President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan declared on Wednesday that his nation had reclaimed authority over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after separatist Armenian fighters opted to surrender in the face of a military assault.
Aliyev has made significant progress toward his goal of regaining control of Baku over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is populated primarily by Armenians, thanks to the shocking collapse of rebel opposition.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over the mountainous area.

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A ceasefire agreement to end the hostilities was announced by Baku and the ethnic Armenian authorities in Karabakh a day after Azerbaijan began a military operation in the area.

According to Aliyev, “Azerbaijan restored its sovereignty as a result of successful anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh,” in a speech that was broadcast on television.

According to Aliyev, the majority of Armenian forces in the area had been obliterated, and the withdrawal of separatist forces had already started.

The separatists claimed that as part of the truce agreement, they had committed to completely dissolve their army and that Armenia had agreed to withdraw all of its forces from the area.

According to Azerbaijan’s defence ministry, “all weapons and heavy armaments are to be surrendered” under the guidance of the 2,000-person Russian peacekeeping team stationed there.

Both parties stated that discussions for the reunification of the separatist territory with the rest of Azerbaijan would take place on Thursday in Yevlakh.

On Wednesday night, Russian peacekeepers reported that the truce was still in effect and that no infractions had been noted.

The attack in Baku was the most recent outbreak of violence in the hostile terrain.

Around 120,000 ethnic Armenians now call this territory, which was annexed by Armenian separatists in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and is now officially recognized as being a part of Azerbaijan, home.

30,000 people died in the fighting, and thousands were driven from their homes.

As the Armenian population of Karabakh fears being expelled, there are worries of a new refugee crisis. The years of fighting have been defined by ethnic cleansing and crimes on both sides.

Hikmet Hajiyev, the president of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy advisory board, pledged safe passage for the rebels who handed themselves in and stated that Baku favored the “peaceful reintegration” of Armenians from Karabakh.

The Council of Europe’s president, Charles Michel, asked Baku to protect the security of the local populace.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, expressed his wish for a “peaceful” outcome and said that Moscow has been in contact with all parties involved.

Although Putin spoke with Nikol Pashinyan, the prime minister of Armenia, on Wednesday night, the Kremlin stressed that the conflict was “Azerbaijan’s internal matter.”