Bergkarabach

The leader of the self-declared Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh has said it will cease to exist in the new year. Samvel Shahramanyan announced on Thursday that he had signed an order dissolving all state institutions from 1 January. The region, which had been controlled by Armenians for three decades, was seized by Azerbaijan last week. More than half of its majority ethnic Armenian population have now fled, according to officials.

The United States and Germany added to calls for international observers to be allowed into the Nagorno-Karabakh region, as Azerbaijan said Wednesday that 192 of its soldiers were killed in an operation to retake the area from ethnic Armenian separatists.

An UN-appointed independent human rights expert on Wednesday called on Azerbaijan to “guarantee the rights of ethnic Armenians” in the Karabakh region and ensure that civilians who remain “are respected and protected in line with its international obligations.”

The EU and US have urged Azerbaijan to give aid groups more access to ethnic Armenians, as tens of thousands flee the conflict zone.

Representatives for ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh met Thursday with the Azerbaijan government to discuss the future of the breakaway region. The talks in Yevlakh, Azerbaijan come a day after local fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh agreed to lay down their arms to end an offensive by Azerbaijan’s forces. The U.N. Security Council is due to hold its own talks Thursday about the situation.

Azerbaijan on Tuesday began what it called an "anti-terrorist operation" targeting Armenian military positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and officials in the area reported heavy artillery firing around its capital.

Officials in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh said a Russian truck carrying humanitarian aid arrived on September 12 in the region via territory controlled by Azerbaijan, the first time such a crossing has been allowed in more than three decades.

Armenia and the United States have begun joint military exercises that have angered Moscow and come as tensions rise between Yerevan and neighboring Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The deployment of even unarmed civilian observers marks an unprecedented Western intervention in a country where Russia has traditionally been the dominant security provider and, despite recent setbacks, still sees itself as the primary power broker. 

Four Armenian soldiers have been killed after Azerbaijani shelling near the border town of Sotk, northwest of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh according to Armenia’s Ministry of Defence. … Meanwhile, Azerbaijan said that Armenia had struck positions in the Kalbajar region using drones, wounding three Azerbaijani servicemen.