Scorched Earth: Ethnic Armenians Destroy Homes, Infrastructure Before Fleeing Azerbaijani Regions
Many ethnic Armenians who are fleeing the regions around Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh have opted to destroy their homes after removing as much as they can carry. The destruction comes ahead of a scheduled handover to Azerbaijan of territory seized by Armenians during a war in the early 1990s.
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Residents watch houses smolder in Charektar village, known in Azeri as Caraktar, in the district of Karvachar (Kalbacar in Azeri). The mountainous district in Azerbaijan to the west of Nagorno-Karabakh is being vacated by Armenians and returned to Baku’s control under a Russian-brokered truce.
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An Armenian church worker carries a religious pennant out of the Dadivank monastery in the district of Karvachar/Kalbacar.
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Smoke from a burning house drifts over a traffic jam as ethnic Armenians flee Karvachar/Kalbacar – which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. Ethnic Armenians point to ancient Christian monuments in the area that mark their historic ties to the land.
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A burnt-out gas station near the Dadivank monastery in the district of Karvachar/Kalbacar. Hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were forced to flee their homes in districts around Nagorno-Karabakh when Yerevan-backed Armenian separatists seized control of the territory during the early 1990s.
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Ethnic Armenian soldiers topple a telephone pole in the village of Knaravan – a settlement recently built by ethnic Armenians in the Karvachar/Kalbacar district near Azerbaijan’s border with Armenia.
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An ethnic Armenian man carries two geese as he packs up the contents of his home in the village of Charektar/Caraktar.
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A house burns into the night in the district of Karvachar/Kalbacar.
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A home smolders in Charektar/Caraktar village.
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Bells removed from Dadivank monastery await transport to Armenia as preparations are made for ethnic Armenians to transfer control of the Karvachar/Kalbacar district back to Azerbaijan.
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Smoke rises from buildings set ablaze in the Karvachar/Kalbacar district of Azerbaijan as ethnic Armenians leave the area.
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A man removes wiring from a telephone pole in the village of Yekhetnut in the district of Karvachar/Kalbacar.
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A man walks past a burning house in Charektar/Caraktar village.
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An electrical substation in Karvachar/Kalbacar after key components were removed.
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Garo Dadevusian (right) salvages the tin roof from his house in Karvachar/Kalbacar before setting the building ablaze.
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A woman carries a Christian painting out of her home before fleeing Karvachar/Kalbacar.
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Ethnic Armenians in a truck pass houses destroyed in the recently built ethnic-Armenian settlement of Knaravan before control of the Karvachar/Kalbacar district is returned to Azerbaijan.
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A dog in front of a burnt-out school building in Charektar/Caraktar.
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An ethnic Armenian couple embraces while watching their home burn in Charektar/Caraktar.