Armenians torch their homes on land ceded to Azerbaijan

November 15, 2020

KALBAJAR, Azerbaijan (AP) — In a bitter farewell to his home of 21 years, Garo Dadevusyan wrenched off its metal roof and prepared to set the stone house on fire. Thick smoke poured from houses that his neighbors had already torched before fleeing this ethnic Armenian village about to come under Azerbaijani control.

The village is to be turned over to Azerbaijan on Sunday as part of territorial concessions in an agreement to end six weeks of intense fighting with Armenian forces. The move gripped its 600 people with fear and anger so deep that they destroyed the homes they once loved.

The settlement — called Karvachar in Armenian — is legally part of Azerbaijan, but it has been under the control of ethnic Armenians since the 1994 end of a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. That war left not only Nagorno-Karabakh itself but substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.

After years in which sporadic clashes broke out between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces, full-scale fighting began in late September this year. Azerbaijan made relentless military advances, culminating in the seizure of the city of Shusha, a strategically key city and one of strong emotional significance as a longtime center of Azeri culture.

Two days after Azerbaijan announced it had taken Shusha, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a Russia-brokered cease-fire under which territory that Armenia occupies outside the formal borders of Nagorno-Karabakh will be gradually ceded.

Muslim Azeris and Christian Armenians once lived together in these regions, however uneasily. Although the cease-fire ends the fighting, it aggravates ethnic animosity. “In the end, we will blow it up or set it on fire, in order not to leave anything to Muslims,” Dadevusyan said of his house.

He spoke while taking a rest from salvaging what he could from the home, including metal roof panels, and piling it onto an old flatbed truck. The truck's final destination was unclear. “We are homeless now, do not know where to go and where to live. Do not know where to live. It is very hard," Dadevusyan's wife, Lusine, said, choked by tears the couple gave the interior of the house a last look.

Dadevusyan's dismay extended to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Armenia and Russia keep close relations and Russia has a sizeable military base in Armenia, so many Armenians had hoped for support from Moscow. Instead, Russia facilitated the cease-fire and territorial concessions and is sending in nearly 2,000 peacekeepers to enforce it.

"Why has Putin abandoned us?” Dadevusyan said. On Saturday, kilometers-long (miles-long) columns of cars and trucks carrying fleeing residents jammed the road to Armenia. Scores of local people flocked to Dadivank, an Armenian Apostolic Church monastery dating to the 9th century, as priests removed sacred items to be taken away. Many of the visitors took photos of themselves at the site nestled in the mountains near Karvachar, suggesting they did not expect to see it again.

A small group of Russian peacekeepers watched from across the road, some sitting on their armored vehicles. The monastery's abbot, the Rev. Hovhannes Ter-Hovhannisyan, walked over to greet them. “It's very important to us that the Russian peacekeepers came today in order to preserve peace, because not all the questions of our future have been resolved,” he said. “But I am sure that justice will triumph.”

Hundreds of thousands of Azeris were displaced by the war that ended in 1994. It is unclear when any civilians might try to settle in Karvachar — which will now be known by its Azeri name Kalbajar — or elsewhere.

Any returns could be wrenching. Settlers will confront the burned, empty shells of houses — or worse. Agdam, which is to be turned over next week, once was a city of about 40,000, but now is an empty sprawl of buildings that were destroyed in the first war or later ruined by pillagers grabbing building materials.

Returning also is potentially dangerous because of the remnants of war. The Azerbaijani general prosecutor’s office said one man was killed and another injured Saturday when they triggered a mine left over from the fighting in Fizuli, an area now under Azerbaijani control.

For the Dadevusyans, their sudden relocation is overwhelming beyond words. “When you spent 21 years here and now need to leave it...,” Garo Dadevusyan said, trailing off, as smoke from nearby burning houses choked the air. Soon, he knew, his house would be one of them.

Jim Heintz in Moscow and Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this story.

