Misplaced Pages

Latest revision as of 13:35, 25 December 2024

Nagorno-Karabakh
Location and extent of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (lighter color)
Area
• Total	4,400 km (1,700 sq mi)
• Water (%)	negligible
Population
• 2013 estimate	146,573
• 2010 census	141,400
• Density	29/km (75.1/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+4

Nagorno-Karabakh (/nəˌɡɔːrnoʊ kərəˈbɑːk/ , nə-GOR-noh kər-ə-BAHK; lit. 'Upper Karabakh') is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik. Its terrain mostly consists of mountains and forestland.

Most of Nagorno-Karabakh was governed by ethnic Armenians under the breakaway Republic of Artsakh — also known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) — from the end of the first Nagorno-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1994 to the announcement of the dissolution of the republic in September 2023. Representatives from the two sides held numerous inconclusive peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group regarding the region's disputed status, with its majority-Armenian population over time variously advocating either for Artsakh's independence from both states or for its integration into Armenia.

The region is usually equated with the administrative borders of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, comprising 4,400 square kilometres (1,700 sq mi); however, the region's historical extent encompasses approximately 8,223 square kilometres (3,175 sq mi).

On 27 September 2020, the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War broke out with an Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories. Azerbaijan made significant gains during the war, regaining all of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and capturing one-third of Nagorno-Karabakh, including Shusha and Hadrut. The war ended on 10 November 2020 when a trilateral ceasefire agreement was signed between Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia, under which all the remaining occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh were formally returned to Azerbaijani control. The Republic of Artsakh became an isolated rump state connected with Armenia only by a narrow Russian-controlled corridor.

On 19 September 2023, after a blockade lasting several months, Azerbaijan launched a fresh large-scale military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Artsakh forces collapsed rapidly, resulting in an Azerbaijani victory, the dissolution of the Republic of Artsakh, the exodus of almost the entire Armenian population from the region and the entry of Azerbaijani security forces into the former Artsakh capital of Stepanakert, known as Khankendi by Azerbaijan. On 1 January 2024, the Republic of Artsakh was formally dissolved, marking the end of a millennia-old Armenian presence in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Etymology

The prefix Nagorno- derives from the Russian attributive adjective nagorny (нагорный), which means "highland". The Azerbaijani names of the region include the similar adjectives dağlıq (mountainous) or yuxarı (upper). Such words are not used in the Armenian name, but appeared in the region's official name during the Soviet era as Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. Other languages apply their own wording for mountainous, upper, or highland; for example, the official name used for the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in French is Haut-Karabakh, meaning "Upper Karabakh".

The names for the region in the various local languages all translate to "mountainous Karabakh", or "mountainous black garden":

• Armenian: Լեռնային Ղարաբաղ, transliterated Leṙnayin Ġarabaġ, pronounced [lɛrnɑˈjin ʁɑɾɑˈbɑʁ] listen
• Azerbaijani: Dağlıq Qarabağ, Дағлыг Гарабағ, lit. 'mountainous Karabakh', pronounced [dɑɣˈlɯɣ ɡɑˈɾɑbɑɣ] listen
  or Yuxarı Qarabağ, Јухары Гарабағ, lit. 'upper Karabakh', pronounced [juxɑˈɾɯ ɡɑˈɾɑbɑɣ] listen
• Russian: Нагорный Карабах, transliterated Nagorny Karabakh, pronounced [nɐˈɡornɨj kərɐˈbax]

Armenians living in the area often call Nagorno-Karabakh Artsakh (Armenian: Արցախ), the name of the 10th province of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia. Urartian inscriptions (9th–7th centuries BC) use the name Urtekhini for the region. Ancient Greek sources called the area Orkhistene.

History

Antiquity and Early Middle Ages

Nagorno-Karabakh falls within the lands occupied by peoples known to modern archaeologists as the Kura-Araxes culture who lived between the two rivers Kura and Araxes.

The ancient population of the region consisted of various autochthonous local and migrant tribes who were mostly non-Indo-Europeans. According to the prevailing western theory, these natives intermarried with Armenians who came to the region after its inclusion into Armenia in the 2nd (or possibly earlier, the 4th) century BC. Other scholars suggest that the Armenians settled in the region as early as the 7th century BC.

Around 180 BC, Artsakh became one of the 15 provinces of the Armenian Kingdom and remained so until the 4th century. While formally having the status of a province (nahang), Artsakh possibly formed a principality on its own — like Armenia's province of Syunik. Other theories suggest that Artsakh was a royal land, belonging directly to the king of Armenia. King Tigran the Great of Armenia (who ruled from 95 to 55 BC) founded in Artsakh one of four cities named "Tigranakert" after himself. The ruins of the ancient Tigranakert, located 50 km (30 mi) north-east of Stepanakert, are being studied by a group of international scholars.

In 387 AD, after the partition of Armenia between the Roman Empire and Sassanid Persia, two Armenian provinces — Artsakh and Utik — became part of the Sassanid satrapy of Caucasian Albania, which in turn came under strong Armenian religious and cultural influence. At the time the population of Artsakh and Utik consisted of Armenians and several Armenized tribes.

Armenian culture and civilization flourished in the early medieval Nagorno-Karabakh. In the 5th century, the first-ever Armenian school was opened on the territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh at Amaras Monastery through the efforts of St. Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet. St. Mesrop was very active in preaching the Gospel in Artsakh and Utik. Overall, Mesrop Mashtots made three trips to Artsakh and Utik, ultimately reaching pagan territories at the foothills of the Greater Caucasus. The 7th-century Armenian linguist and grammarian Stephanos Syunetsi stated in his work that Armenians of Artsakh had their own dialect, and encouraged his readers to learn it.

High Middle Ages

Around the mid 7th century, the region was conquered by the invading Muslim Arabs through the Muslim conquest of Persia. Subsequently, it was ruled by local governors endorsed by the Caliphate. According to some sources, in 821 the Armenian prince Sahl Smbatian revolted in Artsakh and established the House of Khachen, which ruled Artsakh as a principality until the early 19th century. According to other sources, Sahl Smbatian "was of the Zamirhakan family of kings," and in the year 837–838 he acquired sovereignty over Armenia, Georgia, and Albania. The name "Khachen" originated from Armenian word "khach," which means "cross". By 1000 the House of Khachen proclaimed the Kingdom of Artsakh with John Senecherib as its first ruler. Initially Dizak in southern Artsakh also formed a kingdom ruled by the ancient House of Aranshahik, descended from the earliest Kings of Caucasian Albania. In 1261, after the daughter of the last king of Dizak married the king of Artsakh, Armenian prince Hasan Jalal Dola, the two states merged into one Armenian Principality of Khachen. Subsequently, Artsakh continued to exist as a de facto independent principality.

Late Middle Ages

In the 15th century, the territory of Karabakh was part of the states ruled subsequently by the Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu Turkic tribal confederations. According to Abu Bakr Tihrani, during the period of Jahan Shah (1438–1468), the ruler of Kara Koyunlu, Piri bey Karamanli held the governorship of Karabakh. However, according to Robert H. Hewsen, the Turkoman lord Jahan Shah (1437–67) assigned the governorship of upper Karabakh to local Armenian princes, allowing a native Armenian leadership to emerge consisting of five noble families led by princes who held the titles of meliks. These dynasties represented the branches of the earlier House of Khachen and were the descendants of the medieval kings of Artsakh. Their lands were often referred to as the Country of Khamsa (five in Arabic). In a Charter (2 June 1799) of the Emperor Paul I titled "About their admission to Russian suzerainty, land allocation, rights and privileges", it was noted that the Christian heritage of the Karabakh region and all their people were admitted to the Russian suzerainty. However, according to Robert Hewsen, the Russian Empire recognized the sovereign status of the five princes in their domains by the charter of Emperor Paul I dated 2 June 1799.

