Azerbaijan extends deadline for Armenian pullout from Kalbajar

Azerbaijan has agreed on the extension of a deadline by which Armenians must pull out of the Kalbajar district as part of a Russian-brokered ceasefire that puts an end to six weeks of fierce fighting.

“Azerbaijan agreed to prolong the deadline for the withdrawal from Kalbajar of Armenian armed forces and of Armenian settlers until November 25,” said Hikmet Hajiyev, the foreign policy advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, on Sunday.

Under the deal, Armenians had to return the district by November 15.

Hajiyev said the deadline for the return of two other districts, namely Aghdam and Lachin, remained unchanged and they should be handed over by November 20 and December 1, respectively.

Azerbaijani forces have already retaken Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, Qubadli, and Shusha as well as villages that add up to 300 settlements in total, according to Baku.

Hajiyev stressed that Baku had agreed to extend the deadline on humanitarian grounds to grant an Armenian request for the delay following mediation by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it has been held by ethnic Armenian separatists backed by Armenia since 1992 when they broke from Azerbaijan in a war that killed some 30,000 people.

The conflict re-erupted in late September, becoming the worst fighting in the region in decades.

Yerevan and Baku eventually agreed to end hostilities on Tuesday, under the Moscow-brokered deal that secured territorial advances for Azerbaijan in Karabakh and seven surrounding districts.

Under the agreement, 2,000 Russian peacekeeping troops are being deployed to the region.

SS