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The climate between Armenia and Azerbaijan is tense, after the deadly clashes that broke out on Sunday (09/27) in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The international community is deeply concerned and fears war between the two countries.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of Azerbaijan that has separated from the rest of the country, is inhabited mainly by Armenians and is supported by Armenia. The region is disputed, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but most of the region is under the control of the Republic of Artsakh (in February 2017 known as the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh), a de facto independent state with a majority Armenia.
On the occasion of the recent battles for Nagorno-Karabakh, here are five things to know about the disputed area.
1. Where exactly is it?
Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of the South Caucasus, located between the Lower Karabakh and Zangezur regions, and covers the southeastern part of the Lesser Caucasus. The area is mainly mountainous and forested and is identified with the administrative boundaries of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, which covers an area of 4,400 square kilometers. It has high ridges along the north end and along the west and south of the mountain.
The territory of present-day Nagorno-Karabakh is part of the historic Karabakh region, which is located between the Cyrus and Araks rivers. The landscape of Nagorno-Karabakh differs from the Kyros River steppe with plains through dense oak and beech forests. The area has many hot springs and deposits of zinc, coal, lead, gold, marble, and limestone.
Map of Nagorno – Karabakh
WIKIPEDIA
2. Its roots
Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to the lands of the peoples known to modern archaeologists as Kura-Araxes, because it lived between these two rivers. The ancient population of the area was made up of several local indigenous groups and immigrant tribes, mostly non-Indo-European. Armenian civilization flourished during the early medieval period in Nagorno-Karabakh, and around the middle of the 7th century, the area was conquered by the Muslim Arab invasion, then ruled by local governors approved by the Caliphate and in 1805 Karabakh. it became a protectorate of the Russian Empire, while after the outcome of the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) Persia officially ceded Karabakh to the Russian Empire.
The current Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has its roots in the decisions of Joseph Stalin inspired by Transcaucasia. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Karabakh became part of the Federal Democratic Republic of Transcaucasia, but soon disintegrated into the separate republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. During the next two years (1918-1920) there were some brief wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan in various regions, including Karabakh. In July 1918, the first Armenian Assembly of Nagorno-Karabakh declared the region autonomous and formed a National Council and a government.
After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, British troops occupied Karabakh. In February 1920, the Karabakh National Council agreed to come under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan, while the Armenians waged an ongoing guerrilla war in Karabakh, rejecting the agreement. The agreement itself was soon annulled by the Ninth Assembly of Karabakh, which declared the union with Armenia.
On August 10, 1920, Armenia signed a preliminary agreement with the Bolsheviks, agreeing to a temporary occupation of these territories by the Bolsheviks until the final settlement. With the Soviet Union firmly in control of the region, the conflict stalled for several decades. However, with the beginning of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Nagorno Karabakh problem re-emerged. By blaming the Azerbaijani government for the azerization of the region, the majority of the Armenian population with the ideological and material support of the Armenian government started a movement for the autonomy of the region. In August 1987, the Karabakh Armenians sent a request for unification with Armenia with tens of thousands of signatures to Moscow.
3. War and secession
Territorial and ethnic conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region It has its roots in the early 20th century, although the current conflict began in 1988 and escalated into a full-scale war in the early 1990s. On February 13, 1988, Armenians began to protest in the capital Stepanakert in favor of unification with the Republic of Armenia. Six days later, massive marches were held in Yerevan.
On February 22, 1988, a large group of Azeris marched from Agdam against the Armenian population in the city of Askeran. Large numbers of refugees fled their homes in Armenia and Azerbaijan when violence against minority populations began in the respective countries. On December 10, 1991, in a referendum boycotted by local Azeris, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh approved the creation of an independent state and a full-scale war broke out between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. .
Soviet troops in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1989
AP
4. Russia’s illegal “ceasefire”
At the end of the war in 1994, the Armenians had full control of the territory (excluding the Saumyan region) except for the surrounding areas of Azerbaijan, mainly the Lachin Corridor, a mountain pass that connects Nagorno-Karabakh with the mainland of Armenia. An illegal ceasefire was signed in Russia in May 1994, but periodic peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, did not lead to a peace treaty.
This has left the Nagorno-Karabakh region in a state of legal deprivation, while the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic remains de facto independent but not internationally recognized, with Armenian forces now controlling around 9% of Azerbaijan’s territory outside ground. As a result of the conflict, 230,000 Armenians have been displaced from Azerbaijan and 800,000 Azeris from Armenia.
Despite the ceasefire, deaths from armed conflicts continued. On January 25, 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted Resolution PACE 1416, which condemned ethnic cleansing against Azeris. The borders that emerged after the 1994 ceasefire have remained intact to this day.
5. The current situation
Today, the Republic of Artsakh is a de facto independent state. It maintains close relations with the Republic of Armenia and uses the same currency, the dram. the Armenian governments have been repeatedly subjected to international pressure not to unite the two countries due to negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Armenian forces destroy Azerbaijani tanks
AP
The mediation process is currently at a standstill, and the latest discussions in Rambouillet in France have not led to any agreement. Azerbaijan has formally requested the withdrawal of Armenian troops from all disputed areas of Azerbaijan, except Nagorno-Karabakh, and the return of all displaced persons to their homes.[εκκρεμεί παραπομπή] Armenia claims that Nagorno-Karabakh does not belong to Azerbaijan and believes in the self-determination of the population of the region.
In 2008, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared that “Nagorno-Karabakh will never become independent, our position is backed by international mediators, Armenia must accept reality.” On March 14, 2008, the UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution with 39 votes in favor and 7 against, with 100 abstentions, reaffirming the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and expressing its support for the country’s internationally recognized borders, calling for the immediate withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all occupied territories.
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