The Armenian meliks were granted supreme command over neighbouring Armenian principalities and Muslim khans in the Caucasus by the Iranian king Nader Shah, in return for the meliks' victories over the invading Ottoman Turks in the 1720s. These five principalities in Karabakh were ruled by Armenian families who had received the title Melik (prince) and were the following:

• Principality of Gulistan – under the leadership of the Melik-Beglarian family
• Principality of Jraberd – under the leadership of the Melik-Israelian family
• Principality of Khachen – under the leadership of the Hasan-Jalalian family
• Principality of Varanda – under the leadership of the Melik-Shahnazarian family
• Principality of Dizak – under the leadership of the Melik-Avanian family

From 1501 to 1736, during the existence of the Safavid Empire, the province of Karabakh was governed by the Ziyadoghlu Qajar dynasty, until Nader Shah took over Karabakh from their rule. The Armenian meliks maintained full control over the region until the mid-18th century. In the early 18th century, Iran's Nader Shah took Karabakh out of control of the Ganja khans in punishment for their support of the Safavids, and placed it under his own control In the mid-18th century, as internal conflicts between the meliks led to their weakening, the Karabakh Khanate was formed. The Karabakh khanate, one of the largest khanates under Iranian suzerainty, was headed by Panah-Ali khan Javanshir. For the reinforcement of the power of Karabakh khanate, Khan of Karabakh, Panah-Ali khan Javanshir, built up “the fortress of Panahabad (today Shusha)” in 1751. During that time, Otuziki, Javanshir, Kebirli, and other Turkic tribes constituted the majority of the overall population.

Modern era

Karabakh (including modern-day Nagorno-Karabakh), became a protectorate of the Russian Empire by the Kurekchay Treaty, signed between Ibrahim Khalil Khan of Karabakh and general Pavel Tsitsianov on behalf of Tsar Alexander I in 1805, according to which the Russian monarch recognized Ibrahim Khalil Khan and his descendants as the sole hereditary rulers of the region. However, its new status was only confirmed following the outcome of the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813), when through the loss in the war, Persia formally ceded Karabakh to the Russian Empire per the Treaty of Gulistan (1813), before the rest of Transcaucasia was incorporated into the Empire in 1828 by the Treaty of Turkmenchay, which came as an outcome of the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828).

In 1822, 9 years after it passed from Iranian to Russian control, the Karabakh Khanate was dissolved and the area became part of the Elizavetpol Governorate within the Russian Empire. In 1823 the five districts corresponding roughly to modern-day Nagorno-Karabakh were 90.8% Armenian-populated.

Soviet era

After the October Revolution, Karabakh became part of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, but this soon dissolved into separate Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian states. Over the next two years (1918–1920), there were a series of short wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan over several regions, including Nagorno-Karabakh. Between 1918 and 1920, Nagorno-Karabakh's de jure affiliation with Armenia or Azerbaijan was disputed and not adjudicated by the League of Nations.

In July 1918, the First Armenian Assembly of Nagorno-Karabakh declared the region self-governing and created a National Council and government. Later, Ottoman troops entered Karabakh, meeting armed resistance by Armenians.

After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, British troops occupied Karabakh. The British command provisionally affirmed Khosrov bey Sultanov (appointed by the Azerbaijani government) as the governor-general of Karabakh and Zangezur, pending a final decision by the Paris Peace Conference. The decision was opposed by Karabakh Armenians. In February 1920, the Karabakh National Council preliminarily agreed to Azerbaijani jurisdiction, while Armenians elsewhere in Karabakh continued guerrilla fighting, never accepting the agreement. The agreement itself was soon annulled by the Ninth Karabagh Assembly, which declared union with Armenia in April.

In April 1920, while the Azerbaijani army was locked in Karabakh fighting local Armenian forces, Azerbaijan was taken over by Bolsheviks. On 10 August 1920, Armenia signed a preliminary agreement with the Bolsheviks, agreeing to a temporary Bolshevik occupation of these areas until final settlement would be reached. In 1921, Armenia and Georgia were also taken over by the Bolsheviks. After the Sovietization of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Kavbiuro (Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)) decided that Karabakh would remain within Azerbaijan SSR with broad regional autonomy, with the administrative centre in the city of Shusha (the administrative center was later moved to Stepanakert). The oblast's borders were drawn to include Armenian villages and to exclude as much as possible Azerbaijani villages. The resulting district ensured an Armenian majority.

With the Soviet Union firmly in control of the region, the conflict over the region died down for several decades until the beginning of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the question of Nagorno-Karabakh re-emerged. Accusing the Azerbaijani SSR government of conducting forced Azerification of the region, the majority Armenian population, with ideological and material support from the Armenian SSR, started a movement to have the autonomous oblast transferred to the Armenian SSR. In August 1987, Karabakh Armenians sent a petition for union with Armenia with tens of thousands of signatures to Moscow.

War and secession

On 13 February 1988, Karabakh Armenians began demonstrating in Stepanakert, in favour of unification with the Armenian republic. Six days later they were joined by mass marches in Yerevan. On 20 February, the Soviet of People's Deputies in Karabakh voted 110 to 17 to request the transfer of the region to Armenia. This unprecedented action by a regional Soviet brought out tens of thousands of demonstrations both in Stepanakert and Yerevan, but Moscow rejected the Armenians' demands. On 20 February 1988, 2 Azeri girls were raped in Stepanakert. This caused widespread outrage in the Azeri town of Aghdam. The first direct confrontation of the conflict occurred as a large group of Azeris marched from Agdam to the Armenian populated town of Askeran. The confrontation between the Azeris and the police near Askeran degenerated into the Askeran clash, which left two Azeris dead, one of them allegedly killed by an Azeri police officer. Fifty Armenian villagers and an unknown number of Azeris and police officers were injured. Large numbers of refugees left Armenia and Azerbaijan as violence began against the minority populations of the respective republics. On 7 July 1988, the European Parliament passed a resolution that condemned the violence employed against Armenian demonstrators in Azerbaijan, and supported the demand of the Armenians for reunification with the Soviet Republic of Armenia.

On 29 November 1989, direct rule in Nagorno-Karabakh was ended and the region was returned to Azerbaijani administration. The Soviet policy backfired, however, when a joint session of the Armenian Supreme Soviet and the National Council, the legislative body of Nagorno-Karabakh, proclaimed the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. On 26 November 1991 Azerbaijan abolished the status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, rearranging the administrative division and bringing the territory under direct control of Azerbaijan.

On 10 December 1991, in a referendum boycotted by local Azerbaijanis, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh approved the creation of an independent state. A Soviet proposal for enhanced autonomy for Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan satisfied neither side and a full-scale war subsequently erupted between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, with the latter receiving support from Armenia. According to Armenia's former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, the Karabakh leadership approach was maximalist and "they thought they could get more."

The struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated after both Armenia and Azerbaijan attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. In the post-Soviet power vacuum, military action between Azerbaijan and Armenia was heavily influenced by the Russian military. Furthermore, both the Armenian and Azerbaijani military employed a large number of mercenaries from Ukraine and Russia. Between fifteen and twenty-five hundred Afghan mujahideen, along with fighters from Chechnya, participated in the fighting on Azerbaijan's side. Russia provided Armenia with heavy artillery and tanks. Many survivors from the Azerbaijani side found shelter in 12 emergency camps set up in other parts of Azerbaijan to cope with the growing number of internally displaced people due to the first Nagorno-Karabakh war.

By the end of 1993, the conflict had caused about 30,000 casualties and created hundreds of thousands of refugees on both sides. By May 1994, the Armenians were in control of 14% of the territory of Azerbaijan. At that stage, for the first time during the conflict, the Azerbaijani government recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as a third party in the war and started direct negotiations with the Karabakh authorities. As a result, a ceasefire was reached on 12 May 1994 through Russian mediation.

Post-1994 ceasefire

Despite the ceasefire, fatalities due to armed conflicts between Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers continued. On 25 January 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted PACE Resolution 1416, which condemned ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis. On 15–17 May 2007 the 34th session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Conference adopted resolution No. 7/34-P, considering the occupation of Azerbaijani territory as the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and recognizing the actions against Azerbaijani civilians as a crime against humanity, and condemning the destruction of archaeological, cultural and religious monuments in the occupied territories. The 11th session of the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference held on 13–14 March 2008 in Dakar adopted resolution No. 10/11-P (IS). In the resolution, OIC member states condemned the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenian forces and Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, ethnic cleansing against the Azeri population, and charged Armenia with the "destruction of cultural monuments in the occupied Azerbaijani territories". On 14 March of the same year the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution No. 62/243 which "demands the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan". On 18–20 May 2010, the 37th session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Dushanbe adopted another resolution condemning the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, recognizing the actions against Azerbaijani civilians as a crime against humanity and condemning the destruction of archaeological, cultural, and religious monuments in occupied territories. On 20 May of the same year, the European Parliament in Strasbourg adopted the resolution on "The need for an EU Strategy for the South Caucasus" on the basis of the report by Evgeni Kirilov, the Bulgarian member of the Parliament. The resolution states in particular that "the occupied Azerbaijani regions around Nagorno-Karabakh must be cleared as soon as possible". On 26 January 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted Resolution 2085, which deplored the fact that the occupation by Armenia of Nagorno-Karabakh and other adjacent areas of Azerbaijan creates humanitarian and environmental problems for the citizens of Azerbaijan, condemned ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis and Assembly requested immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the region concerned.

Several world leaders have met with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the years, but efforts to maintain the ceasefire have failed.

On 2 April 2016 Azerbaijani and Armenian forces again clashed in the region. The Armenian Defense Ministry alleged that Azerbaijan launched an offensive to seize territory in the region. At least 30 soldiers were killed during the fighting and a Mil Mi-24 helicopter and tank were also destroyed, with 12 of the fallen soldiers belonging to the Azerbaijani forces and the other 18 belonging to the Armenian forces, as well as an additional 35 Armenian soldiers reportedly wounded.

2020 war and ceasefire agreement

On 27 September 2020, a new war erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories. The United Nations strongly condemned the conflict and called on both sides to deescalate tensions and resume meaningful negotiations without delay.

The war ended on 10 November 2020, when a trilateral ceasefire agreement was signed among Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia. According to the ceasefire agreement, Azerbaijan regained all of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and capturing one-third of Nagorno-Karabakh proper, including Shusha and Hadrut.

Blockade (2022–2023)

In December 2022, Azerbaijanis claiming to be environmental activists blocked the Lachin corridor, the sole road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. On 23 April 2023, Azerbaijani forces installed a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor. The blockade led to a humanitarian crisis for the population in Artsakh and imports of essential goods were blocked, as well as humanitarian convoys of the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeepers, trapping the 120,000 residents of the region. Limited traffic had been conducted by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross to transport patients in need of medical care and provide humanitarian supplies. However, starting on 15 June 2023, Azerbaijan intensified the blockade, blocking all passage of food, fuel, and medicine from the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeepers through the Lachin corridor. On 19 September, Azerbaijan launched a military operation.

Azerbaijani offensive (2023)

On 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh. One day after the offensive started, on 20 September, an agreement on establishing a complete cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh was reached at the mediation of the Russian peacekeeping command in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan held a meeting with representatives of the Artsakh Armenian community on 21 September in Yevlakh to start the process of re-integrating the region into Azerbaijan. Ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan were nonetheless reported by both Artsakh and local residents in Stepanakert on 21 September. In the aftermath of the offensive, an exodus of Armenians from the region started. On 28 September 2023, the Republic of Artsakh agreed to dissolve itself by 1 January 2024.

Geography

Nagorno-Karabakh has a total area of 4,400 square kilometres (1,699 sq mi). Approximately half of Nagorno-Karabakh terrain is over 950 metres (3,120 ft) above sea level. The borders of Nagorno-Karabakh resemble a kidney bean with the indentation on the east side. It has tall mountain ridges along the northern edge and along the west and mountainous south. The part near the indentation of the kidney bean itself is a relatively flat valley, with the two edges of the bean, the districts of Martakert and Martuni, having flatlands as well. Other flatter valleys exist around the Sarsang reservoir, Hadrut, and the south. The entire region lies, on average, 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) above sea level. Notable peaks include the border mountain Murovdag and the Great Kirs mountain chain in the junction of Shusha and Hadrut districts. The territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh forms a portion of the historic region of Karabakh, which lies between the rivers Kura and Araxes, and the modern Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Nagorno-Karabakh in its modern borders is part of the larger region of Upper Karabakh.

Nagorno-Karabakh does not directly border Armenia but is connected to the latter through the Lachin corridor, a mountain pass under the control of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The major cities of the region are Stepanakert, which serves as the capital of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and Shusha, which lies partially in ruins. Vineyards, orchards, and mulberry groves for silkworms are developed in the valleys.

Environment

Nagorno-Karabakh's environment vary from steppe on the Kura lowland through dense forests of oak, hornbeam, and beech on the lower mountain slopes to birchwood and alpine meadows higher up. The region possesses numerous mineral springs and deposits of zinc, coal, lead, gold, marble, and limestone.

Demographics

Antiquity – 1918

Historically, the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh — then part of the province of Artsakh — were confirmed by Ancient Greek and Roman sources "long before our era" to be Armenian. In the early 15th century, German traveller Johann Schiltberger after visiting the region stated that "although the Muslims had taken possession of Karabagh, there were still Armenian villages in the region". Historian Victor Schnirelmann writes that "In the mid-18th century, … Turkic tribes … gained access to the highland territories and began to settle in Shusha … by the end of the 18th century, a substantial number of its former Armenian inhabitants had left Nagorny Karabagh. Just at the turn of the 19th century, the Turkic population significantly outnumbered the local Armenians, but this only lasted … end of the 1820s, the Armenians began to come back to Karabagh, and they accounted for the majority of its population by the mid-19th century". Edmund Herzig and Marina Kurkchiyan present an alternative view that "Armenians had already been a majority in some areas such as mountainous Karabagh", compared to the Yerevan province which had "regained an Armenian majority for the first time in several hundred years."

