Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will cease to exist from 2024
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00:00 It's been at the heart of one of the world's longest and bloodiest conflicts in recent
00:04 history.
00:05 But as of January 1, 2024, the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will dissolve its
00:11 state institutions and cease to exist, as per a decree signed by its separatist president.
00:17 The enclave's hopes of independence have been effectively vanishing since Azerbaijan's
00:22 lightning offensive last week, with more than half the population making the journey to
00:26 Armenia since.
00:28 Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says the entire 120,000-strong population is expected to clear
00:34 out in the coming days - an overwhelming number for the Armenian government, which has previously
00:40 said it's prepared to take in some 40,000 families.
00:43 "Once you are opening the box, everybody wants to leave.
00:47 And it will be a huge, huge burden for the Republic of Armenia, which is populated with
00:51 3 million and hosting more than 100,000 people coming in, you know, as new refugees.
00:58 It will be a huge burden for them."
01:00 Nagorno-Karabakh has been run by ethnic Armenian separatists since winning a bloody war in
01:05 the 1990s that claimed tens of thousands of lives.
01:09 It's officially recognized as a part of Azerbaijan since the fall of the Soviet Union, but neither
01:14 Baku nor Armenia has supported its claim to independence.