Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meeting with his ally, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, today, Monday, as thousands of ethnic Armenians begin a mass exodus from the Nagorno-Karabakh region following Azerbaijan's defeat of the region's separatist fighters last week. Erdogan's office stated that he will be undertaking a one-day visit to the autonomous Nakhchivan region of Azerbaijan to discuss the situation in Karabakh with Aliyev. Nakhchivan is a territory located between Armenia, Iran, and Turkey.
The Armenians in Karabakh, an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan but previously outside of Baku's control, were forced to declare a ceasefire on September 20 after a swift military operation by Azerbaijan's larger and stronger army that lasted 24 hours. The leadership of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh issued a statement to Reuters on Sunday, indicating that the 120,000 Armenians in Karabakh will leave for Armenia, as they do not wish to live under Azerbaijani sovereignty and fear persecution and ethnic cleansing, leading them to begin fleeing the region.
The Armenian government stated that by 5 a.m. local time (01:00 GMT) on Monday, more than 2,900 individuals had crossed into Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh. A Reuters correspondent in the capital of Karabakh reported that those with fuel began driving towards the Lachin corridor towards the border with Armenia. Images captured by Reuters show dozens of cars leaving the region's capital towards the mountainous corridor.