According to an 1823 Russian survey published in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi) in 1866, Armenians made up 97 percent of the population in the five districts (mahals) of Nagorno-Karabakh, thus proving, contrary to claims in Azerbaijani historiography, that Armenians formed an overwhelming majority of Nagorno-Karabakh prior to 1828. Historian George Bournoutian writes that Russian statistics from 1810 show that Armenians made up 21 percent of the Karabakh region's population; In 1823, the Armenian population of Karabakh had increased by 30 percent "after the return of those who had fled the region", and by 1832, the Armenian population had increased to one-third of Karabakh. Moreover, the "one-third" of the population of Karabakh composed of Armenians resided in one-third of the territory of Karabakh, the mountainous territory (i.e. Nagorno-Karabakh), where they "constituted an overwhelming majority of the population."

1918–1920

According to Armenian sources, the "historical Nagorno-Karabakh" region had a population of 300,000–330,000 in 1918–1920, rising to 700,000–800,000 by 1988. As a result of "Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression", the region's population declined by 20 percent in 1918–1920. In this period, Azerbaijani forces carried out massacres against Armenians in Ghaibalishen, Jamilli, Karkijahan, and Pahlul (600–700 dead), Stepanakert (several hundred dead), and Shusha (several hundred to 12,000 dead). As a result of the Shusha massacre, 5,000–6,000 Armenians were displaced to the regions of Varanda and Dizak. By 11 April 1920, some thirty villages in Nagorno-Karabakh had been "devastated" by Azerbaijani forces as a result of the uprising, leaving 25,000 homeless (including nearly 6,000 refugees from Shusha).

1921–1987

1923 statistics indicate that the NKAO was 94.8 percent Armenian, numbering 149,600, whilst the Azerbaijani population numbered 7,700. Historian Cory Welt writes of a "discrepancy" of the Armenian population jumping by over 25,000 individuals between the 1921 and 1923 censuses, also pointing out that the Armenian population declined to 111,700 in 1926, thus indicating an "unexplained drop" of 38,000 individuals. In the 1920s, the NKAO had a population of 131,500 people, 94.4 percent (124,136) of whom were ethnic Armenians and only 5.6 percent (7,364) of whom were ethnic Azerbaijanis. In 1933, Nagorno-Karabakh had a population of 147,308, 10,751 (7.3 percent) of whom were urban dwellers, and 136,557 (92.7 percent) of whom were rural residents. On 1 January 1973, the oblast had a population of 153,000.

Discrimination and stagnation

Whilst the region was a part of the Azerbaijan SSR, the Armenian share of the population dropped from 94.7 to 76.9 percent, whilst the Azerbaijani share of the population quadrupled from 5.1 to 21.5 percent as a result of "migratory influx" — indicative of the socio-economic difficulties local Armenians experienced under Soviet Azerbaijani leadership which led them to emigrate from Karabakh. Emeritus professor of law M. Cherif Bassiouni writes of the stagnation of the Armenian population "due to the discriminatory policies of Azerbaijani authorities that compelled Armenians to emigrate"; also adding that 600,000 Armenians from Karabakh reside in Armenia and the countries of the CIS. According to historian Deon Geldenhuys, "his was due to Baku's deliberate promotion of Azerbaijani settlement in Karabagh as part of a policy of 'cultural de-Armenization' of the region"; further adding that Azerbaijan "neglected the economic needs of the territory". Stuart J. Kaufman, a professor of political science and international relations, writes of the difficulties of Karabakh Armenians:

… Armenian-language education was not easily available, Armenian history was not taught at all, and those who went to Armenia for training were discriminated against in competing for jobs in the province, … Underinvestment in the region—also blamed on Baku—meant less economic development and poor infrastructure even by Soviet standards, and therefore fewer jobs overall, especially for Armenians. Cultural ties with Armenia were strangled in red tape in Baku, and a decision to make Armenian-language television available in the region was left unimplemented. One result of these policies was a continuing exodus of Armenians from Karabagh in search of greener pastures.

1988–present

Following the Sumgait pogrom and the exodus of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, Azerbaijanis in Stepanakert and Armenians in Shusha were expelled in September 1988. As local Armenian forces gained possession of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts (amounting to 14 percent of the internationally recognised territory of Azerbaijan) during the First Nagorno-Karabakh war, hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were expelled from their lands. During the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijan regained control over the surrounding districts and southern parts of the former NKAO, thus displacing approximately 70,000 Armenians.

Transport

During the rule of the Soviet Union, the Yevlakh–Aghdam–Stepanakert line connected the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region with the main part of Azerbaijan. After the Nagorno-Karabakh war and the abandonment of Ağdam, the line's service was cut back to service only between Yevlax and Kətəlparaq, without any present section at the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The former railway line between Kətəlparaq and Stepanakert has been almost completely destroyed.

The (Tbilisi–Gyumri–)Yerevan–Nakhchivan–Horadiz–Shirvan(–Baku) main railway was also dismantled from the NKR between Ordubad and Horadiz, as well as a by-line from Mincivan to the Armenian city of Kapan. Currently, the Azerbaijani trains only travel to Horadiz. The Ordubad–Horadiz section has been demolished, leaving the NKR with no intact, active railway line in their territory. The railway at the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic still operates, but it is separated from the main Azerbaijani lines, and only has a connection to Iran.

See also

• Timeline of Artsakh history
• Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations
• List of active separatist movements in Europe
• Janapar – the hiking trail across Nagorno-Karabakh
• Outline of Nagorno-Karabakh
• Post-Soviet states
• Yekbûn

Notes

1. Until 1936, Azerbaijanis were known as "Tatars" or "Turkish-Tatars".
2. With the city of Shusha included, the NKAO's total population was 138,466, the adjusted ethnic composition is as follows:
   • Armenians – 122,715 (88.62%)
   • Azerbaijanis – 15,444 (11.15%)
   • Others – 307 (0.22%)

