Hungry and exhausted Armenian families jammed roads to flee Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, as the United Nations and Washington called on Azerbaijan to protect civilians and let in aid. At least 20,000 of the 120,000 ethnic Armenians who live there have already crossed into Armenia after Azerbaijan launched a swift and successful military operation to defeat separatists who have governed the breakaway region for about 30 years. Hundreds of cars and buses crammed with refugees and their belongings snaked along mountain roads. Some fled packed into the back of open-topped trucks, others on tractors. Grandmother Narine Shakaryan arrived in her son-in-law's old car with six people packed inside. The 48-mile drive had taken 24 hours, she said. They had no food. “The whole way the children were crying, they were hungry,” Shakaryan told Reuters at the border, carrying her three-year-old granddaughter, who she said had become ill during the journey. “We left so we would stay alive.” Nearly 50 people, mostly children, scrambled from the back of one large truck. “It rained all night, there was no shelter. The nice driver took some of the children into his cabin to give at least some of them shelter,” said Maktar Talakyan, 54, who was travelling with her daughter Anna and her three grandchildren. Anna’s husband, a demobilised soldier who had fought for the now defeated separatist forces, remains in Karabakh, Talakyan said. As Armenians rushed to leave the Karabakh capital – known as Stepanakert by Armenia and Khankendi by Azerbaijan – fuel stations were overwhelmed by panic buying; at least 20 people were killed and 290 injured in a massive blaze when a fuel storage facility blew up. “I think we’re going to see the vast majority of people in Karabakh leaving for Armenia,” said Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank. “They are being told to integrate into Azerbaijan, a country that they’ve never been part of, and most of them don’t even speak the language and are being told to dismantle their local institutions. That’s an offer that most people in Karabakh will not accept.” In the Armenian capital Yerevan, US Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Samantha Power called on Azerbaijan “to maintain the ceasefire and take concrete steps to protect the rights of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh.” Power, who earlier handed Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan a letter of support from president Joe Biden, said Azerbaijan’s use of force was unacceptable and that Washington was looking at an appropriate response. She called on Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev to live up to his promise to protect ethnic Armenian rights, fully reopen the Lachin corridor that connects the region to Armenia and let in aid deliveries and an international monitoring mission. Aliyev has pledged to guarantee the safety of Karabakh’s Armenians but said his iron fist had consigned the idea of the region’s independence to history. Asked if she believed Azeri forces had committed atrocities against civilians or combatants in Karabakh, she said: “We have heard very troubling reports of violence against civilians. At the same time given the chaos here and the trauma, the gathering of testimonies ... of the people who have come across is something that is just beginning.” United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, said in a statement late on Tuesday: “I am following with concern the evolving and fragile humanitarian situation. “It is important that the rights of the ethnic Armenian population on the ground are safeguarded and all actions rooted in international law. Protection of all civilians must be an absolute priority. Those affected must have access to humanitarian assistance.” The Azerbaijan victory changes the balance of power in the South Caucasus region, a patchwork of ethnicities crisscrossed with oil and gas pipelines where Russia, the United States, Turkey and Iran are jostling for influence. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Armenia has relied on a security partnership with Russia, while Azerbaijan grew close to Turkey, with which it shares linguistic and cultural ties. Armenia has lately sought closer ties with the West and blames Russia, which had peacekeepers in Karabakh but is now preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, for failing to protect Karabakh. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Felix Light reported for Reuters from the Armenian border village of Kornidzor. Read More What is Nakhchivan? And after Nagorno-Karabakh, is this the next crisis for Azerbaijan and Armenia Thousands of ethnic Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan seizes control in lightning offensive Exasperated residents flee Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan seizes control of breakaway region At least 20 dead and 300 injured in Nagorno-Karabakh fuel depot explosion At least 20 dead in gas station explosion as Nagorno-Karabakh residents flee to Armenia

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AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 18, 2023--

Anthony Joshua has some admiration for Tyson Fury’s uncompromising attitude but believes his British rival should be fighting professional boxers and not mixed martial artists. Fury argued he was unable to arrange a showdown with Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk, which led the WBC heavyweight champion agreeing to box MMA star Francis Ngannou on October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. While Fury’s handlers have denied the crossover bout is an exhibition, the 34-year-old will not be defending his world title against the former UFC heavyweight champion, who has never boxed professionally before. Fury has been accused of holding up the division and Joshua, who has a rematch against Dillian Whyte on August 12 at London’s O2 Arena, admitted he has some sympathy with boxers having to stand by for a title shot. “I’m not frustrated by that because I’ve been champion and I know my process and I’m on this rebuilding phase but I can understand for people waiting in line it must be massively frustrating,” Joshua said. “To become champion for some people is the be all and end all. That’s all they want to do and then they can pack up. I feel sorry for the people who want to know where they are going with their career. “But Fury has to do what Fury has to do for him. I admire the guy for his confidence to do what’s right for him – he has an ‘eff it’ mentality. I think we all need a bit of that in today’s society. “If you want to hold him accountable then yes he should be fighting active fighters and he should wait until the end of his career, when he’s not champion anymore, to compete with MMA fighters.” Negotiations for an undisputed fight between Fury and WBA, IBF and WBO champion Usyk broke down earlier this year, with the British fighter attracting the most criticism which intensified after the Ngannou announcement. The WBC has given Fury special dispensation to take on his Cameroonian-French opponent, in a fight which is expected to be highly lucrative for both combatants, as there is no mandatory challenger in place. Joshua ruefully reflected that he would still be a world champion now had he ignored his mandatory and vacated one of the crowns now held by Usyk, who outpointed the Briton twice. “When all is said and done it will just be part of (Fury’s) legacy and I think we will all forget about it sooner or later,” Joshua added. “Usyk was my mandatory and I ended up losing to him. I would have loved to have gone to Saudi to compete with someone else and make a s*** load of money and swerve my mandatory. “I would still be champion if I could do that but I didn’t get that opportunity and I had to take it on the chin. But life isn’t always fair.” Read More What is an exhibition fight and how is it different to a professional bout? The hidden side of Jake Paul Mike Tyson to train Francis Ngannou for Tyson Fury clash Errol Spence Jr lifts lid on Anthony Joshua’s training sessions in Dallas Jake Paul’s latest fight is not about Jake Paul What is an exhibition fight and how is it different to a professional bout?

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