Former official says 'almost no Armenians left'
in Nagorno-Karabakh region
Armenians (read Christians) driven out of enclave in Muslim Azerbaijan. The former region no longer exists as a political entity.
Turkey's Erdogan must be delighted, now how to get them out of Armenia so Erdogan's Ottoman Empire can begin to take shape.
By Simon Druker
Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh cross the border with Azerbaijan by car, carrying their belongings with them, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, on Friday. Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA-EFE
Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A former top official of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Eastern Europe said Saturday almost none of its ethnic Armenian population remains following a mass wave of migration of more than 100,000 people.
Artak Beglaryan, the region's former state minister, said in a social media post that the enclave "is almost fully empty with at most a few hundred people remaining, who are also leaving."
Tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh following a military operation conducted by Azerbaijan to recapture the area, officials confirmed Friday.
Roughly 88,000 of them crossed the border into Armenia in less than a week, the United Nations said Friday, accounting for more than 80% of the Armenian population in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which shares a border with Azerbaijan.
Approximately 120,000 ethnic Armenians called the region home.
A majority of those coming into Armenia do have family there, while approximately 32,000 require government accommodation, according to the Armenian Prime Minister's Office.
The UN is sending a team of observers to the region.
President Ilham Aliyev's government last week launched a military operation to retake the 1,700-square-mile territory in the name of Azerbaijan. The breakaway republic was formed in 1994 following a war between Azerbaijan and Armenia and has seen several military conflicts over the years.
Azerbaijan will now formally dissolve the republic, prompting thousands of ethnic Armenians to immediately flee across the border back into Armenia, which has a total population of 2.8 million.
The region itself is located in the South Caucasus, in the Lesser Caucasus mountain range.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a speech last Sunday warned of the possibility of ethnic cleansing, but Aliyev has denied any hint of the practice and publicly stated he will guarantee the safety of Armenians choosing to remain in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkey says ‘terrorists’ carried out bomb attack near government building
By Reuters
Published Oct. 1, 2023, 4:14 a.m. ET
Two "terrorists" carried out a bomb attack in front of the ministry buildings in Ankara on Sunday.
Turkey’s government said on Sunday two terrorists carried out a bomb attack in front of the Interior Ministry buildings in Ankara, adding one of them died in the explosion and the other was “neutralized” by authorities there.
An explosion was heard near the parliament and ministerial buildings, Turkish media had earlier reported, and broadcasters showed footage of debris scattered on a street nearby.
The blast was the first in Ankara since 2016, and comes on the day that parliament was set to open a new session.
Reuters footage showed soldiers, ambulances, fire trucks and armored vehicles gathered at the ministry near the center of Turkey’s capital.
Ali Yerlikaya, the interior minister, said on social media platform X that two police officers were slightly injured in the incident at 9:30 a.m.
“Two terrorists came with a light commercial vehicle in front of the entrance gate of the General Directorate of Security of our Ministry of Internal Affairs and carried out a bomb attack,” he said.
He added that one blew himself up and the other was “neutralized”, which usually means was killed. “Our struggle will continue until the last terrorist is neutralized,” Yerlikaya wrote.
Police also announced they would carry out controlled explosions for “suspicious package incidents” in other parts of Ankara.
Authorities did not identify any specific militant group.
The blast comes almost a year after six people were killed and 81 wounded in an explosion in a busy pedestrian street in central Istanbul. Turkey blamed Kurdish militants for that.
During a spate of violence in 2015 and 2016, Kurdish militants, Islamic State and other groups either claimed or were blamed for several attacks in major Turkish cities.
Note that Kurdish militants and IS are both Islamic groups blowing up an Islamic country.
In March 2016, 37 people were killed in Ankara when a bomb-laden car exploded at a crowded central transport hub.
An ambulance is seen near the Interior Ministry following a bomb attack in Ankara, Turkey October 1, 2023.
REUTERS
Ankara’s chief prosecutor launched an investigation on Sunday into what it also called a terrorist attack.
President Tayyip Erdogan was set at 7:30 p.m. to attend the opening of parliament, which in the coming weeks is expected to consider ratifying Sweden’s bid to join NATO after Turkey had raised initial objections.
Turkish media reported that authorities were carrying out checks of the parliament after the blast at the ministry.
A source told Reuters that the entrance was open but no cars were allowed through as part of the precautions.
No comments:
Post a Comment