Two years on, Armenians pay tribute to victims of Artsakh exodus

Hundreds of former residents of Nagorno-Karabakh visited the Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan on Thursday to honor the victims of the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive and the subsequent mass exodus of Armenians from the region.

On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military attack on Nagorno-Karabakh following a nine-month blockade of the region. The assault left 223 people dead, including 20 civilians, six of them children, according to official figures.

The following day, on September 20, the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh accepted a ceasefire proposal brokered by the Russian peacekeeping mission, and hostilities ceased around 3 p.m. local time.

In the days that followed, residents seeking to leave were given access to free fuel to facilitate their departure. However, tragedy struck on September 25, when a powerful explosion ripped through a fuel depot near the Stepanakert–Askeran road, where fuel was being distributed to evacuees.

By late September, the exodus was nearly complete. On September 28, Artsakh’s information headquarters announced that the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh would cease to exist as of January 1, 2024.

Some 115,000 people fled to Armenia in the wake of the offensive, effectively emptying the region of its ethnic Armenian population.

Today, 23 Armenians remain in Azerbaijani custody, including former political and military leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, according to official data.

Thursday’s commemorations at Yerablur were marked by solemn remembrance and calls for justice, as survivors and their families reflected on the loss of their homeland and the uncertain fate of those still held in Azerbaijani prisons.