World Tour: Ethnic Armenians flee disputed territory

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with our reporter in Nigeria, Onize Ohikere.

AUDIO: [Crowd]

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Nagorno-Karabakh — We begin today in Armenia where local responders are assisting thousands of ethnic Armenian refugees fleeing the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

RESIDENT: [Speaking Armenian]

This resident says her village was heavily shelled and nearly no one is left there.

The majority-Christian Armenia and mostly-Muslim Azerbaijan have long disputed control of the region. Azerbaijan took parts of the region and other surrounding territory during a 6-week war in 2020.

A Russian-brokered ceasefire ended that conflict. But an Azeri blockade that began in December restricted the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

A week ago, Azerbaijan launched heavy artillery fire against ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian forces agreed to lay down their weapons and reintegrate into Azerbaijan. But many in the region are fleeing in fear for their safety.

PASHINYAN: [Speaking Armenian]

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says the attacks show that Armenia’s foreign security alliances are no longer effective, signaling a possible foreign policy shift from Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Azerbaijan on Monday in a show of support for his ally.

AUDIO: [Blaring horns]

Niger - France exit — We head over to Niger, where residents who have been blaring horns outside a military base for French soldiers welcomed news of their planned departure.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the impending withdrawal on Sunday, saying the gradual process could wrap up by the end of the year. France also recalled its ambassador and several other diplomats.

France retained some 1,500 troops in Niger since a July coup that ousted Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum.

Tensions have worsened since the French ambassador missed the military’s deadline last month to evacuate the country.

RESIDENT: [Speaking French]

This resident in the country’s capital, Niamey, says he welcomes the departure of French troops. He adds that terrorism has only worsened under their watch.

French troops have also withdrawn from Mali and Burkina Faso after they also faced coups in recent years.

Egypt elections — We head over to Egypt, where electoral officials announced a presidential election will take place in December.

Waleed Hamza is chairman of the National Election Authority.

HAMZA: [Speaking Arabic]

He says here that the voting process could extend to January if it enters a runoff.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who has been in power since 2014, has not announced his candidacy but is widely expected to win.

Constitutional amendments in 2019 added two years to his second term and also paved the way for him to run for a third term.

AUDIO: [Dancing]

Thailand-Chinese tourists — In Thailand, music and smiling dancers welcomed hundreds of Chinese tourists on Monday.

The celebration marked day one of a new five-month visa-free entry plan.

Thailand’s tourism sector has struggled to jump back since the pandemic. China alone accounted for more than 27 percent of visitors to Thailand in 2019.

THAVISIN: [Speaking Thai]

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin says he is confident the policy will boost the economy.

The visa plan also applies to tourists from Kazakhstan. It will run until the end of February.

That’s it for today’s WORLD Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

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