On the night of April 2, 2016 in Nagorno-Karabakh On the line of contact between the conflicting parties, violent clashes between Armenian and NKR military personnel and the Azerbaijani army took place; the parties accused each other of violating the truce. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as a result of the fighting on April 2-3, at least 33 people (18 Armenian soldiers, 12 Azerbaijanis and 3 civilians) were killed and more than 200 were injured.
On April 5, the conflicting parties agreed to cease fire from 11:00 Moscow time.
Region data
Nagorno-Karabakh is an administrative-territorial entity located in the Transcaucasus between Azerbaijan and Armenia. A self-proclaimed republic, not recognized by any UN member state. Territory - 4.4 thousand square meters. km, population - 148 thousand 900 people, the vast majority are Armenians. The administrative center is the city of Stepanakert (Khankendi is the Azerbaijani version of the name of the city). Since 1921, the region, as an administrative-territorial unit, has been part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic with the rights of broad autonomy. In 1923 it received the status of an autonomous region (NKAO) within the Azerbaijan SSR. The region has long been the subject of a territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. According to the 1926 census, the share of Armenians among the population of Nagorno-Karabakh was 94% (out of 125.2 thousand people), according to the latest Soviet census of 1989 - 77% (out of 189 thousand). During the Soviet period, Armenia repeatedly raised the issue of transferring Nagorno-Karabakh under its jurisdiction, but did not receive support from Moscow.
Continuation
Beginning of the conflict
In 1987, a campaign to collect signatures for reunification with Armenia began in Nagorno-Karabakh. At the beginning of 1988, 75 thousand signatures were transferred to the Central Committee of the CPSU, which caused an extremely negative reaction from the authorities of the Azerbaijan SSR.
On February 20, 1988, the regional council of the NKAO addressed the Supreme Council (SC) of the USSR and the Supreme Councils of the Azerbaijan and Armenian Union Republics with a request to consider the issue of transferring the region to Armenia. The Soviet leadership regarded this request as a manifestation of nationalism. In June of the same year, the Armed Forces of Armenia agreed to the entry of NKAO into the republic; Azerbaijan, in turn, declared this decision illegal.
On July 12, 1988, the regional council of Nagorno-Karabakh announced its secession from Azerbaijan. In response, on July 18, the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council adopted a resolution stating the impossibility of transferring the NKAO to Armenia.
Since September 1988, armed clashes began between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, which turned into a protracted conflict. In January 1989, by decision of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, direct control by the Union leadership was introduced in NKAO. On December 1, 1989, the councils of the Armenian SSR and NKAO adopted a resolution on the “reunification” of the republic and the region. However, in January 1990, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declared it unconstitutional.
At the beginning of 1990, fighting began on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border with the use of artillery. On January 15, 1990, Moscow declared a state of emergency in the NKAO and surrounding areas. In April-May 1991, internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and parts of the Soviet army carried out Operation Ring in the region with the goal of disarming “Armenian illegal armed groups.”
Armed conflict 1991-1994
On August 30, 1991, a declaration was adopted to restore the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh became part of Azerbaijan.
On September 2, 1991, at a joint session of the Nagorno-Karabakh regional and Shaumyan district councils, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) was proclaimed within the USSR. It included the territories of NKAO, Shaumyanovsky district and later - part of the Khanlar region of Azerbaijan. This marked the beginning of an open armed confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan for control of the region in 1991-1994. The Karabkha conflict became the first major armed confrontation in the post-Soviet space.
On December 10, 1991, at a referendum on the status of the NKR, 99.98% of its participants spoke in favor of the independence of the region, but neither the Soviet leadership nor the world community recognized the results of the plebiscite.
On December 19-27, 1991, in connection with the collapse of the Soviet Union, internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs were withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh. The situation in the conflict zone is completely out of control. On January 6, 1992, the NKR Supreme Council adopted the Declaration “On the State Independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.”
The fighting escalated in May 1992, when Karabakh self-defense units took control of the city of Shusha, from which Azerbaijani troops regularly bombed Stepanakert and surrounding villages.
At the beginning of the conflict, the NKR was surrounded by Azerbaijani regions on almost all sides, which allowed Azerbaijan to establish an economic blockade of the region back in 1989. On May 18, 1992, Armenian forces broke the blockade in the Lachin area, establishing communications between Karabakh and Armenia (the “Lachin Corridor”). In turn, in the summer of 1992, Azerbaijani troops established control over the northern part of the NKR. In the spring of 1993, the Karabakh Defense Army, with the support of Armenia, was able to create a second corridor connecting the NKR with the republic.