Russian peacekeepers deploy to secure Nagorno-Karabakh truce

November 10, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Dozens of Russian peacekeepers destined for Nagorno-Karabakh began deploying Tuesday, hours after Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to halt fighting over the separatist region and amid signs the cease-fire would hold where others hadn’t.

The truce came after significant advances by Azerbaijani forces that the Armenian-backed leader of Nagorno-Karabakh said made it impossible for his side to carry on. It was celebrated in Azerbaijan, but left Armenians bitter, and many stormed government buildings overnight, demanding Parliament invalidate the agreement.

The two countries have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades, and there were concerns the hostilities could escalate and draw in Turkey, which threw its weight behind Azerbaijan, and Russia, which has a security pact with Armenia.

If the truce proves lasting, it would be a major diplomatic coup for Russia, which appears to have brokered a deal where others failed and was in a tight spot since it has ties with both sides. Turkey also seemed to come out well, though it remained to be seen if it would be able to expand its influence by securing a higher-profile role in the peace process.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. Heavy fighting erupted in late September — the biggest escalation of the conflict in a quarter-century — and has left hundreds, possibly thousands, dead. That includes some 1,300 Nagorno-Karabakh troops, according to the region's officials, and scores of civilians on both sides.

Several cease-fires announced over the past six weeks crumbled almost immediately, but the current agreement appeared to be holding, with neither side reporting any more fighting since it came into force.

It came days after Azerbaijan, which has claimed numerous territorial gains, pressed its offensive deeper into the region and took control of the city of Shushi, strategically positioned on heights overlooking the regional capital of Stepanakert.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist leader Arayik Harutyunyan admitted on Tuesday that “had the hostilities continued at the same pace, we would have lost all of Artsakh (an Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh) within days.”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said it was “extremely painful for me personally and for our people,” calling the situation a “catastrophe.” But Pashinian said he was left with no choice and the army had told him it was necessary to stop the fighting.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev called the agreement “a glorious victory.” The pact was announced by President Vladimir Putin personally early Tuesday, several hours after Azerbaijan downed a Russian helicopter that was flying over Armenia, killing two crew members aboard.

The agreement calls for Armenian forces to turn over control of some areas it held outside the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the Lachin region, which the main road leading from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia passes through. The agreement calls for the road, the so-called Lachin Corridor, to remain open and be protected by Russian peacekeepers.

It also calls for transport links to be established through Armenia connecting Azerbaijan and its western exclave of Nakhchivan, which is surrounded by Armenia, Iran and Turkey. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that at least 22 planes will be used to transport the peacekeepers, and 12 have already landed in Armenia, on their way to Nagorno-Karabakh. A total of 1,960 Russian peacekeepers are to be deployed under a five-year mandate.

Russia, France and the U.S. — co-chairs of the Minsk Group, set up in the 1990s by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to mediate the conflict — have been trying to secure a cease-fire for weeks, but the efforts yielded little progress.

Putin on Tuesday called the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh “a truly great tragedy” and expressed satisfaction over “agreements reached to end the bloodshed." Some lawmakers touted Russia's success. “Russia managed to do what neither (U.S. President Donald) Trump, nor (French President Emmanuel) Macron did — to end a war,” Yelena Panina, at lawmaker in Russia's lower house of Parliament, said Tuesday. “Our country has once again reaffirmed its status of a guarantor of peace in South Caucasus.”

The truce was also welcomed by Iran, which has borders with both Armenia and Azerbaijan and has been worried by the fighting after stray mortar rounds and rockets on occasion injured people and damaged buildings in rural areas near the borders.

Turkey hailed Azerbaijan's “victory." “This is a great success," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a news conference. "Territories that were under occupation for 30 years are being taken back.”

Leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey announced that Ankara will be involved in monitoring the cease-fire along with Moscow as part of a peacekeeping center, which will be set up to host both Russian and Turkish military.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday that the center will be located in Azerbaijan and isn't connected to the peacekeeping efforts outlined in Tuesday's agreement. Rather, it is “a completely different mission, another part of joint efforts," Zakharova said.

