JUDY WOODRUFF: In late September, war again broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan over
the coveted enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Last week, as part of an armistice, ethnic Armenian forces handed over territory to Azerbaijani
control. It was part of a Russian-brokered deal that ended an ugly six-week war and reestablished
Moscow's footprint in all of its southern former republics.
With the support of the Pulitzer Center, special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky traveled there
again for the "NewsHour."
SIMON OSTROVSKY: So, this is what victory looks like, walls spray-painted with names
of Azerbaijani soldiers and the cities that they hail from in an ethnic Armenian town
in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The streets are empty of anyone who lived here. They fled as fighting reached this area
back in October, their belongings now strewn throughout the streets and the contents of
their homes upturned.
(APPLAUSE)
SIMON OSTROVSKY: The only people remaining are Azerbaijani forces, reveling in their
hard-won conquest, enjoying the spoils of war.
For the Azerbaijani military that's stationed here right now, it's probably difficult to
imagine what it feels like to be in this area, because, ever since they were children, they
were told Nagorno-Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan, but they'd never actually seen it with their
own eyes, and now they're here.
MAN (through translator): Thank you to our president. He gave the order, and we attacked.
We fought. Unfortunately, people were martyred. With the blood of the martyrs we reclaimed
these lands.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: These lands have been contested since just before the breakup of the Soviet
Union, when their Armenian residents clamored to join neighboring Armenia. That sparked
anti-Armenian pogroms and then all-out war.
When it was all over by 1994, they'd carved out a self-declared republic that encompassed
lands far beyond the Karabakh region's Soviet era borders, which were purged of their Azerbaijani
residents. Armenian's were also forced to flee areas that remained under Azerbaijan's
control.
All of that changed in the six-week war that ended on November 9, with Armenians on the
run from an advancing Azerbaijani army. "NewsHour" was only allowed to visit this area with a
police escort. For Armenians, seeing images of the Azerbaijani military in their towns
as they display the flag of their age old-enemy Turkey, a brutal and difficult new reality
to come to terms with.
On a hill above the city of Hadrut, within the Karabakh heartland, stands a small Armenian
church, its cemetery vandalized. The soldiers say they hope the Armenians never come back.
HASAN BABAYEV, Azerbaijan Army Volunteer (through translator): No, they can't come back. They
cannot come back. God willing, the president will create good conditions here. Our lands
have been returned. Now it's about the future. And good places will be built.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: While Azerbaijanis celebrate their territorial gains, there is another
country whose maneuvering has renewed its influence in the region after a long absence.
Russia has for years armed both Azerbaijan and Armenia. And when war between the two
erupted on September 27, it stepped in as a mediator, successfully ending the bloodshed.
Under the deal it brokered, nearly 2,000 Russian peacekeepers will patrol the areas of Nagorno-Karabakh
that have remained under ethnic Armenian control, as a guarantee against further Azerbaijani
hostilities.
Moscow now has troops stationed in various roles, from occupier to peacekeeper, in all
three South Caucasus republics of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan for the first time
since it ruled them in the Soviet era.
Azerbaijan has, in turn, invited military observers from its ally Turkey, but it's unclear
how many will arrive and whether they will have a mandate to carry weapons.
This, too, is what victory can look like. It's towns like this one, with landscapes
reminiscent of Hiroshima, that are at the heart of Azerbaijan's grievances towards ethnic
Armenians. When the first Karabakh war ended in 1994, the Armenian forces took control
not just of their own enclave, but seven surrounding districts that had previously been populated
by Azerbaijanis.
Negotiations over these areas continued for decades afterwards, but Armenians never allowed
the Azerbaijani residents to return. Instead, they leveled these cities, picking them apart
for raw materials, and turned the surrounding lands into a vast mine field between themselves
and the rest of Azerbaijan.
Agdam is one of two districts Armenian forces have handed back to Azerbaijani control so
far under the Russia-brokered armistice. The only building left intact here is the central
mosque.
All of these soldiers here for the most part are from Agdam, this very region that we're
standing in right now. Most of them have never seen this area before because it's been held
by ethnic Armenian forces until just a couple of days ago.
TURAL NURUYEV, Azerbaijan Army (through translator): My father said that, as soon as this place
is rebuilt, we will move here.
JAMAL JABBAROV, Azerbaijan Army (through translator): They killed our mothers and sisters on this
land. How can we forget that? I'm ready to drink their blood..
SIMON OSTROVSKY: One sore point for many in Azerbaijan as they reclaim their territories
is the state of their cultural heritage sites.
For example, this place here, a former museum, has been used for livestock. These are pens.
Azerbaijanis were also angered by pictures they saw of Armenian residents destroying
property ahead of the handover. After loading vehicles with their belongings, many set their
houses on fire to make it more difficult for Azerbaijani refugees to return.
Sevil Gambarova is a carpet weaver from Agdam, which she fled 30 years ago. Today, she lives
in one of the housing complexes built for some 750,000 internally displaced people from
the first war. She's making a souvenir rug with the image of the central mosque of her
hometown.
SEVIL GAMBAROVA, Carpet Weaver (through translator): They kept pigs in our mosques. They burned
our houses. They left no stone unturned. God won't forgive this. They lived, ate and drank
in our homes for 30 years, and now they are leaving them in bad conditions.
God is great. Justice has been restored. Our victorious army won.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: A few weeks ago, this town, Hadrut, was populated by ethnic Armenians.
Azerbaijan took it in fierce fighting that lasted weeks. The ethnic Armenian population
had to flee. The question now is, will those residents ever come back? An even bigger question
is, does Azerbaijan want them here?
Azerbaijan's president has signaled he'd be willing to create conditions for Armenians
to live under his rule.
ILHAM ALIYEV, President of Azerbaijan: We see Karabakh as a prosperous, safe, secure
area of Azerbaijan, where people live in peace and dignity, where Azerbaijani and Armenian
community live side by side.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: But Armenians will need more than verbal assurances if they are to feel
that they can live safely in the territories he now controls.
Perhaps the best-documented alleged war crime of the conflict took place here in the center
of Hadrut. Two Armenians, a soldier and an elderly man, appear have been draped in Armenian
flags and executed on this spot in October.
I asked one of President Aliyev's top aides if incidents like this one would be investigated
and the perpetrators brought to justice.
HIKMAT HAJIYEV Foreign Aide of Azerbaijani President (through translator): Absolutely.
And we do regret that such kinds of incidents happened at the soldier level, at the individual
soldier level.
In no way -- it not justifiable. In no way it can be justified. Yesterday, Azerbaijan's
general prosecutor office made a stronger statement that all of these videos are going
to be investigated and who are guilty, of course, will be brought to justice.
SIMON OSTROVSKY: Whether Azerbaijan follows through on these promises and takes other
steps towards reconciliation with Armenians will determine whether the peace here is lasting,
or if it's just a matter of time before blood is spilt on these mountains again.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Simon Ostrovsky in Nagorno-Karabakh.