President Aliyev said the agreement was of “historical importance” and that it was a “capitulation” of Armenia. In Armenia, anger had already advanced before the agreement: 17 opposition parties on Monday called on Pachinjan and the rest of his government to resign immediately. “They [Armenian forces] should either voluntarily leave the territory by complying with the agreement, or the heroic Azerbaijani army will retake those countries as it has done so far. There is no other choice,” Said Mevlut Cavusoglu at a press conference in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Under the agreement, the two belligerents pledged to exchange prisoners of war and the dead. In addition, Armenian troops were to withdraw from Armenian-occupied territories around Nagorno-Karabakh by 1 December. A Russian peacekeeping force of about 2,000 Russian ground forces was to be deployed to the region for at least five years, with one of its missions being the protection of the Lachin Corridor, which connects Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In addition, Armenia is committed to ensuring the “security” of the passage between the mainland of Azerbaijan and its enclave of Nakhchivan by a strip of land in Syunik province, Armenia. The border forces of the Russian FSB would exercise control of the transport communication. [5] [6] The Armenians will also return the Lachin region, which occupies the main road from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. The agreement provides that the road, known as the Lachin Corridor, remains open and protected by 1,960 Russian peacekeepers. Stepanakert will remain under the control of the Armenian government. The agreement calls on the Armenian armed forces to cede control of certain areas they held outside the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the eastern district of Agdam.
This area has a strong symbolic weight for Azerbaijan, because its capital, also called Agdam, has been completely looted and the only intact building is the mosque of the city. The agreement confirmed the influence of Russia and Turkey in the region, while bequeathing the Western powers. On Tuesday, Russia denied that Turkish peacekeepers would be allowed to send to Nagorno-Karabakh, while Azerbaijan`s president, Ilham Aliyev, claimed they would. As of 10 November 2020, Russian troops and armaments, which were to be a peacekeeping force under the agreement, are expected to enter the Nagorno-Karabakh region. [41] The force was reportedly airlifted to Armenia prior to the signing of the agreement. [42] On 12 November, the Russian force consisted mainly of personnel from the 15th Motor Rifle Brigade, which had entered Stepanakert and began deploying observation posts throughout the region. [43] The post was the first indication of an agreement, with Pachinjan saying the agreement would enter into force on Tuesday at 1am (21:00 GMT) to end a conflict that has left at least 1,000 people dead. Many “peace agreements” negotiated by the world`s great powers have become bogged down or failed because the dysfunctions underlying them have never been resolved and fierce belligerents have played a role of backing-up. If this agreement is not strong enough, especially to make the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh safe and protected, it could disintegrate in the same way and break up new conflicts. Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia have signed an agreement to end the military conflict over the controversial Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Al Jazeera`s Osama Bin Javaid reported in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, that news of the agreement had brought people to the streets to celebrate, despite a curfew. The agreement provides for the reduction of some areas on the outskirts of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, while Azerbaijan will halt its advance towards Stepanakert, he added.
