大象传媒

Some 84,000 ethnic-Armenians are now said to have fled Nagorno-Karabakh in recent days. The leader of the self-declared Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh has said it will cease to exist by the end of the year after Azerbaijan overran its breakaway enclave ten days ago.

The national government in Baku has stressed it does not want a mass exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh and is not encouraging anyone to leave the disputed territory.

But many ethnic-Armenians who left Nagorno-Karabakh said they don鈥檛 believe they will be safe if they stay. They say Azerbaijani soldiers were killing civilians, including children, during the conflict.

So what security guarantees can Baku offer to those who are still in the formerly breakaway region?

Newsday heard from Hikmet Hajiyev, the Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan. He鈥檚 been in Brussels this week, meeting his Armenian counterpart and European officials to discuss the current situation.

"There was no single case of any kind of violence from the Azerbaijani side with regards to civilians. We are asking them to stay. Now the region has an historic opportunity to win the peace."

(Pic: A stream of vehicles take ethnic-Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia; Credit: Reuters)

Show less