Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Thousands of Armenians in Karabakh mass at airport after ceasefire deal

YEREVAN –

Thousands of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh on Wednesday massed at the airport where some Russian peacekeepers are based after separatist forces agreed to a ceasefire which would see them surrender to Azerbaijan.

Separatists running the self-styled "Republic of Artsakh" urged the population of 120,000 not to rush to the airport in the capital which they call Stepanakert.

The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Sign up for breaking news alerts from CTV News, right at your fingertips

"We once again urge the population of Stepanakert not to succumb to panic and not to go to the airport on their own initiative in order to evacuate," the separatists said.

Pictures from Karabakh showed thousands of people at the airport, some with young children.

Separatist leaders have repeatedly accused Azerbaijan of wanting to ethnically cleanse Karabakh. Baku rejects such accusations and says it will protect the rights of the area’s ethnic Armenian civilians under its own constitution.

Armenians, who are Christians, claim a long historical dominance in the area, dating back to several centuries before Christ.

Azerbaijan, whose inhabitants are mostly Muslim, links its historical identity to the territory too. It accuses the Armenians of driving out Azerbaijanis who lived nearby in the 1990s. It wants to gain full control over the region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Under the ceasefire agreement, representatives of the Armenians in Karabakh are due to hold a meeting on Thursday with Azerbaijani authorities.

Russia said its peacekeepers were performing their role.

Moscow said there were 2,261 people, including 1,049 children, sheltering at the peacekeepers’ base camp.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Andrew Osborn)

More news