Drive through Ethnically Cleansed Stepanakert

A little while after the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh in September 2023, Mr. Ilham Aliyev went on live TV saying that "All of those who want to come back they have their right, their property is duly protected." (source).

This could not be farther from the truth. As this video shows, all Armenian signage from Stepanakert has already been taken down, the insides of businesses completely gutted.

Since this interview aired, Azerbaijan has destroyed three villages in Artsakh. Karin Tak, Mokhrenes, and Khtsaberd villages have been razed to the ground. The historic Kanach Zham Church in Shushi has also been wiped off the face of the Earth (source) (source) (source). Parts of many villages, such as Taghavard and Mets Tagher, have already been demolished to make way for roads (source), (source). In the city of Hadrut proper, 150 buildings "In emergency condition" are going to be demolished. A mosque will be opened soon in Hadrut (source for this as well as more for previous claims), as well as in Karin Tak (source). Both settlements have always had a negligible to 0 Azerbaijani population, and both have never had a mosque. It is flat out population replacement and ethnic cleansing.

Back to Stepanakert, in preparation for the opening of Karabakh University which is right around the corner, Azerbaijan has emptied out a set of apartment blocks previously occupied by Armenians to serve as dormitories (source). Across the city, countless apartment blocks have already been ransacked (source), (source). The city has become something of a tourist destination for Azerbaijanis, who flock in numbers to pose next to Tatik papik, or have lunch in the central park (presumably they are going to Shushi mainly and take a detour).

Hopefully this should be enough evidence to convince anyone not Armenian what the nature of this whole thing is and what Azerbaijan’s goals were all along. The question is if we can do literally anything about it now.

All Armenian signage has been removed, insides gutted.