Armenians Still Leaving Azerbaijan, Newspaper Reports

Armenians are still leaving their homes in Azerbaijan as ethnic tension continues in the two Soviet republics, the military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda reported Sunday.

As of Thursday, 166,024 refugees had arrived in Armenia from Azerbaijan, the newspaper said, adding that there were also many curfew violations in Yerevan, the capital, and other Armenian cities, where Soviet troops were sent last year to ease tensions.

On Friday alone, 82 people were detained for such violations, Krasnaya Zvezda said. “All this indicates that below the calm surface, tension continues.”

The article appeared to contradict a report by the Soviet news agency Tass earlier this month that refugees from both republics had started to return to their homes as the situation calmed.

The Feb. 7 Tass account said 158,000 Armenians and 141,000 Azerbaijanis had fled their homes to escape violence or the threat of it as of Nov. 22. But it said that 43,800 Armenians and 4,100 Azerbaijanis had returned home.