On Wednesday the Armenian government announced that 50,243 “forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh” have crossed into Armenia. This is more than 40% of the total ethnic Armenian population of 120,000 in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The U.S. has expressed its support for Armenians displaced by the conflict.
Adrienne Watson, a White House National Security Council spokesperson, announced additional humanitarian aid would be sent to the region on Tuesday.
Samantha Power, chief administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Assistant Secretary of State Yuri Kim landed in Armenia Monday to meet with Armenian and Azeri officials regarding the crisis.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev met with Power and Kim on Wednesday to urge the humane treatment of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to a report by APA.
Aliyev has said that the ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh will be integrated and that their rights will be respected.
The Azeri State Security Service echoed Aliyev’s promises, saying in a Monday statement that “full protection of the rights and freedoms of persons of Armenian nationality who have handed over weapons and comply with the requirements of the relevant legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan is provided.”
Both former Soviet territories, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. Both sides have accused each other of committing war crimes and genocide against civilians in the region.
With the backing of Turkey, Azerbaijan asserted its military dominance over Armenia in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, which ended in November 2020.
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