Azerbaijan holds ceremony on completion of Russia’s peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan on Wednesday held a ceremony on the occasion of the completion of the Russian peacekeeping contingent’s mission in the Karabakh region.

A statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said the ceremony held at the airport in the city of Khojaly was attended by representatives from both countries, including Azerbaijan’s Chief of General Staff Karim Valiyev and Chief of General Staff of Russia’s Ground Forces Yevgeny Nikiforov.

Speaking at the event, Valiyev said the Russian peacekeeping contingent “fulfilled the assigned tasks and duties and spared no effort to ensure peace and stability in the territory of the Karabakh Economic Region.”

He further said that following Baku’s anti-terrorist operation in Karabakh in September 2023, President Ilham Aliyev decided to prematurely terminate the Russian peacekeeping contingent’s mission in the country.

“Today's event is dedicated to the completion of your peacekeeping mission. On this occasion, I congratulate you and express my gratitude for your courageous service for the welfare of peace and stability in the Karabakh Economic Region,” he added.

The statement went on to say that Nikiforov also addressed the event, speaking about the activities of the peacekeeping contingent and expressing gratitude on behalf of Russia’s military leadership for the contingent’s “commendable fulfillment” of their duties.

He also thanked Azerbaijan’s military leadership “for effective joint cooperation and the understanding achieved.”

Last month, Russia announced that it began the process of completely withdrawing Russian peacekeepers from Karabakh.

The Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed in the aftermath of a fall 2020 conflict in which Azerbaijan regained much of its territory of Karabakh after nearly three decades of Armenian occupation.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have remained tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and talks on delimitation and demarcation.​​​​​​​

Last September, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh following an "anti-terrorist operation" after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.​​​​​​​​​​​​