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Nagorno-Karabakh is a region located within the territory of Azerbaijan, which is in dispute with Armenia in support of its secession, and this conflict led to a war between them in which massacres, atrocities and displacement took place, especially against its Azerbaijani inhabitants , and its problem is one of the longest and most complex crises that erupted in the regions of the Soviet Union after its collapse. 1991 year.
Site
The Nagorno Karabakh region is located in the western part of Azerbaijan, about 270 km from its capital Baku, and its area is estimated to be about 4,400 square kilometers, or 15% of the country’s area.
The name of the region consists of two syllables: “Nagorny”, which means “mountainous” in Russian, and “Karabakh”, which means “black garden” in Turkish. But the Armenians called the region “Artsakh”, which means “the forest of R”, and “R” was the “sun god” for the ancient Armenians.
The capital of the region is Stepanakert, which is located on top of a mountain at 750 meters above sea level. It was established after the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917 on the site of the Khan Kennedy village, and its name was changed to “Estabana Kurt” in honor of the Bolshevik Communist leader Estbana Shahumyan, who mediates His statue is an important field in the city and bears his name.
Population
The population of Nagorno Karabakh (according to a census conducted by the Armenian authorities in January 2016) is 148.1 thousand, and the proportion of Armenians in the population is estimated to be 95%, with the rest being of other races.
History
The roots of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno Karabakh region date back to the 1920s, when Joseph Stalin decided in 1923 to annex the region, which was inhabited by an Armenian majority at the time, to Azerbaijan and granted it autonomy, and at the same time kept the Nakhchivan region isolated, with its majority Azerbaijani. Armenia, to sow the seeds of a conflict between the two states, the central government of Moscow would have a lasting influence.
And when the former Soviet Union’s control over the countries revolving in its orbit began to loosen, the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the sovereignty of this region broke out in 1988, and the conflict reached its climax when the two countries declared their independence. from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Simultaneously, the Armenians in the region declared secession from Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani government sent troops to try to get it back. In turn, Armenia supported the Armenians of Karabakh. The war began, claiming the lives of more than 30,000 Azeris and Armenians.
In addition to the loss of life, the war established new demographic and geographic realities. The conflict triggered a refugee movement in both directions estimated at more than 1.2 million people, most of them Azerbaijanis, and as a result, the majority of the region’s population became Armenian.
In addition to the Armenian control of the region; They seized 7 other Azerbaijani border regions (estimated at 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory), which ensured normal communication through the “Lachin” corridor with the state of Armenia, and the Armenian diaspora can bear the costs of paving of this 60 km long corridor.
While Azerbaijan demands the return of the region to its authority and offers the Armenians in it broad powers of independence in the context of autonomy, a solution to the crisis, Armenia supports its separation from Azerbaijan and provides aid to its separatist authority, who changed his name to “Artsaj”.
In an effort to stop the war, in 1993 the Security Council issued Resolution No. 822, in which it demanded that the Armenian forces withdraw from the occupied territories in Azerbaijan, but the Armenian forces did not comply with the decision.
The fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh ended in 1994, when a ceasefire agreement was signed. The two sides are still officially at war because they have not signed a peace treaty.
In 2006, Armenians in the fledgling region passed a constitution establishing it as an independent and separate “republic” from Azerbaijan, and chose “Estabana Crete” as their capital.
The new country, which has completed the construction of its legislative, executive and legal institutions, is supported by Armenia and Russia, which is home to one of its few military bases abroad, according to a security alliance between them.
The international community recognizes the Nagorno Karabakh region as a region within the borders of Azerbaijan and, despite the fact that the Armenian powers that control it declared their secession and established a “republic” in it, they have not achieved the recognition of any state. , including Armenia, of the independence of this region.
Efforts to achieve final peace in the region have always been hampered by thorny issues, such as the question of areas outside the region, which are controlled by Armenian forces.
Several countries – led by Russia, the United States and France – form the “Minsk Group” which has an international mandate to act as a mediator to resolve this conflict, and the group organized several rounds of talks for this purpose, but were unsuccessful.