Associated Press writers Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, Aida Sultanova in London, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Amir Vahdat in Tehran contributed to this report.

Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to end fight in Nagorno-Karabakh

November 10, 2020

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Armenia and Azerbaijan announced an agreement early Tuesday to halt fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan under a pact signed with Russia that calls for deployment of nearly 2,000 Russian peacekeepers and territorial concessions.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a 1994 truce ended a separatist war in which an estimated 30,000 people died. Sporadic clashes occurred since then, and full-scale fighting began on Sept. 27.

Several cease-fires had been called but were almost immediately violated. However, the agreement announced early Tuesday appeared more likely to take hold because Azerbaijan has made significant advances, including taking control of the strategically key city of Shushi on Sunday.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Facebook that calling an end to the fight was “extremely painful for me personally and for our people.” Soon after the announcement, thousands of people streamed to the main square in the Armenian capital Yerevan to protest the agreement, many shouting, “We won't give up our land!” Some of them broke into the main government building, saying they were searching for Pashinian, who apparently had already departed..

The agreement calls for Armenian forces to turn over control of some areas it held outside the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the eastern district of Agdam. That area carries strong symbolic weight for Azerbaijan because its main city, also called Agdam, was thoroughly pillaged, and the only building remaining intact is the city's mosque.

Armenians will also turn over the Lachin region, which holds the main road leading from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. The agreement calls for the road, the so-called Lachin Corridor, to remain open and be protected by Russian peacekeepers.

In all, 1,960 Russian peacekeepers are to be deployed in the region under a five-year mandate. The agreement also calls for transport links to be established through Armenia linking Azerbaijan and its western exclave of Nakhcivan, which is surrounded by Armenia, Iran and Turkey.

Azerbaijani forces on Monday shot down a Russian helicopter that was flying over Armenia near the border with Nakhchivan, killing two servicemen. Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said the helicopter was flying low and "in the context of these factors and in light of the tense situation in the region and increased combat readiness in connection with possible provocations of the Armenian side, the duty combat crew decided to open fire to kill.”

The seizure of Shushi, which Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claimed Sunday and was confirmed by Nagorno-Karabakh's presidential spokesman Monday, gave Azerbaijan a significant strategic advantage. The city is positioned on heights overlooking the regional capital of Stepanakert, 10 kilometers (six miles) to the north.

“Unfortunately, we are forced to admit that a series of failures still haunt us, and the city of Shushi is completely out of our control,” Vagram Pogosian, a spokesman for the president of the government in Nagorno-Karabakh, said in a statement on Facebook. “The enemy is on the outskirts of Stepanakert.”

Since the 1994 end of the previous war, international mediation efforts by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's “Minsk Group” to determine the region’s final status faltered and the region was separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by a demilitarized zone.

Aliyev on Monday urged U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to intensify mediation efforts. In a congratulatory letter to Biden on his election victory, Aliev said, “Azerbaijan expects the United States and other OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to step up their efforts to find a just solution to the conflict.”

Armenia says more than 1,200 Armenian troops have been killed in the war. Azerbaijan hasn't stated its losses.

Associated Press writers Jim Heintz in Moscow and Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this report.

Armenian recruits baptized before heading into war

November 02, 2020

IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH (AP) — In a wooded area of Nagorno-Karabakh, new recruits to the war besieging the region are underwent a ritual Monday they hope will help them endure the fight — baptism into the Armenian Apostolic Church.

One by one, the young men in camouflage fatigues approached a priest, who dipped their clasped hands into a water-filled kettle and then anointed their heads and necks. Afterwards, the young men stood at attention as the priest hung wooden crosses around their necks.

Their faces were impassive, but one betrayed the emotion churning beneath by kissing the cross. “The baptism cleansed us and helped us forget about the horrors of the war," Tigran Kagramanian, an 18-year-old recruit, told The Associated Press after the Monday ceremony.

The fight between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces that began in late September is the worst eruption of hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh in decades. The region Azerbaijan has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the 1994 end of a separatist war that killed an estimated 30,000 people.

