Yevlakh meeting between Karabakh representatives and Baku
Following the 20 September agreement mediated by the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh, talks have taken place in Yevlakh between Azerbaijan’s delegation and representatives of the region’s ethnic Armenian population. They came a day after Baku said a military operation to disarm and dissolve separatist ethnic Armenian units had achieved its aims.
Talks between the sides are not new, but previous meetings held in March in Khojaly broke down after Karabakh’s representatives refused to discuss the region’s reintegration into Azerbaijan. They also rejected offers to meet in Baku and Yevlakh, citing security concerns and again refusing to discuss integration.
This time, however, geographically, and politically isolated, as well as militarily defeated, Karabakh had little choice but to agree. For Baku, the talks were essential given that separatist forces, it says, posed a threat to the return of Azerbaijani Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the early 1990s to their former homes, now being rebuilt in the seven surrounding regions.
At the time of writing, as part of the agreements reached, the Russian Ministry of Defence says that the Karabakh Armenians have already handed over 6 armored vehicles, more than 800 guns, and around 5,000 rounds of ammunition to its peacekeeping contingent.
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