The Armenian population of the Aghdam and Lachin, as well as the Kelbajar regions of Azerbaijan, which will soon be returned to Azerbaijan, are burning their houses.
The images shared on social networks shows that supporters of the occupation of Karabakh started burning houses before leaving.
On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would remain on the positions they hold and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. Besides, Armenia and Azerbaijan should carry out the exchange of prisoners of war and the bodies of those killed. Aghdam region will be returned to Azerbaijan before November 20, Kelbajar region - before November 15, Lachin region - before December 1.
Senior analyst of Vestnik Kavkaza Andrei Petrov explained that Azerbaijan does not expel the Armenian community from the liberated territories - local Armenians leave for Armenia only of their own free will. "Now there is a withdrawal of Armenian troops from the Kelbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions of Azerbaijan, that is, the citizens of Armenia, who were illegally in the territory of Azerbaijan as part of the occupation forces, are leaving these lands. Only these people, foreign citizens, are obliged to leave the Azerbaijani land. The local population, who lived there since Soviet times and did not become a victim of ethnic cleansing organized by the occupiers, is part of the multinational people of Azerbaijan. Nobody wants them to leave their homeland," he said.
"Those who are leaving Azerbaijan, burning their houses, are either migrants from Armenia, that is, Armenian citizens who understand that they have no legal reason to stay there, or people who do not want to be Azerbaijani citizens. This is their choice. It is likely that among them there are those who committed crimes against neighbors and fellow countrymen in the 90s, who expelled Azerbaijanis from their homes, took their property. It is clear why such people flee: they understand that they will have to answer for their atrocities before the court. Therefore, they burn houses, destroying evidence," Andrey Petrov noted.