References

1. "Population of NKR as of 01.01.2013". NKR. 1 January 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
2. "Official Statistics of the NKR. Official site of the President of the NKR". President.nkr.am. 1 January 2010. Archived from the original on 22 January 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
3. "Nagorno-Karabakh". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023.
4. "Tensions mount as Armenia and Azerbaijan continue fighting". Dawn.com, Associated Press. 29 September 2020. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020.
5. Robert H. Hewsen. "The Meliks of Eastern Armenia: A Preliminary Study". Revue des etudes Arméniennes. NS: IX, 1972, pp. 288.
6. Robert H. Hewsen (2001). Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-226-33228-4.
7. ^ "Fighting erupts between Armenia, Azerbaijan over disputed region". Al Jazeera. 27 September 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
8. ^ "Armenia and Azerbaijan: A blockade that never ended and a peace deal hanging by a thread". Global Voices. 19 July 2023. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
9. ^ "Violence and Politics in Armenia-Azerbaijan Relations". Baku Research Institute. 14 October 2022. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023. As a result of the 2020 war, however, Azerbaijan received all territories around Soviet-era Nagorno Karabakh that were occupied by Armenian forces during the first Karabakh war, plus the two regions of Nagorno Karabakh proper: Shushi/Shusha and Hadrut.
10. ^ Cheterian, Vicken (20 October 2022). "Technological determinism or strategic advantage? Comparing the two Karabakh Wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan". Journal of Strategic Studies. 47 (2): 214–237. doi:10.1080/01402390.2022.2127093. ISSN 0140-2390. S2CID 253061240. The Armenian side also lost territories within the former NKAO, namely the district of Hadrut and the strategic town of Shusha/Shushi, areas that were not even considered for handover to Azerbaijan during the long years of diplomatic negotiations between the two wars.
11. ^ Lynch, Ian J. (18 November 2020). "A cold winter for peace in Nagorno-Karabakh?". Ahval. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2023. The new agreement allows Azerbaijan to keep the territory it took by force, including Shusha and Hadrut, within the historic boundaries of Nagorno-Karabakh. It also requires Armenian forces to turn over other territories they have occupied for the last 26 years, including the so-called Lachin corridor, which is Nagorno-Karabakh's primary link to Armenia proper.
12. ^ "Azerbaijan Launches Offensive in Breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh, Children Among Casualties". Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty. Archived from the original on 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
13. ^ "Azerbaijani forces strike Armenian-controlled Karabakh, raising risk of new Caucasus war". Reuters. 19 September 2023. Archived from the original on 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
14. ^ "Azerbaijan launches attack in Nagorno-Karabakh, announces 'evacuation' of Armenian population". 19 September 2023. Archived from the original on 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
15. ^ "Live updates | Stepanakert under fire as Azerbaijan launches assault on Nagorno-Karabakh". OC Media. 19 September 2023. Archived from the original on 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
16. ^ "Azerbaijan says it has begun 'anti-terrorist' operations in Nagorno-Karabakh". France 24. 19 September 2023. Archived from the original on 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
17. ^ "Нагорно-Карабахская республика прекратила существование" [The Nagorno–Karabakh Republic Ceased to Exist] (in Russian). 1 January 2024.
18. ^ "Nagorno-Karabakh talks: separatists lay down arms amid fears of refugee crisis". The Guardian. 23 September 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
19. "Azərbaycan polisi Xankəndidə - VİDEO". Publika.AZ (in Azerbaijani). 29 September 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
20. Sauer, Pjotr (28 September 2023). "Nagorno-Karabakh's breakaway government says it will dissolve itself". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
21. Hauer, Neil (24 November 2024). "COP29 host Azerbaijan guilty of 'ethnic cleansing' during 2023 attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh: report". CBC News. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
22. "NEW REPORT: Azerbaijani Regime Ethnically Cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh According to International Fact-Finding Mission". Freedom House. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
23. "Freedom House: Azerbaijan's actions from 2020 to May 2024 regarding Karabakh are crimes under Rome Statute". News.am. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
24. "Freedom House Report Accuses Azerbaijan of Coordinated Plan to Rid Karabakh of Armenians". Hetq. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
25. Strabo (ed. H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A.) . Geography Archived 23 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine. The Perseus Digital Library. 11.14.4. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
26. Viviano, Frank (March 2004). "The Rebirth of Armenia". National Geographic Magazine.
27. John Noble, Michael Kohn, Danielle Systermans. Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Lonely Planet; 3 edition (1 May 2008), p. 307
28. Edens, Christoper (August–November 1995). "Transcaucasia at the End of the Early Bronze Age". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 299/300 (The Archaeology of Empire in Ancient Anatolia). The American Schools of Oriental Research: 53, pp. 53–64 . doi:10.2307/1357345. ISSN 0003-097X. JSTOR 1357345. S2CID 163585471.
29. ^ Hewsen, Robert H. (1982). "Ethno-History and the Armenian Influence upon the Caucasian Albanians". In Samuelian, Thomas J. (ed.). Classical Armenian Culture. Influences and Creativity. Chicago: Scholars Press. pp. 27–40. ISBN 0-89130-565-3.
30. Hewsen, Robert H. Armenia: a Historical Atlas. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2001, p. 32–33, map 19 (shows the territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the Orontids' Kingdom of Armenia)
31. R. Schmitt, M. L. Chaumont. "Armenia and Iran". Encyclopædia Iranica. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
32. Hewsen, Robert H. "The Kingdom of Artsakh", in T. Samuelian & M. Stone, eds. Medieval Armenian Culture. Chico, CA, 1983.
33. Hewsen. Armenia, pp. 100–103.
34. "ИСТОРИЯ ИМПЕРАТОРА ИРАКЛА. Сочинене епископа Себеоса, писателя VII века. Пер. с армянского К.Патканяна". vehi.net. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
35. Evgeny Dmitrievich Silaev (13 June 2023). "Azerbaijan". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 18 November 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
36. Walker, Christopher J. (1991). Armenia and Karabagh: The Struggle for Unity. Minority Rights Group Publications. p. 10.
37. Viviano, Frank. "The Rebirth of Armenia", National Geographic Magazine, March 2004, p. 18,
38. Movses Kalankatuatsi. History of the Land of Aluank, Book I, chapters 27, 28 and 29; Book II, chapter 3.
39. Н.Адонц. «Дионисий Фракийский и армянские толкователи», Пг., 1915, 181—219
40. The Cambridge History of Iran Archived 23 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine. — Cambridge University Press, 1975. — vol. 4. — p. 506 "He was handed to Afshin's troops by Sahl b. Sunbadh, an Armenian prince in 222/836-7, and executed in Samarra (223/837) while his brother and assistant 'Abd-Allah was delivered to the prince of Tabaristan, Ibn Sharvin, who had him put to death in Baghdad."
41. ^ Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, 2001, pp. 119, 155, 163, 264–65.
42. Movses Dasxuranci translated by C. J. F. Dowsett (1961). The History of the Caucasian Albanians By Movses Dasxuranci. London: Oxford University Press. p. 217.
43. Тер-Григорян Т.И. Неизданные страницы "Истории Албанской страны"Моисея Каланкайтукского. Архив Ин-та истории АН Азерб. ССР, № 1386, л.18.
44. Christopher Walker. The Armenian presence in Mountainous Karabakh, in John F. R. Wright et al.: Transcaucasian Boundaries (SOAS/GRC Geopolitics). 1995, p. 93
45. Hewsen, Robert H. "The Kingdom of Artsakh", in T. Samuelian & M. Stone, eds. Medieval Armenian Culture. Chico, CA, 1983
46. Arḡūn Āqā — Encyclopædia Iranica. Archived 17 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine P. Jackson "It can only have caused resentment among the Muslims, and the Christian author Kirakos, in stark contrast with Jovaynī, has nothing favorable to say concerning Arḡūn’s exactions: his harsh treatment of certain Armenian princes, such as Jalāl of Ḵačen, whom he had executed in 659/1261, made him especially hateful."
47. "Armenia | Geography, Population, Map, Religion, & History". Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 June 2023. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2022. A few native Armenian rulers survived for a time in the Kiurikian kingdom of Lori, the Siuniqian kingdom of Baghq or Kapan, and the principates of Khachen (Artzakh) and Sasun."
48. Robert H. Hewsen. Russian–Armenian relations, 1700–1828. Society of Armenian Studies, N4, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984, p 37
49. George A. Bournoutian (1994). A History of Qarabagh: An Annotated Translation of Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi's Tarikh-e Qarabagh. Mazda Publishers. ISBN 1-56859-011-3.
50. Abū Bakr Ṭihrānī. Kitāb-i Diyārbakriyya. (original) کتاب دیاربکریه: از تواریخ‌ قراقوینلو و چغاتای. ویسنده: ابوبکر طهرانی. به تصحیح‌ و اهتمام‌: نجاتی‌ لوغال‌، فاروق‌ سومه‌. تهران‌ : کتابخانه طهوری‏‫،۱۳۵۶. p. 138.
51. Полное Собрание Законов Российской Империи c 1649 года. Том XXV. 1798–1799. СПб.: Печатано в Типографии II Отделения Собственной Его Императорского Величества Канцелярии, 1830, № 18.990, c.674–675. (Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire since 1649. Volume XXV. 1798–1799. SPb .: Printed at the Printing House of the II Branch of His Imperial Majesty's Own Office, 1830, No. 18.990, p.674-675).
52. Robert H. Hewsen. Russian–Armenian relations, 1700–1828. Society of Armenian Studies, N4, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984, p 37.
53. Walker, Christopher J. Armenia: Survival of a Nation. London: Routledge, 1990 p. 40 ISBN 0-415-04684-X
54. Raffi, The History of Karabagh's Meliks, Vienna, 1906, in Armenian
55. In English, Raffi, The Five Melikdoms of Karabagh translated by Ara Stepan Melkonian, Garod Books Ltd. 2010, London. ISBN 9781903656570
56. Павлова И.К. Хроника времен Сефевидов. Соч. Мухаммад-Масума Исфахани "Хуласат ас-сийар". М.:Наука, 1993, c.59–61.
57. (in Russian) Abbas-gulu Aga Bakikhanov. Golestan-i Iram Archived 20 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine; according to an 18th-century local Turkic-Muslim writer Mirza Adigezal bey, Nadir shah placed Karabakh under his own control, while a 19th-century local Turkic Muslim writer Abbas-gulu Aga Bakikhanov states that the shah placed Karabakh under the control of the governor of Tabriz.
