BBC Russian Service
Ahead of the transfer of Kalbajar District from Artsakh to Azerbaijan under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, ethnic Armenians burnt their homes, many of which were once inhabited by Azerbaijanis, to prevent them being reinhabited by the Azerbaijanis. The district had been mostly inhabited by ethnic Azerbaijanis before the First Nagorno-Karabakh War and was re-settled by Armenian citizens after the conflict. Some Armenians took their dead relatives' remains with them, and "Reuters" reported that villagers were "carting off everything they could as trucks nearby loaded up with household possessions". Reports of house burning emerged on 13 November, and on 15 November "Agence France-Presse" reported that in Çərəktar at least six houses were set on fire. "BBC Russian Service" reported that houses were also burning in neighboring Dadivank, and in other villages along the way. The fleeing Armenians were also sawing trees en masse, taking the firewood back to Armenia. Azerbaijan denounced civilians leaving the area for burning houses and committing what it termed "ecological terror"; President Ilham Aliyev called Armenians who destroyed their properties a "wild enemy". At Armenia's request, Azerbaijan extended the deadline for Armenians to fully vacate Kalbajar District by 10 days, until 25 November. Azerbaijan's Presidential Office stated that it took the worsening weather and the fact that there was only one road to Armenia into consideration when agreeing to extend the deadline.