EXODUS: Azerbaijan delays takeover, denounces fleeing Armenians.

Azerbaijan on Sunday postponed taking control of a territory ceded by Armenian forces in a cease-fire agreement, but denounced civilians leaving the area for burning houses and committing what it called “ecological terror.”

The cease-fire ended six weeks of intense fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and territories outside its formal borders that had been under the control of Armenian forces since 1994. The agreement calls for Azerbaijan to take control of the outlying territories. The first, Kelbajar, was to be turned over on Sunday.

The big players in this “local” conflict are Russia and Turkey.

Erdogan thought he had a friend in Putin, but Russia will likely stand by only so long as Armenian Christians are driven out by Turkey-backed Azeri Muslims.