Separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh says it will dismantle itself by January 2024

The separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh says that it will dismantle itself and the unrecognized republic will cease to exist by Jan. 1, 2024

APTOPIX Armenia Azerbaijan (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh announced Thursday that it will dismantle itself and the unrecognized republic will cease to exist by Jan. 1, 2024.

The move comes after Azerbaijan carried out a lightning offensive to reclaim full control over its breakaway region and demanded that Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh lay down their weapons and the separatist government dismantle itself.

Nagorno-Karabakh was run by separatist authorities for about 30 years.