Karvachar residents leave Nagorno-Karabakh against authorities' plans

The population of Karvachar and the surrounding region is leaving en masse with their belongings for Armenia by the road to Vardenis, although Araik Arutyunyan, the president of the unrecognized republic, has promised to maintain control over this highway and resettle the victims in Stepanakert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Russian peacemakers, following the concluded tripartite agreement on ceasefire in the conflict zone, have taken control over the Lachin corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia, by setting up temporary posts there. On November 12, the peacemaking battalion of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) took control of Stepanakert; 10 observation posts were set up along the contact line.

The authorities of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have failed to organize the evacuation of civilian population from the Karvachar (Kelbadjar) District, Unan Tadevosyan, the press secretary of the State Emergency Service of Nagorno-Karabakh, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Araik Arutyunyan, the Artsakh President, asked the population not to leave their homes, but people are independently transporting away their property," said the press secretary.

A resident of Yerevan told the "Caucasian Knot" on condition of anonymity that he returned from Karvachar in the evening on November 12. He helped his friend in evacuating the property.

"Karvachar is gone. People leave their homes, take out everything that they can take out, and themselves set fire to their houses," he said, stressing that the entire road to Vardenis is jammed with trucks with belongings: people are transporting everything they can take with them. The population of Karvachar sees a threat of their physical elimination in the current situation.

The Kazaryan family from the village of Nor Kharkhatup, Karvachar District, even took the roof of their house with them, having dismantled it. Their relatives helped them to transport things.

The road via Karvachar is overloaded with cars full of household belongings, Mikhail, a resident of Stepanakert, confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot". "I've come on business, and I'll be returning in the morning. Traffic is very difficult; a lot of cars and trucks are driving towards Vardenis," he said.

"I listened to people from Karvachar. The day after tomorrow they have to leave the lands, where they lived, gave birth to children, organized weddings, and buried their ancestors. There are about 4000 of them; they are trying to save and take out what they can. They even remove roofing and doors. They say it may come in handy; maybe they'll be able to build another house somewhere. Many burn down what they cannot carry away," the blogger Elina Pogosbekyan has written in her Facebook page.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 13, 2020 at 09:44 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.