Following a quick military offensive by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, thousands of ethnic Armenians fled the breakaway region for Armenia on Wednesday.
More than 28,000 Armenians from Karabakh, a region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, have crossed into Armenia, a country of around 2.8 million people.
Azerbaijan’s military triumph over the enclave, which had previously been beyond Baku’s control, provoked one of the largest population transfers in the South Caucasus since the breakup of the Soviet Union a week ago.
Many slept in cars or searched for firewood to warm themselves by the side of the road.
Azerbaijan launched a 24-hour offensive in Karabakh in December, following a blockade imposed on the region. It is unclear what occurred prior to the Karabakh leadership agreeing to a ceasefire.
Azerbaijan claims no civilians were wounded.
In the last 30 years, Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over the enclave, with Azerbaijan regaining swaths of territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in a six-week conflict in 2020.
President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan stated Armenian rights would be protected, but that his “iron fist” had put an end to the idea of an independent ethnic Armenian Karabakh.