Several cease-fires have been declared, then ignored within hours. The Nagorno-Karabakh defense ministry said Monday that 1,177 Armenian fighters have died in the war, including the region's deputy defense minister.

Azerbaijani authorities haven’t disclosed their military losses, but say the fighting has killed at least 91 civilians and wounded 400. In the most recent attempt to defuse tensions, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met Friday in Geneva for a day of talks brokered by Russia, the United States and France, co-chairs of the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which tries to mediate the conflict.

The talks concluded with the two sides agreeing they “will not deliberately target civilian populations or non-military objects in accordance with international humanitarian law,” but the agreement was quickly challenged by reports of shelling of civilian settlements.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that to end hostilities, Armenian forces must withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh. He repeatedly criticized the Minsk Group for not producing progress and insisted that Azerbaijan has the right to reclaim its territory by force since international mediators have failed.

Azerbaijani troops, which have relied on strike drones and long-range rocket systems supplied by Turkey, have reclaimed control of several regions on the fringes of Nagorno-Karabakh and pressed their offensive into the separatist territory from the south.

The newly baptized soldiers and the priests who blessed them are prepared for more suffering to come. “We came here to inspire, but it is us who are inspired, looking into the eyes of these young guys, who fully understand the situation and are nonetheless ready to take on this martyrs’ death, knowing that behind them are their shrines, their families and their mothers,” said one of the priests, Aristakes Hovhannisian.

Armenia asks Moscow for help amid Nagorno-Karabakh fighting

October 31, 2020

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Armenia’s leader urged Russia on Saturday to consider providing security assistance to end more than a month of fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, and both sides in the hostilities accused each other of breaking a mutual pledge not to target residential areas hours after it was made.

The fighting represents the biggest escalation in decades in a long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the separatist territory. As Azerbaijani troops pushed farther into Nagorno-Karabakh, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to quickly discuss possible security aid to Armenia.

There was no immediate response from the Kremlin. Russia, which has a military base in Armenia and has signed a pact obliging it to protect its ally in case of foreign aggression, faces a delicate balancing act, of trying to also maintain good ties with Azerbaijan and avoid a showdown with Turkey.

Pashinian’s request puts Russia in a precarious position: joining the fighting would be fraught with unpredictable consequences and risk an open conflict with Turkey, while refusing to offer protection to its ally Armenia would dent Moscow’s prestige.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a war there ended in 1994. The latest outburst of hostilities began Sept. 27 and left hundreds — perhaps thousands — dead, marking the worst escalation of fighting since the war’s end.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met Friday in Geneva for a day of talks brokered by Russia, the United States and France, co-chairs of the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that tries to mediate the decades-long conflict.

The talks concluded close to midnight with the two sides agreeing they “will not deliberately target civilian populations or non-military objects in accordance with international humanitarian law.” But shortly after the mutual pledge was announced by the Minsk Group co-chairs, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities accused Azerbaijani forces of firing rockets at a street market and a residential building in the separatist region's capital, Stepanakert. They said that residential areas in the town of Shushi also came under Azerbaijani shelling.

In Stepanakert, shop owners came to their stalls to collect their merchandise and clear the debris after the shelling. “It seems they reached these agreements, but there is no truce at all,” said Karen Markaryan, a shop owner. "People don’t believe these empty words. And what will happen next is only known to God.”

Azerbaijan's defense ministry denied targeting civilian areas, and in turn accused Armenian forces of shelling several regions of Azerbaijan. The rapid failure of the latest attempt to contain the fighting follows the collapse of three successive cease-fires. A U.S.-brokered truce frayed immediately after it took effect Monday, just like two previous cease-fires negotiated by Russia. The warring sides have repeatedly blamed each other for violations.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has insisted that Azerbaijan has the right to reclaim its territory by force after three decades of fruitless international mediation. He said that Armenia must pledge to withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh as a condition for a lasting truce.