58. "МИРЗА АДИГЕЗАЛЬ-БЕК->КАРАБАГ-НАМЕ->ГЛАВЫ 1–6". www.vostlit.info. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
59. Bournoutian, George A. (2016). The 1820 Russian Survey of the Khanate of Shirvan: A Primary Source on the Demography and Economy of an Iranian Province prior to its Annexation by Russia. Gibb Memorial Trust. p. xvii. ISBN 978-1909724808. Serious historians and geographers agree that after the fall of the Safavids, and especially from the mid-eighteenth century, the territory of the South Caucasus was composed of the khanates of Ganja, Kuba, Shirvan, Baku, Talesh, Sheki, Karabagh, Nakhchivan and Yerevan, all of which were under Iranian suzerainty.
60. "KM.RU – новости, экономика, автомобили, наука и техника, кино, музыка, спорт, игры, анекдоты, курсы валют | KM.RU". www.km.ru. Archived from the original on 13 June 2003.
61. Muriel Atkin. The Strange Death of Ibrahim Khalil Khan of Qarabagh. Iranian Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1/2 (Winter – Spring, 1979), pp. 79–107
62. George A. Bournoutian. A History of Qarabagh: An Annotated Translation of Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi's Tarikh-e Qarabagh. Mazda Publishers, 1994. ISBN 1-56859-011-3, 978-1-568-59011-0
63. Tim Potier. M1 Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia: A Legal Appraisal Archived 9 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2001, p. 2. ISBN 90-411-1477-7.
64. Leonidas Themistocles Chrysanthopoulos. Caucasus Chronicles: Nation-building and Diplomacy in Armenia, 1993–1994 Archived 9 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Gomidas Institute, 2002, p. 8. ISBN 1-884630-05-7.
65. The British and Foreign Review Archived 9 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine. J. Ridgeway and sons, 1838, p. 422.
66. Taru Bahl, M.H. Syed. Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World. Anmol Publications PVT, 2003 p. 34. ISBN 81-261-1419-3.
67. Description of the Karabakh province prepared in 1823 according to the order of the governor in Georgia Yermolov by state advisor Mogilevsky and colonel Yermolov 2nd (Russian: Opisaniye Karabakhskoy provincii sostavlennoye v 1823 g po rasporyazheniyu glavnoupravlyayushego v Gruzii Yermolova deystvitelnim statskim sovetnikom Mogilevskim i polkovnikom Yermolovim 2-m), Tbilisi, 1866.
68. Bournoutian, George A. A History of Qarabagh: An Annotated Translation of Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi's Tarikh-E Qarabagh. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 1994, page 18
69. Krüger, Heiko (June 2014). "Nagorno-Karabakh". academic.oup.com. pp. 214–232. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702375.003.0011. ISBN 978-0-19-870237-5. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
70. Gardner, Anne-Marie (2011), "Nagorno-Karabakh: Balancing Standards?", Democratic Governance and Non-State Actors, New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, pp. 71–103, doi:10.1057/9780230117600_4, ISBN 978-1-349-29153-3, archived from the original on 23 September 2023, retrieved 2 August 2023
71. ^ "The Nagorno-Karabagh Crisis: A Blueprint for Resolution" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2006., New England Center for International Law & Policy
72. "Circular by colonel D. I. Shuttleworth of the British Command". Archived from the original on 7 May 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2006.
73. Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia: A Legal Appraisal by Tim Potier. ISBN 90-411-1477-7
74. Walker. The Survival of a Nation. pp. 285–90
75. "Q&A with Arsène Saparov: No Evidence that Stalin "gave" Karabakh to Azerbaijan". armenian.usc.edu. 10 December 2018. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020. Of all the documents I have seen, there is no direct evidence of Stalin doing or saying something in those 12 days in the summer of 1921 that . A lot of people just assume that since Stalin was an evil person, it would be typical of someone evil to take a decision like that.
76. Potier, Tim (2001). Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, A Legal Appraisal. The Hague, Netherlands: Kluwer Law International. p. 5. ISBN 9041114777.
77. Audrey L. Altstadt. The Azerbaijani Turks: power and identity under Russian rule. Hoover Press, 1992. ISBN 0817991824, 9780817991821
78. Black Garden, Thomas de Waal, page 292
79. Black Garden Thomas de Waal, p.15
80. Elizabeth Fuller, Nagorno-Karabakh: The Death and Casualty Toll to Date, RL 531/88, 14 December 1988, pp. 1–2
81. ^ de Waal, Thomas (2003). Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-1945-7.
82. Lieberman, Benjamin (2006). Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee. pp. 284–92. ISBN 1-5666-3646-9.
83. RESOLUTION on the situation in Soviet Armenia Archived 8 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine page 21
84. The Encyclopedia of World History. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2001. p. 906.
85. Roeder, Philip G. (2007). Where nation-states come from: institutional change in the age of nationalism. Princeton University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-691-13467-3. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
86. Human Rights Watch. Playing the "Communal Card". Communal Violence and Human Rights Archived 11 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine: "By early 1992 full-scale fighting broke out between Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijani authorities." / "...Karabakh Armenian forces—often with the support of forces from the Republic of Armenia—conducted large-scale operations..." / "Because 1993 witnessed unrelenting Karabakh Armenian offensives against the Azerbaijani provinces surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh..." / "Since late 1993, the conflict has also clearly become internationalized: in addition to Azerbaijani and Karabakh Armenian forces, troops from the Republic of Armenia participate on the Karabakh side in fighting inside Azerbaijan and in Nagorno-Karabakh."
87. Human Rights Watch. The former Soviet Union. Human Rights Developments Archived 18 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine: "In 1992 the conflict grew far more lethal as both sides—the Azerbaijani National Army and free-lance militias fighting along with it, and ethnic Armenians and mercenaries fighting in the Popular Liberation Army of Artsakh—began."
88. United States Institute of Peace. Nagorno-Karabakh Searching for a Solution. Foreword Archived 2 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine: "Nagorno-Karabakh’s armed forces have not only fortified their region but have also occupied a large swath of surrounding Azeri territory in the hopes of linking the enclave to Armenia."
89. United States Institute of Peace. Sovereignty after Empire. Self-Determination Movements in the Former Soviet Union. Hopes and Disappointments: Case Studies Archived 1 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine "Meanwhile, the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh was gradually transforming into a full-scale war between Azeri and Karabakh irregulars, the latter receiving support from Armenia." / "Azerbaijan's objective advantage in terms of human and economic potential has so far been offset by the superior fighting skills and discipline of Nagorno-Karabakh's forces. After a series of offensives, retreats, and counteroffensives, Nagorno-Karabakh now controls a sizable portion of Azerbaijan proper ... including the Lachin corridor."
90. "By Giving Karabakh Lands to Azerbaijan, Conflict Would Have Ended in '97, Says Ter-Petrosian". Asbarez. Asbarez. 19 April 2011. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
91. "Ter-Petrosyan on the BBC: Karabakh conflict could have been resolved by giving certain territories to Azerbaijan". ArmeniaNow. ArmeniaNow. 19 April 2011. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
92. "Первый президент Армении о распаде СССР и Карабахе". BBC. BBC. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
93. Human Rights Watch. Seven Years of Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. December 1994, p. xiii, ISBN 1-56432-142-8, citing: Natsional'nyi Sostav Naseleniya SSSR, po dannym Vsesoyuznyi Perepisi Naseleniya 1989 g., Moskva, "Finansy i Statistika"
94. Azerbaijan closes last of emergency camps Archived 24 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine, UNHCR
95. "Armenia, Azerbaijan clash as ceasefire fails to stick". Dawn.com, Agence France-Presse. 12 October 2020. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
96. de Waal, Thomas (2003). Black Garden (PDF). New York University Press. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
97. No End in Sight to Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh Archived 16 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine by Ivan Watson/National Public Radio. Weekend Edition Sunday, 23 April 2006.
98. "Проект заявления по Нагорному Карабаху ожидает одобрения парламентских сил Армении". Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
99. Резолюция ПАСЕ по Карабаху: что дальше? Archived 25 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. BBC Russian.
100. Resolutions on Political Affairs Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine. The Thirty-Fourth Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers.
101. Resolutions on Political Affairs Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Islamic Summit Conference. 13–14 May 2008
102. "A/RES/62/243 – E – A/RES/62/243 -Desktop". undocs.org. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
103. "Resolutions on Political Issues Adopted by the Council of Foreign Ministers (Session of Shared Vision of a More Secure and Prosperous Islamic World) Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan 4–6 Jamadul Thani 1431H (18–20 May 2010)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016.
104. "FM: Azerbaijan welcomes resolution 'Need for EU Strategy for South Caucasus' adopted by European Parliament Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine." Trend.az. 21 May 2010.
105. "EU's Ashton Says Nagorno-Karabakh Elections Illegal Archived 7 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine." RFE/RL. 21 May 2010.
106. Bulgarian MEPs Urge EU to Be Proactive in South Caucasus Archived 10 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
107. "Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water". Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
108. "PACE Adopts Anti-Armenian Measure, Rejects Another". Armenian Weekly. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
109. "Resolution: Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water". sarsang.org. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017.
110. "Azerbaijan military threat to Armenia Archived 25 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine." The Daily Telegraph. 22 November 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
111. Hodge, Nathan (2 April 2016). "A Dozen Dead in Heavy Fighting Reported in Nagorno-Karabakh". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
