A humanitarian tragedy has been unfolding before our very eyes since the Armenian separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh laid down their arms on 19 September in the face of Azerbaijan’s lightning offensive. The much-feared ethnic cleansing is already under way: more than 65,000 refugees (the enclave has a total population of 120,000), determined not to live under Baku’s dictatorship, have already arrived in Armenia following the announcement of the dissolution of the self-proclaimed Armenian republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. The territorial conflict is age-old in this area rich in oil and gas resources, which is the object of complex covetousness, particularly on the part of neighbouring authoritarian regimes: Türkiye and Israel are allies of Azerbaijan, while Russia and Iran are allies of Armenia. Plans to open up the Zanguezour Armenian corridor to the Azerbaijanis to link the enclave of Nakhichevan to Azerbaijan suggest that the conflict between the two countries is not over…
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