Azerbaijan's security services arrested three former presidents of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic — Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arayik Harutyunyan — Azerbaijani media reported on Oct. 3.
David Ishkhanyan, an ex-parliamentary speaker of Nagorno-Karabakh, was also detained and brought to Baku with the other three politicians, according to the state-owned Azerbaijani Press Agency (APA).
All four former Karabakh leaders are facing criminal charges in Azerbaijan, but APA didn't mention what accusations Baku had made against them.
On the same day, the Armenian state news outlet Armenpress reported that three other top officials from the recently dissolved Nagorno-Karabakh's unrecognized government had safely reached Armenia.
Martin Fornusek
Following Azerbaijan's military offensive launched on Sept. 19, Karabakh authorities agreed to accept a ceasefire mediated by Russia and signed a decree dissolving all official institutions of the breakaway state from Jan. 1, 2024.
Following Azerbaijan's victory, around 100,000 people have left Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia, a spokesperson for the Armenian prime minister said on Sept. 29.
On Sept. 27, Azerbaijani authorities detained Ruben Vardanyan, a former self-proclaimed prime minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, as he was trying to leave for Armenia.
Under international law, Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as Azerbaijani territory but came under the de-facto control of Armenian separatists in 1991. Yerevan supported the breakaway territory militarily, which regularly clashed with Azerbaijani forces in the following decades.
Francis Farrell
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