On October 17, a photo exhibition opened in Rome as part of a "World Without Mines" campaign, organized by the Azerbaijani public association "Gilavar Photo Club." The exhibition focuses on the threat posed by landmines following the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia—a threat for which the organizers hold Yerevan responsible.
A citizen of Armenia, former Minister of State of Nagorno-Karabakh Ruben Vardanyan was brought to justice on charges of financing terrorism, illegally crossing the state border to commit terrorist attacks and organizing illegal armed groups. The State Security Service of Azerbaijan reported this.
The day before, Vardanyan was detained by Azerbaijani border guards. Previously, he was a citizen of the Russian Federation, a billionaire on the Forbes list. Vardanyan has repeatedly criticized Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for “surrendering” Karabakh and called on the Russian leadership to provide support to the region and Armenia.
Today it was announced that the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will officially cease to exist in 2024. Nikol Pashinyan said that there will be no Armenians left in the region in the coming days: “This is an act of ethnic cleansing and deprivation of the homeland, which we have already talked about more than once.” Almost half of the Armenian population of the unrecognized republic left for Armenia.