YEREVAN/BAKU, Nov 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian began deploying 2,000 peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh after Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed a peace deal to end weeks of fierce fighting over the disputed region.
The Moscow-brokered agreement came after a string of Azerbaijani victories in its fight to retake the ethnic Armenian enclave.
It sparked celebrations in Azerbaijan but fury in Armenia, where protesters took to the streets to denounce their leaders for losses in the territory, which broke from Azerbaijan’s control during a war in the early 1990s.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the deal in the early hours of Tuesday.
Pashinyan described the agreement as “unspeakably painful for me and for our people”, while Aliyev said it amounted to a “capitulation” by Armenia.
The full text of the deal showed clear gains for Azerbaijan.
Its forces will retain control over areas seized in the fighting, including the key town of Shusha, while Armenia agreed to a timetable to withdraw from large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh.
A Russian force of 1,960 military personnel and 90 armoured personnel carriers will deploy to the region as peacekeepers, for a renewable five-year mission.
Aliyev said key ally Turkey would also be involved in peacekeeping efforts.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara and Moscow would jointly supervise the ceasefire at a “joint centre to be designated by Azerbaijan in its lands saved from Armenia’s occupation.”
He hailed the truce as a “right step in the direction of a lasting solution”.
The conflict over the territory — which has simmered for decades despite international efforts to reach an accord — erupted into fresh fighting in late September.
More than 1,400 people have been confirmed killed, including dozens of civilians, but the death toll is believed to be significantly higher.
Azerbaijani forces made steady gains over the weeks of fighting, sweeping across the southern flank of the region and eventually into its heartland.
A turning point came on Sunday when Aliyev announced that his forces had captured Shusha, the region’s strategically vital second-largest town.
UN chief Antonio Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric said “the secretary general is relieved that the deal has been agreed to a cessation of hostilities.
“We are very grateful for the Russian authorities for what they have done. The sense of relief is really about the hope that this will end the suffering of civilians,” he said.
Karabakh declared independence nearly 30 years ago but it has not been recognised internationally, even by Armenia.
Attempts at ceasefires brokered by France, Russia and the United States — which together lead the “Minsk Group” that sought for years to end the conflict — repeatedly failed over recent weeks.
In a statement, the US State Department said Washington was “happy to see an end to the violence” but “will be interested in learning more about the details and plans for implementation of this new arrangement”.
Azerbaijan has been pushing for Turkey’s involvement in a settlement and the new deal came after Putin spoke with Erdogan on Saturday.
The agreement also provides for Armenia to agree to a transport corridor linking Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave on the border with Turkey.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed hope that the deal will “preserve Armenia’s interests” and also called on Turkey to “end its provocations” over the conflict.
Russia has a military pact with Armenia but also good ties with oil-rich Azerbaijan, both ex-Soviet countries that gained independence with the 1991 collapse of the USSR.
