Armenian opposition figures and exiled Artsakh leaders gathered at Yerevan’s Yerablur Military Pantheon on Friday to mark the second anniversary of Azerbaijan’s September 2023 offensive that led to Baku’s full control over Artsakh and the mass displacement of its Armenian population.
The Armenian government did not hold any official events or issue public statements on the anniversary. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan instead shared an Armenian pop song from the 1980s on Facebook, calling it his “nice start to the workday,” before attending a state awards ceremony at the presidential palace ahead of Armenia’s independence holiday.
Azerbaijan’s lightning assault on September 19, 2023, came nearly three years after a Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the 2020 war. Heavily outnumbered and cut off from Armenian military support, Artsakh’s small Defense Army surrendered within 24 hours. Russian peacekeepers stationed in the region did not intervene to stop the attack.
The agreement that ended the hostilities required Artsakh to disband its army in exchange for a cessation of fire and permission for civilians to leave. Over 100,000 residents fled to Armenia in the following weeks. Official figures say at least 198 Armenian soldiers and 25 civilians were killed in the fighting. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry reported around 200 combat deaths on its side.
Speaking at Yerablur, opposition leaders renewed accusations that Pashinyan’s 2022 decision to formally recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan paved the way for the offensive.
“In 2021, they promised to defend Artsakh’s rights and even seek the de-occupation of Armenian lands,” said Ishkhan Saghatelyan of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. “They received no mandate to recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan or to cede territory. The Artsakh chapter is not closed, and this ruling clique does not represent our people’s will.”
Pashinyan has maintained that recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity was necessary to secure peace. After talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Washington this August, he stated that Artsakh Armenians should abandon hopes of returning and focus on resettling in Armenia.
International rights groups have characterized the events of September 2023 as ethnic cleansing. In a joint report last November, Freedom House and six other organizations said Baku had sought to expel Artsakh Armenians even before the offensive by creating “conditions of severe insecurity, hardship, and psychological duress.”
Despite condemning the attack, neither the United States nor the European Union imposed sanctions on Azerbaijan. Baku continues to deny accusations of ethnic cleansing, saying Artsakh Armenians are free to live in the region under Azerbaijani rule — an option rejected by the displaced population.
