Marches and vigils in Yerevan and Baku commemorated the thousands killed in fighting that began exactly one year ago and resulted in Azerbaijan recapturing land held for decades by ethnic Armenians.
Armenia, Azerbaijan Mark Anniversary Of Karabakh Campaign
- By RFE/RL
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Thousands of soldiers march through Baku on September 27. The marchers are holding placards depicting soldiers and civilians killed in 2020, the most intense escalation since the 1994 truce that turned the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region into a "frozen conflict."
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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian kneels in the Yerablur Military Memorial Cemetery in Yerevan early on September 27 as commemorations of the 2020 fighting begin.
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his wife, Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, lead the march through Baku on September 27 to commemorate those killed during the six weeks of fighting. According to Azerbaijani officials, 2,905 Azerbaijani servicemen and 100 civilians died in the fighting.
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A woman mourns at the grave of a young soldier during a candlelight vigil in Armenia’s Yerablur cemetery on the eve of the anniversary. A reported 4,025 ethnic Armenian fighters were killed in the conflict, along with 88 civilians. Amnesty International accused both sides of war crimes, including gruesome executions.
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Azerbaijani servicemen in Susa, known as Shushi in Armenian, during a commemoration on September 27. The historic town was recaptured from ethnic Armenians by Azerbaijani forces in November 2020, shortly before a Russia-brokered cease-fire brought a halt to combat operations.
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A candlelight vigil in Yerevan's Yerablur cemetery on the evening of September 26.
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Azerbaijani servicemen during a parade in Susa/Shushi on September 27. In a speech, Azerbaijan’s authoritarian president referred to the 2020 fighting, in which vast tracts of Azerbaijani land was retaken from ethnic Armenian fighters, as a “holy war” and declared, “From now on, we will live as a victorious country, a victorious people, and we will build and restore the liberated lands.”
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A memorial service in Stepanakert, known as Xankendi in Azeri, on September 27. The city is the largest in the Nagorno-Karabakh region still under control of ethnic Armenians. Armenia’s prime minister has vowed to commit to the “revival and further development” of those parts of the region that remain in Armenian hands.