112. "Dozens killed in Nagorno-Karabakh clashes". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
113. "UN Security Council calls for immediate end to fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh". France 24. 30 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
114. "Russia Steps In To End War Between 2 Former Soviet Republics". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
115. "Ethnic Armenian forces confirm loss of Karabakh's second city, say enemy nearing capital". Reuters. 9 November 2020. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
116. "Азербайджанские "активисты" блокируют дорогу из Карабаха в Армению. Одновременно в Карабахе пропал газ" [Azerbaijani "activists" are blocking the road from Karabakh to Armenia. At the same time, gas disappeared in Karabakh]. BBC News Русская Служба (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
117. Loe, Catherine (27 April 2023). "Azerbaijan sets up checkpoints on the Lachin corridor". Economist Intelligence Unit. Archived from the original on 2 August 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023. The move has increased the blockade of Nagorny Karabakh...A checkpoint on the border would give Azerbaijan the ability to stop any cars travelling between Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh.
118. Hauer, Neil (31 July 2023). "Karabakh blockade reaches critical point as food supplies run low". www.intellinews.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023. Occasional ICRC and Russian traffic continued to pass until June 15, at which point Azerbaijan halted all humanitarian deliveries. No food, medicine or fuel has entered Nagorno-Karabakh since.
119. Gavin, Gabriel (19 December 2022). "Supplies begin to run low as Nagorno-Karabakh blockade continues". eurasianet.org. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
120. Kitachayev, Bashir (16 December 2022). "Azerbaijani roadblock cuts tens of thousands off from food, fuel and medicine". openDemocracy. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
121. "New Troubles in Nagorno-Karabakh: Understanding the Lachin Corridor Crisis". www.crisisgroup.org. 22 May 2023. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023. While travellers were already few due to the blockade, the ICRC reports that its ability to get people across has been curtailed , leaving only the Russian peacekeepers to facilitate trips to Armenia for medical care.
122. "June Alerts and May Trends 2023". www.crisisgroup.org. 31 May 2023. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023. Checkpoint on Lachin corridor faced fierce opposition amid humanitarian crisis....Azerbaijani military consolidated blockade, however, leading to even fewer crossings and reduced transportation of goods.
123. Shahverdyan, Lilit (12 January 2023). "Blackouts and food rationing as Karabakh blockade enters second month". Eurasianet. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023. But the supplies are meager compared to the pre-blockade delivery of 12,000 tons of goods monthly, and barely meet the needs of the local population, which Armenian sources estimate at around 120,000.
124. "Nagorno-Karabakh reports gas cut for second time since start of blockade". OC Media. 17 January 2023. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
125. "Nagorno-Karabakh again faces shortages as Azerbaijan closes Lachin Corridor". OC Media. 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
126. "Food shortages and fear as peacekeepers refused entry to Nagorno-Karabakh". OC Media. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
127. "Karabakh blockade reaches critical point as food supplies run low". www.intellinews.com. 31 July 2023. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
128. "Russian-mediated ceasefire announced in Nagorno-Karabakh". Armenpress. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
129. Tim Lister; Anna Chernova; Christian Edwards; Radina Gigova (21 September 2023). "Azerbaijan says it has retaken breakaway Armenian enclave after separatists surrender". CNN.com. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
130. "Ethnic Armenians accept Russia ceasefire plan after Azerbaijan offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh". CNN. 20 September 2023. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
131. "BREAKING: Stepanakert to disband army in ceasefire deal". CIVILNET. 20 September 2023. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
132. "МВД Нагорного Карабаха обвинило Азербайджан в нарушении договора о прекращении огня". Meduza. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
133. "Aserbaidschan soll Waffenruhe gebrochen haben". Rheinische Post. 21 September 2023. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
134. "Nagorno Karabakh Republic – Country Overview". www.nkrusa.org. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2006.
135. ^ Zürcher, Christoph (2007). The post-Soviet wars: rebellion, ethnic conflict, and nationhood in the Caucasus. NYU Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-0814797099.
136. "Nagorno-Karabakh". Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
137. DeRouen, Karl R., ed. (2007). Civil wars of the world: major conflicts since World War II, Volume 2. ABC-CLIO. p. 150. ISBN 978-1851099191.
138. ^ Beglaryan, Ashot. "The population of Nagorno-Karabakh for a year. Union of Armenians of Russia - Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Excursion into history". losevskaya.ru. Stepanakert. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
139. ^ Javanshir, Mirza Jamal; Adigözal Beg, Mirza (2004). Two Chronicles On The History of Karabagh (PDF). Introduction and annotated translation by George A. Bournoutian. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers. pp. 6, 21 & 24. ISBN 1-56859-179-9.
140. Shnirelman, Victor A. (2001). "The Value of the Past: Myths, Identity and Politics in Transcaucasia" (PDF). Senri Ethnological Studies (57). Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology: 153. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 March 2022.
141. ^ Herzig, Edmund; Kurkchiyan, Marina (2005). The Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity. London: RoutledgeCurzon. pp. 66 & 121. ISBN 0-203-00493-0. OCLC 229988654.
142. Bournoutian, George (2017). "The Population of the South Caucasus according to the 1897 General Census of the Russian Empire". Iran & the Caucasus. 21 (3): 330. doi:10.1163/1573384X-20170307. ISSN 1609-8498. JSTOR 26548902. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
143. ^ Bassiouni, M. Cherif, ed. (2010). The Pursuit of International Criminal Justice A World Study on Conflicts, Victimization, and Post-conflict Justice. Vol. 2. Antwerp: Intersentia. p. 839. ISBN 978-94-000-0017-9. OCLC 497573622. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
144. Wright, John F. R. (1996). Transcaucasian Boundaries. Psychology Press. p. 99. ISBN 9780203214473. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
145. Libaridian, Gerard J., ed. (1988). The Karabagh File (PDF) (1st ed.). Toronto: Cambridge. p. 29. ISBN 0-916431-26-6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 February 2022.
146. Cory D., Welt (2004). Explaining ethnic conflict in the South Caucasus: Mountainous Karabagh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. p. 77. OCLC 59823134. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 September 2022. Out of a population of approximately 20,000, at least several hundred were killed; the rest were forced to flee. In the fighting that followed, several nearby villages were also razed.
147. "Шушинская резня 1920 года" [Shusha massacre of 1920]. lazarevsky.club. 13 March 2020. Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
148. Bagdasaryan, Gegam (March 2015). "Три нераскрытых обстоятельства резни армян в Шуши" [Three unsolved circumstances of the massacre of Armenians in Shushi]. theanalyticon.com (in Russian). Stepanakert. Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
149. Hovannisian, Richard G. (1996). The Republic of Armenia. Vol. 3. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-520-01805-2.
150. ^ Cory D., Welt (2004). Explaining ethnic conflict in the South Caucasus: Mountainous Karabagh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. p. 116. OCLC 59823134. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 September 2022.
151. Административное деление АССР... 1. Районы, сельсоветы, списки, населенных мест с указанием численности населения, национального состава числа хозяйств по состоянию на 1/1-1933 г. 2. Список колхозов, совхозов, МТС и МТФ. 3. Карты, районов на тюрк. и рус. яз. (отдельно) - Азербайджанская ССР Управление народно-хозяйственного учета (in Russian). 1933. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
152. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Vol. 17. New York: Macmillan. 1973. p. 301.
153. Geldenhuys, Deon (2009). Contested States in World Politics. Vol. 3. Berkeley: Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 97. ISBN 9780230234185.
154. "Stuart Kaufman". University of Delaware. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
155. Kaufman, Stuart J. (2001). Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War. Ithaca, New York. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-1-5017-0199-3. OCLC 1160511946.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
156. "Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia and Azerbaijan shaky ceasefire in force". BBC News. 10 October 2020. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
157. "Перепись населения АзССР в 1921 г." [Census of the population of the AzSSR in 1921]. karabagh.am. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
158. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1926 года. Национальный состав населения по регионам республик СССР Archived 5 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Демоскоп
159. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1939 года. Распределение городского и сельского населения областей союзных республик по национальности и полу Archived 5 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Демоскоп
160. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1959 года. Городское и сельское население областей республик СССР (кроме РСФСР) по полу и национальности Archived 5 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Демоскоп
161. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1970 года. Городское и сельское население областей республик СССР (кроме РСФСР) по полу и национальности Archived 5 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Демоскоп
162. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 года. Городское и сельское население областей республик СССР (кроме РСФСР) по полу и национальности Archived 5 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Демоскоп
163. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года.Распределение городского и сельского населения областей республик СССР по полу и национальности Archived 5 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Демоскоп
164. "Airports in Azerbaijan". Worldaerodata.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

