«Peace Pretenders». How the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh trusted Russia and ended up in exile
On the morning of September 19, 2023, Azerbaijani troops launched an offensive against the remnants of Karabakh, where Armenians were still living. Over the next couple of weeks, almost all of them left for Armenia along the long serpentine road known as the Lachin Corridor. And like almost everything in the Karabakh conflict, this event got two names. «Ethnic cleansing», according to the Armenian side, and «voluntary resettlement», according to the Azerbaijani side. The spectacle of a hundred thousand people leaving their homes forever shocked many. But for outside audiences, the shock was short-lived. Azerbaijan managed to convince everyone so quickly that what was happening was normal and inevitable that the topic disappeared from the agenda. It was also in Russia’s interest to sweep everything under the rug so that no one would ask an awkward question. The only thing left now is to make sense of what happened and not allow propaganda myths to take root.
#Azerbaijan #Analytics #Armenia #ArmenianAzerbaijaniconflict #lifeinexile #personalexperience #NagornoKarabakh #aftertheUSSR #Russia #RubenVardanyan #ethnicconflicts