On January 1, 2024, the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic officially ceases to exist.
The corresponding decree was signed by NKR leader Samvel Shakhramanyan, Interfax reports. All departments and the government are disbanded, as Azerbaijan demanded after the recent successful military operation.
“To dissolve all state institutions and organizations that are under their departmental subordination by January 1, 2024. The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) shall cease to exist,” the decree reads.
David Babayan, Shahramanyan’s advisor, wrote on Facebook that he had decided to voluntarily surrender to Azerbaijan. He will travel to Baku “for an appropriate investigation”.
“You all know that I am on Azerbaijan’s blacklist, and the Azerbaijani side demanded my arrival in Baku for a relevant investigation. I decided to leave today from Stepanakert for Shusha […]. My failure to appear or escape will cause serious harm to our long-suffering people, to many people, and I cannot allow this as an honest man, patriot and Christian,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Armenians are leaving Nagorno-Karabakh en masse. As of September 28, more than 65,000 people have left for Armenia.
- On September 19, Azerbaijan announced the launch of an “anti-terrorist operation” in Nagorno-Karabakh to “restore constitutional order.” After a day of fighting and shelling, the unrecognized NKR surrendered, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared the restoration of the country’s sovereignty. On September 20, Azerbaijan demanded the dissolution of the government of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the disarmament of all its formations. The NKR forces then began to surrender equipment and weapons, and Armenians began to leave Nagorno-Karabakh.
- On September 27, Azerbaijan officially announced its losses in the one-day operation – 192 soldiers were killed and 512 wounded. The Armenian side did not officially name its losses. According to various estimates, between 32 and 100 people, including civilians, were killed in Karabakh during the day.
- Christian Armenia and Muslim Azerbaijan have been arguing over Nagorno-Karabakh for more than a century. Each country considers the area its historical territory, and each has its own arguments and interpretation of history. After the 1991-1993 war and the signed peace agreement, Nagorno-Karabakh became an unrecognized republic, de facto controlled by Armenia, while de jure it was part of Azerbaijan. The NKR proclaimed its “independence” on September 2, 1991, within the boundaries of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and part of the adjacent territories of Azerbaijan. The Republic has not been recognized by any UN member state. Conflicts were constantly breaking out on its borders.
- The last full-scale war took place in 2020 and ended with Azerbaijan’s victory: the country regained significant territories, and the NKR became an enclave with one single road to Armenia through the Lachin corridor.
