Some Armenians in and around Nagorno-Karabakh have set fire to houses ahead of a handover of parts of territory to Azerbaijan.
Villagers outside of Nagorno-Karabakh set their homes on fire Saturday before fleeing to Armenia ahead of a weekend deadline that will see some territory handed over to Azerbaijan as part of a peace agreement.
Residents of the Kalbajar district in Azerbaijan, which has been controlled by Armenian separatists for decades, began a mass exodus this week after it was announced that Azerbaijan would regain control on Sunday.
Kalbajar was almost exclusively populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis before they were expelled by Armenians in a 1990s war between the two countries following the break up of the Soviet Union, and a majority of the homes being burned previously belonged to Azerbaijanis.
Nagorno-Karabakh lies on the Azeri side of the Azerbaijan-Armenian border and is internationally recognised as Azerbaijan territory, but was occupied by Armenia in 1990s.
Armenia’s government controversially subsidised the region’s settlement by ethnic Armenians.
The ex-Soviet rivals agreed to end hostilities earlier this week after previous efforts by Russia, France and the United States to get a ceasefire fell through.
A key part of the peace deal includes Armenia returning Kalbajar and the Aghdam district by 20 November, as well as the Lachin district by 1 December, all of which have been held by Armenians since the devastating 1990s war left 30,000 people dead.
The agreement sparked widespread public fury in Armenia after signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who described the decision as “unspeakably painful for me … and for our people.”
Russian military officials said the mission consisting of nearly 2,000 troops would put in place 16 observation posts in mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Armenians destroyed “99 per cent of the liberated territory” including hospitals, houses and monuments, adding that he wants Armenia to pay compensation.
Under the Russian-negotiated deal, Azerbaijan will hold on to the military gains it has made over the past six weeks, Armenia will withdraw from regions it has occupied since 1994, while Russian peacekeepers will be deployed along the so-called “line of contact”.