Thousands of Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan conquest | ITV News

Thousands of ethnic Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan reclaimed the enclave last week.

The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh's "reintegration" into Azerbaijan after three decades of separatist rule.

The region is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan and lies entirely within its territory but has a large ethnic Armenian population.

The reclaiming of the territory has been celebrated in Azerbaijan and the country was visited by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday in a show of support to its ally.

While Azerbaijan pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies after a 10-month blockade, many local residents feared reprisals and said they were planning to leave for Armenia.

The Armenian government said that 4,850 Nagorno-Karabakh residents had fled to Armenia as of midday Monday.