Azerbaijani troops, which have relied on strike drones and long-range rocket systems supplied by Turkey, have reclaimed control of several regions on the fringes of Nagorno-Karabakh and pressed their offensive into the separatist territory from the south.

On Thursday, Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist leader said Azerbaijani troops had advanced to within 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) of the strategically located town of Shushi just south of the region’s capital, Stepanakert, which sits on the main road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

With Azerbaijani troops moving deeper into Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia’s prime minister made his first public plea for Russia's assistance since the latest fighting started. While Pashinian stopped short of directly asking Moscow to intervene militarily, he asked Putin to conduct “urgent consultations” on the “type and amount” of assistance that Russia could offer to ensure the security of Armenia. The Armenian leader argued that the fighting is raging increasingly close to the border of Armenia and pointed at alleged attacks on the Armenian territory, according to a statement released by his office.

During more than a month of fighting, Armenia and Azerbaijan have repeatedly accused each other of taking the fighting beyond Nagorno-Karabakh. Each side has denied the opposite claims. Retired Lt. Gen. Yevgeny Buzhisnky, the former chief of the Russian Defense Ministry's international cooperation department, said Moscow would stay away from the conflict.

“I exclude the Russian military's involvement,” Buzhinsky was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. “Azerbaijan is far too important for Russia to wage a war against it and Turkey.” He noted that Azerbaijan has tried to avoid hitting Armenian territory, so “there is no reason for the Russian military intervention.”

According to Nagorno-Karabakh officials, 1,166 of their troops and 39 civilians have been killed. Azerbaijani authorities haven’t disclosed their military losses, but say the fighting has killed at least 91 civilians and wounded 400. Putin said last week that, according to Moscow’s information, the actual death toll was significantly higher and nearing 5,000.

Armenia accused Azerbaijan of using white phosphorus munitions in fighting over forests close to residential areas. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan put what he said was a short video of the attack on Twitter, saying it demonstrated Azerbaijan's “total disrespect of its commitments, continued aggression, devastation of civilian population and use of banned weapons.”

Azerbaijan has denied the accusations of using the incendiary weapons.

Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this report.

Bangladesh begins relocating Rohingya refugees to island

December 03, 2020

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Authorities in Bangladesh have begun relocating thousands of Rohingya refugees to an isolated island despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process, officials said Thursday.

The United Nations has also voiced concern that refugees be allowed to make a “free and informed decision” about whether to relocate to the island in the Bay of Bengal. The island's facilities are built to accommodate 100,000 people, just a fraction of the million Rohingya Muslims who have fled waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar and are currently living in crowded, squalid refugee camps.

On Thursday, 11 passenger buses carrying refugees left Cox’s Bazar district on the way to the island, where they are expected to arrive after an overnight stopover, a government official involved with the process said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

He said “a few thousand" refugees were in the first batch. Authorities in Cox’s Bazar did not say how the refugees were selected for relocation. About 700,000 Rohingya fled to the camps in Cox’s Bazar after August 2017, when the military in Buddhist-majority Myanmar began a harsh crackdown on the Muslim group following an attack by insurgents. The crackdown included rapes, killings and the torching of thousands of homes, and was termed ethnic cleansing by global rights groups and the U.N.

Foreign media have not been permitted to visit the island, called Bhashan Char, or floating island. It was once regularly submerged by monsoon rains but now has flood protection embankments, houses, hospitals and mosques built at a cost of more than $112 million by the Bangladesh navy.

Located 21 miles (34 kilometers) from the mainland, the island surfaced only 20 years ago and was never inhabited. Contractors say its infrastructure is like a modern township, with multifamily concrete homes, schools, playgrounds and roads. It also has solar-power facilities, a water supply system and cyclone shelters.

International aid agencies and the U.N. have vehemently opposed the relocation since it was first proposed in 2015, expressing fear that a big storm could overwhelm the island and endanger thousands of lives.

