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.
Scorched Earth: Ethnic Armenians Destroy Homes, Infrastructure Before Fleeing Azerbaijani Regions
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.
An Armenian church worker carries a religious pennant out of the Dadivank monastery in the district of Karvachar/Kalbacar.
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.
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.
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.
An ethnic Armenian man carries two geese as he packs up the contents of his home in the village of Charektar/Caraktar.
A house burns into the night in the district of Karvachar/Kalbacar.
A home smolders in Charektar/Caraktar village.
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.
Smoke rises from buildings set ablaze in the Karvachar/Kalbacar district of Azerbaijan as ethnic Armenians leave the area.
A man removes wiring from a telephone pole in the village of Yekhetnut in the district of Karvachar/Kalbacar.
A man walks past a burning house in Charektar/Caraktar village.
An electrical substation in Karvachar/Kalbacar after key components were removed.
Garo Dadevusian (right) salvages the tin roof from his house in Karvachar/Kalbacar before setting the building ablaze.
A woman carries a Christian painting out of her home before fleeing Karvachar/Kalbacar.
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.
A dog in front of a burnt-out school building in Charektar/Caraktar.
An ethnic Armenian couple embraces while watching their home burn in Charektar/Caraktar.