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epa10912982 A view of laundry hanging on clotheslines at an abandoned residential area in Stepanakert, known also as Khankendi, the former regional capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, 10 October 2023 (issued 11 October 2023). Before Azerbaijan's military offensive last September, Nagorno-Karabakh's population was estimated at 120,000. After a military defeat by Azerbaijan followed by a mass exodus of nearly the entire region's population of ethnic Armenians, the enclave will 'cease to exist' as a self-proclaimed state from 01 January 2024, the region's separatist leader Samvel Shakhramanyan announced on 28 September 2023, after signing a decree to dissolve all its institutions. The territory, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, has been at the center of a decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. EPA/STRINGER