The U.N. said in a statement Wednesday that it has not been involved in preparations for the relocation or the selection of refugees and has limited information about the overall plan. “The United Nations takes this opportunity to highlight its longstanding position that Rohingya refugees must be able to make a free and informed decision about relocating to Bhasan Char based upon relevant, accurate and updated information," it said.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged the government to cancel the relocation plan. The current refugee camps near the town of Cox’s Bazar are overcrowded and unhygienic. Disease and organized crime are rampant. Education is limited and refugees are not allowed to work.

Still, most Rohingya are unwilling to return to Myanmar due to safety concerns. Government officials didn’t have an estimate of how many refugees would be willing to be relocated to the island. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has repeatedly told the U.N. and other international partners that her administration would consult them before making a final decision on the relocation, and that no refugees would be forced to move.

Bangladesh attempted to start sending refugees back to Myanmar under a bilateral framework last November, but no one was willing to go. The Rohingya are not recognized as citizens in Myanmar, rendering them stateless, and face other forms of state-sanctioned discrimination.

A U.N.-sponsored investigation in 2018 recommended the prosecution of Myanmar’s top military commanders on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for the violence against the Rohingya.

Myanmar is defending itself in the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Netherlands, after the West African nation of Gambia brought a case backed by the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, Canada and the Netherlands over the crackdown.

Azerbaijan says 2,783 troops killed over Nagorno-Karabakh

December 03, 2020

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Azerbaijan said Thursday it lost nearly 2,800 soldiers in 44 days of fighting with Armenian forces over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the first time it has disclosed its military casualties.

The hostilities ended Nov. 10 with a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw Azerbaijan reclaim the territories that Armenian forces had controlled for more than a quarter-century. Azerbaijan had not released information on its military casualties until Thursday when the Defense Ministry said 2,783 troops were killed and more than 100 are still missing. Another 1,245 are being treated in medical facilities.

The government also said 94 of its civilians were killed and more than 400 were wounded in shelling. Armenia’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that at least 2,718 Armenian servicemen were killed in the fighting. Scores of Armenian civilians were also killed.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. That war left Nagorno-Karabakh itself and substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.

In fierce fighting that began Sept. 27, the Azerbaijani army routed Armenian forces and pushed deep into the separatist territory. The Moscow-brokered peace agreement saw the return to Azerbaijan of a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh and also required Armenia to hand over all of the regions it held outside the separatist territory. Azerbaijan completed reclaiming those territories on Tuesday when it took over the Lachin region located between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

Russia deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for a period of at least five years to monitor the deal and facilitate the return of refugees. The Russian troops also will ensure safe transit between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia across the Lachin region.

Azerbaijan celebrated the end of fighting as a national triumph, and President Ilham Aliyev declared Thursday that Nov. 8 will be celebrated nationally as Victory Day to mark the takeover of Shusha, a key city in Nagorno-Karabakh, by Azerbaijani forces.

Aliyev had earlier set the holiday for Nov. 10, when the peace deal took effect, but he reconsidered because Turkey, which is Azerbaijan's main ally, celebrates Ataturk Memorial Day on that date. Turkey has extended its clout in the region by strongly backing Azerbaijan. Earlier this week, Russian and Turkish military officials signed documents to set up a joint monitoring center to ensure the fulfillment of the peace deal.

The peace deal has sparked outrage in Armenia. Several hundred opposition protesters rallied Thursday in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, blocking several streets as they demanded the ouster of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Artur Vanetsyan, the former head of the National Security Service who leads the Homeland opposition party, said in televised remarks that “each day that Pashinyan retains the prime minister’s post represents a national security threat.”

Armenia's opposition holds him responsible for failing to negotiate a quicker end to the hostilities at more beneficial terms, but it vows to uphold the peace deal if he steps down. On Thursday, 17 Armenian opposition parties named veteran politician Vazgen Manukyan as their candidate for prime minister. The 74-year-old Manukyan held the post in 1990-91 when Armenia was part of the Soviet Union and later served as defense minister during the separatist war in the early 1990s.

Associated Press writers Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, and Aida Sultanova in London contributed.