Information about the remaining Armenians at the level of state secrets

No official report from Azerbaijan notes  the exact number of Armenians remaining in Karabakh, their names and surnames, and the year of birth.  The information about the government money released for their maintenance, the allowance rate for one remaining Armenian is also hidden. It is unknown where and how they live, who protects them and what rules they must follow. Turan addressed these questions to the Azerbaijani state and international organizations.

Ilaha Huseynova, representative of the International Red Cross in Azerbaijan, told Turan that according to the organization's mandate, she cannot give any information about civilians living in Karabakh who remained after September 2023. 

Vice-president of the Azerbaijani Red Crescent Society Gafar Askerzade also said that they could not provide Turan with information about the personalities, place of residence, conditions, rules, and social security of non-Azerbaijani civilians remaining in Karabakh.

On March 28, Azerbaijani Human Rights Ombudswoman Sabina Aliyeva met with the Armenian residents of Khankendi. According to the press service, she communicated with residents of Khankendi of Armenian origin, and also visited a shelter created by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the population "for sensitive groups of the population."

Sabina Aliyeva was interested in ensuring the rights and freedoms of residents of Armenian origin living in the shelter and those using the services of this institution outside it, the press service of the Ombudsman's office said. 

The monitoring of social services provided to residents by a psychologist and social workers, providing them with food, was carried out. The appeals of the residents were listened to, they were satisfied with the attitude towards them. The Ombudswoman handed residents a poster indicating the number of the 916-call center, where they can contact within 24 hours a day, the organization said in a press release.

However, there is not a single name and number in the message from the Ombudswoman's service, as if revealing this information would cause irreparable damage to the Armenians.

A Turan correspondent called the call center at the specified number 916, the operator connected with the press service. After listening to the questions, the employee asked to send the questions in writing by e-mail and promised to send answers within seven days. "The answers may come in three days. We are busy compiling responses to requests that came to us before," explained a representative of the Ombudswoman's office four days ago.

The same questions were sent to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Azerbaijan, but they did not even inform about the letter they received.

In 2023-2024, the Azerbaijani authorities did not report the number of Armenians remaining in Karabakh after the mass departure of the region's residents to Armenia in September 2023.  Azerbaijani media are forced to quote figures from Armenian media and international organizations, but there is no certainty that these data are true. According to separate video and television reports filmed by state media and private individuals - citizens of Azerbaijan, it becomes clear that Armenians in Khankendi  move freely around the city.  There are also two videos about a man and a woman of Armenian nationality living alone in private houses in Khankendi. According to them, employees of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Azerbaijan and the Red Cross come to them, give out food, provide medical care if necessary.

Two months ago, a Real TV correspondent talked to Armenian Kamo Hayrepetyan Eduardovich, who was born in Baku, in a shelter in Khankedi. He said in pure Azerbaijani that he was completely satisfied with the living conditions, food, and clean beds in the shelter.

Six months ago, Baku TV reported that five Armenians in Khankendi and 2 Armenians in the villages of Karabakh applied to the stationary and mobile point of the Migration Service of Azerbaijan with a request to obtain citizenship of this country. No names were reported.

The reason for the secrecy of everything related to the Armenians in Karabakh is unclear. Even the number of Armenians in Azerbaijan who left Karabakh in September last year was learned from Yerevan sources.  Despite careful accounting by the staff of the Azerbaijani Border Guard Service, they did not submit a report to the public.