Nagorno-Karabakh is the region in Transcaucasia, legally being the territory of Azerbaijan. At the time of the collapse of the USSR, a military clash arose here, since the vast majority of the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh have Armenian roots. The essence of the conflict is that Azerbaijan makes quite reasonable demands on this territory, but the region’s inhabitants are more inclined towards Armenia. On May 12, 1994, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh ratified the protocol establishing a ceasefire, resulting in an unconditional ceasefire in the conflict zone.
History tour
Armenian historical sources claim that Artsakh (the ancient Armenian name) was first mentioned in the VIII century BC. If you believe these sources, then Nagorno-Karabakh was part of Armenia in the early Middle Ages. As a result of the war of conquest of Turkey and Iran in this era, a significant part of Armenia came under the control of these countries. The Armenian principalities, or melikoms, at that time located on the territory of modern Karabakh, retained semi-independent status.
Azerbaijan takes its own point of view on this issue. According to local researchers, Karabakh is one of the most ancient historical regions of their country. The word "Karabakh" in Azerbaijani is translated as follows: "gara" means black, and "bug" means a garden. Already in the 16th century, together with other provinces, Karabakh was part of the Safavid state, and afterwards became an independent khanate.
Nagorno-Karabakh during the time of the Russian Empire
In 1805, the Karabakh khanate was subordinated to the Russian Empire, and in 1813, under the Gulistan peace treaty, Nagorno-Karabakh also became part of Russia. Then, according to the Turkmenchay agreement, as well as the agreement concluded in the city of Edirne, the Armenians were relocated from Turkey and Iran and placed in the territories of Northern Azerbaijan, including Karabakh. Thus, the population of these lands is mainly of Armenian origin.
As part of the USSR
In 1918, the newly created Azerbaijan Democratic Republic gained control of Karabakh. Almost simultaneously, the Republic of Armenia makes claims on this area, but the ADR does not recognize these claims. In 1921, the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh with the rights of broad autonomy was included in the Azerbaijan SSR. Two years later, Karabakh receives the status of an autonomous region (NKAO).
In 1988, the Council of Deputies of the NKAR petitioned the authorities of the Azerbaijan SSR and the ArmSSR of the republics and proposed transferring the disputed territory to Armenia. This petition was not granted, as a result of which a wave of protest swept through the cities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. Solidarity demonstrations were also held in Yerevan.
Declaration of independence
In the early autumn of 1991, when the Soviet Union was already beginning to fall apart, a declaration was adopted in the NKAR proclaiming the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Moreover, besides the NKAR, part of the territories of the former Azerbaijan SSR was included in its structure. According to the results of the referendum held on December 10 of the same year in Nagorno-Karabakh, more than 99% of the region’s population voted for complete independence from Azerbaijan.
It is quite obvious that the referendum was not recognized by the Azerbaijani authorities, and the act of proclamation was designated as illegal. Moreover, Baku decided to abolish the autonomy of Karabakh, which he possessed in Soviet times. However, the destructive process has already been launched.
Karabakh conflict
For the independence of the self-proclaimed republic, Armenian troops stood up, which Azerbaijan tried to resist. Nagorno-Karabakh received support from official Yerevan, as well as from the national diaspora in other countries, so the militia managed to defend the region. However, the Azerbaijani authorities still managed to establish control over several areas that were initially proclaimed part of the NKR.
Each of the warring parties gives its statistics of losses in the Karabakh conflict. Comparing these data, we can conclude that during three years of clarification of relations 15-25 thousand people died. At least 25 thousand were wounded, more than 100 thousand civilians were forced to leave their homes.
