armed forces greatly outnumbered and outgunned by advancing Azerbaijani troops in the absence of any military support from Armenia. Few Karabakh Armenians seem willing to live under Azerbaijani rule envisaged by a Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the fighting.
Nagorno-Karabakh - Residents drive cars as they leave Stepanakert following a military operation conducted by Azerbaijani forces i, September 24, 2023.
The mayor of the northern Karabakh town of Martakert, Misha Gyurjian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that Azerbaijani troops entered the community on Sunday night after its entire population headed to Stepanakert in a convoy of about a thousand vehicles. He said that “quite a few” Martakert civilians went missing during the September 19-20 hostilities and remain unaccounted for.
People from Martakert and nearby villages were among the refugees who arrived on Monday morning in the Armenian border town of Goris where they were received by aid workers redirecting them to their new places of residents.
“We are from the village of Gandzasar,” said one of them. “The Azerbaijanis are already there. The village suffered many casualties.”
Two other Martakert women said they lost contact with their children during the fighting and still do not know their whereabouts. As one of the mothers explained, “I was at our military positions during the fighting. When I left them I couldn’t get home because the roads were blocked.”