Bibliography

• Ali; Ekinciel (1 August 2015). Karabakh Diary (1 ed.). Russia: Sage. ISBN 9786059932196. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2015.

Further reading

• Tsibenko, Veronika (2018). "Karabakh, Nagorno". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.
• Torres, Ricardo Juan (2022). "The role of Nagorno-Karabakh in the shaping of Armenian and Azeri identity". Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (CARI). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

External links

• Articles and Photography on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) from UK Photojournalist Russell Pollard
• All UN Security Council resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh, courtesy U.S. State department
• Nagorno-Karabakh Agreement of 2 November 2008 and country profile from BBC News Online
• Article on the 10 December Referendum from Russia Profile
• The conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference — Report by rapporteur David Atkinson presented to Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• Conciliation Resources – Accord issue: The limits of leadership – Elites and societies in the Nagorny Karabakh peace process also key texts & agreements and chronology (in English & Russian)
• Independence of Kosovo and the Nagorno-Karabakh Issue Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• Interview with Thomas De Waal
• Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Nagorno-Karabakh: Timeline Of The Long Road To Peace
• Resolution #1416 from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• USIP — Nagorno-Karabakh Searching for a Solution: Key points, by Patricia Carley, Publication of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)
• USIP — Sovereignty after Empire Self-Determination Movements in the Former Soviet Union. Case Studies: Nagorno-Karabakh. by Galina Starovoitova, Publication of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)
• Photo Series Nagorno-Karabakh 2008–2011 – daily life, front line, mine clearance, culture, religion.

• Nagorno-Karabakh
• Armenia–Azerbaijan relations
• Subdivisions of Azerbaijan
• Enclaves and exclaves
• Historical regions in Azerbaijan
• Armenian irredentism
• Karabakh