Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal: Anger mounts in Armenia as PM Nikol Pashinyan agrees to cede disputed land to Azerbaijan

Hundreds of Armenians rallied in entrance of the federal government headquarters to protest towards a peace settlement signed to finish combating over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh area. AFP

Greater than 2,000 demonstrators Wednesday protested within the Armenian capital as anger mounted over Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s determination to cede swathes of the disputed territory to Azerbaijan beneath a controversial peace deal.

Pashinyan introduced a Russian-brokered peace settlement with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh within the early hours of Tuesday, ending weeks of intense combating that left greater than 1,400 lifeless and displaced tens of 1000’s.

The peace accord sparked celebrations in Azerbaijan however fury in Armenia, the place demonstrators stormed authorities buildings and demanded Pashinyan’s resignation earlier this week.

On Wednesday, greater than 400 Russian peacekeepers deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh the place fierce clashes raged for greater than six weeks between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan’s forces.

Within the Armenian capital Yerevan, police hauled off demonstrators from a gathering of greater than two thousand protesters who had been shouting anti-Pashinyan slogans and calling the prime minister a “traitor” in entrance of presidency headquarters.

Excessive-profile opposition determine Gagik Tsarukyan was amongst these detained, mentioned an AFP correspondent on the scene.

“You won’t be able to cease the entire nation,” a member of the Affluent Armenia celebration, Arman Abovyan, shouted via a megaphone to protesters who had rallied regardless of a ban imposed on public gatherings whereas martial legislation was in place.

Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists broke out in late September.

“Azerbaijan was successful militarily and Armenia confronted a crushing defeat. However humiliation can’t be a robust foundation for sustained peace,” the Worldwide Disaster Group warned in a report on Wednesday.

Armenian law enforcement officials detain a protestor close to the federal government headquarters. AFP

Russian peacekeepers deploy

The deal stipulates that Azerbaijan’s forces will retain management over areas seized within the combating, together with the second-largest city of Shusha, whereas Armenia agreed to a timetable to withdraw from giant elements of Nagorno-Karabakh.

As a part of the accord, a Russian drive of 1,960 army personnel and 90 armoured personnel carriers are deploying to the area as peacekeepers, for a renewable five-year mission.

The army mentioned on Wednesday that 414 Russian servicemen, in addition to helicopters and army automobiles, arrived in Armenia, including that the peacekeeping drive was now accountable for the essential Lachin transport artery connecting Armenia to Karabakh.

Sergei Rudskoy of the Russian Basic Workers mentioned the servicemen had earlier expertise on humanitarian deployments in Syria, the place Russian forces deployed in 2015 to help Syrian chief Bashar al-Assad.

The military was in “fixed contact” with army management in Azerbaijan and Armenia to forestall additional clashes, Rudskoy mentioned, including {that a} complete of 16 statement factors can be put in alongside the road of contact in Karabakh and alongside the Lachin hall.

Azerbaijan has been pushing for Ankara’s involvement in a settlement and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned Tuesday that his nation would collectively supervise the ceasefire with Russia.

Turkey, a staunch ally of Azerbaijan, voiced robust backing for Baku’s army intervention and was broadly accused by Western international locations, Russia and Armenia of dispatching mercenaries from Syria to bolster Azerbaijan’s military.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned Wednesday nevertheless that the deployment of joint Turkish-Russian patrols had not been mentioned.

The mountainous area declared independence from Azerbaijan almost 30 years in the past nevertheless it has not been recognised internationally, even by Armenia.

Preventing between Azerbaijan and the separatists endured regardless of efforts by France, the US, and Russia to dealer three separate ceasefires that collapsed as either side accused the opposite of violations.