On June 24, 2011, Armenian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani Ilham Aliyev held talks in the Russian city of Kazan under the auspices of then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The meeting did not manage to reach a framework document that obliges the parties in conflict to refuse to use force to resolve it and put a solution to their problem, but they emphasized – in a statement they issued after the meeting – the need to reach a a mutual understanding on a set of issues that will help create favorable conditions for agreeing on basic principles.
On July 5, 2015, Azerbaijan announced that its military forces had shot down two drones belonging to the Armenian army, which it said they discovered while conducting reconnaissance trips over the Azerbaijani sites in the “Tartar” area on the front line between the two. countries.
The clashes intensified in the following months, to the point that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – which includes the two countries and sponsors peace talks between them through the Minsk Group – warns that “the status quo quo is no longer possible. “
The development of events led to the fact that in December 2015 Azerbaijan, for the first time in 20 years, used tanks against separatist positions in Nagorno Karabakh.
On April 2, 2016, the two sides exchanged accusations of violating the ceasefire on the line of contact, resulting in several casualties and threatening to start a war between them, but the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry later announced a halt. one-sided fire, threatening to respond if discovered. His forces to attack again.
On September 27, 2020, warnings of war between Azerbaijan and Armenia appeared with the outbreak of a violent round of military escalation in the region, as there were deaths and injuries on both sides, and the Armenian separatists declared a state of war and the general mobilization in the region, amid regional and international calls to stop the fighting.
The head of the Armenian separatist administration, Araik Artunyan, declared a state of war and general mobilization throughout the region, and said – during an emergency session of Parliament in the regional capital, Stepanakert (Khankendi, according to his name Azerbaijani) – who decided to declare martial law and mobilize all healthy males over 18 years of age. .
And the Armenian authority announced the death of at least 10 Armenian soldiers from the regional forces as a result of the bombing of Azerbaijan. Artunyan also mentioned that extensive damage was done to civilian facilities and noted the death of a woman and her child as a result of the bombing, while the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Armenian army had started “a provocation operation. on a large scale in the early hours of the morning, firing light and heavy weapons at the sites. ” Azeri military and civilians “.
Economy
The people of Nagorno Karabakh work mainly in agriculture, taking advantage of the multiplicity of rivers and summer rainwater for irrigation and electricity generation, and some of them are also engaged in economic activities such as animal development and industry. light.
And the separatist authorities that run the region receive help from Armenia and the Armenian communities of the Diaspora. And the United States of America, influenced by the Armenian lobbies in it, has made Armenia the second largest country to benefit from the aid it provides to some countries in the world, and only Israel is ahead.
These authorities seek to attract foreign investment to develop multiple sectors, such as construction, gold and copper mines, telecommunications, banking and hospitality, and agricultural industries such as winemaking. These investments come mainly from Russia, the United States, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Australia.
Milestones
One of the most important features of Nagorno Karabakh is the city of “Shusha”, which the Armenians call “Shushi” and is considered a sacred place for them, which makes the determination of its final state the decisive element of the settlement.
Shusha is located 13 km from the provincial capital, Estabana Kurt, located at an altitude of 2500 meters above sea level, and is the home of Azerbaijani poets, writers and writers, and among them were the vast majority of its inhabitants before the war, before the Armenians occupied it with the contribution of a Russian general who participated in the Soviet-Afghan war (1980-1989).
During the war (1991-1994), the city witnessed fierce battles between the two sides, in which the Armenians won and fully extended their control over it. While the city’s mosques were completely destroyed, with the exception of one that Armenians kept healthy as proof of their “respect for places of worship,” churches that were closed in communist times were restored to life.
Among the characteristics of the region is also the town of “Funk” to the northwest of its capital, near which are the most famous and important churches for Armenians around the world.
Armenians say that work on its construction began in 1210 AD and was completed in 1240 AD, and that it was baptized in the presence of 750 believers, and under its altar is the skull of the cleric “Ohanis” with ammunition for many of the clergymen, and Armenians believe that they did not protect only this church, but the Nagorno region hated it. Pack everything.
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