In 1994, the NKR defense forces established practical complete control over the autonomy (92.5% of the former NKAO), and also occupied, in whole or in part, seven border Azerbaijani regions (8% of the territory of Azerbaijan). In turn, Azerbaijan retained control over part of the Martuni, Martakert and Shaumyan regions of the NKR (15% of the declared territory of the NKR). According to various estimates, the losses of the Azerbaijani side during the conflict ranged from 4 to 11 thousand killed, and the Armenian side from 5 to 6 thousand people. The wounded on both sides number in the tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands of civilians have become refugees.
Negotiation process
Attempts to resolve the conflict peacefully have been made since 1991.
September 23, 1991 in Zheleznovodsk ( Stavropol region) the leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a communiqué on ways to achieve peace in Karabakh. In March 1992, on the initiative of Moscow, the OSCE Minsk Group was established, which included representatives of 12 countries. The co-chairs of the group were Russia, the USA and France.
On May 5, 1994, with the mediation of Russia and Kyrgyzstan, a truce and ceasefire agreement, known as the Bishkek Protocol, was concluded between the parties to the conflict. The document came into force on May 12, 1994. The truce was observed without the intervention of peacekeepers and the participation of third countries.
On November 29, 2007, the OSCE Minsk Group prepared proposals on the basic principles for resolving the conflict (Madrid Document). Among them: the return to Azerbaijan of territories captured during the armed conflict; providing Nagorno-Karabakh with an interim status providing guarantees of security and self-government; providing a corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, etc.
Since June 2008, regular meetings have been held between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, on the peaceful resolution of the conflict. The last, 19th meeting took place on December 19, 2015 in Bern (Switzerland).
Positions of the parties
Baku insists on restoring territorial integrity and the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to Nagorno-Karabakh. Only after this does Azerbaijan intend to begin negotiations on determining the status of the NKR. The Azerbaijani authorities are ready to grant the region autonomy within the republic. At the same time, the republic refuses to conduct direct negotiations with Nagorno-Karabakh.
For Armenia, the priority issue is the self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh (return to Azerbaijan is excluded) and further recognition of its status by the international community.
Incidents after the Armistice
Since the signing of the Bishek Protocol in 1994, the parties to the conflict have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire, and there have been local incidents with the use of firearms on the border, but in general the truce has been maintained.
At the end of July - beginning of August 2014, the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone sharply worsened. According to the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, in the summer of 2014, 13 servicemen of the Azerbaijani army were killed and there were wounded. Official data on losses on the Armenian side have not been published. In November 2014, according to the Armenian Ministry of Defense, in the conflict zone, the Azerbaijani side shot down a Mi-24 combat helicopter of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army during a training flight. The helicopter crew died. In turn, the Azerbaijani military claimed that the helicopter attacked their positions and was destroyed by return fire. After this incident, shelling began again on the contact line, and deaths and wounded were reported on both sides. In 2015, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense repeatedly reported that Armenian drones were shot down over the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces. The Armenian Ministry of Defense denied this information.
Background to the Armenian-Azerbaijani War. 1905
The conflict between Christian Armenians and Muslim Azerbaijanis has deep roots. There are not only religious, but also broader cultural differences. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were no clear boundaries between the Armenian and Azerbaijani territories. Everything belonged to one empire. Two peoples settled “within the territories” of another people, that is, a situation arose when, for example, first there was a settlement of Azerbaijanis, then Armenians, then again Azerbaijanis. “Inside the territories” is used in quotation marks, since these territories belonged to the Russian Empire until the end of 1917. No one simply cared about the peaceful division of lands so that everyone had their own country. As a result, land surveying is still happening, although not with such fervor. A typical story in the territories of former colonies: “efficiency” is important to the empire, not the lives of the people. Here it is appropriate to recall to some extent the Middle East: inadequate borders as a symbol of the “effective management” of the empire. Further - more similarities.
Cossack patrol near burned oil fields in Baku, 1905
The first clashes in the 20th century occurred just when the imperial center wavered - in 1905. In February 1905, massacres took place in Baku and Nakhichevan (territory bordering present-day Armenia). Then a rumor spread in Baku teahouses that the Armenians wanted to attack Muslims on a Shiite holiday, and any funerals of victims of contract killings turned into demonstrations. The situation was tense. Then a group of Armenians shot an Azerbaijani worker. It was then that pogroms broke out.
The beginnings of the conflict at the end of the 19th century
If we delve further into prehistory, we will find several reasons for the conflict in the last decades of the 19th century. After Russia annexed Transcaucasia, the empire applied the same practices to these territories as to its European possessions. In particular, non-Christians could occupy no more than a third of the seats in local governments. Initially, this measure was directed against Jews, but in Transcaucasia it turned against Muslims. As a result, the majority of seats in the assemblies were occupied by Armenians.
Next, Russian Empire tried to rely on the Armenians as conductors of their power in the region (Christians). However, this only developed a sense of exclusivity among the Armenian nobility, which went against the goals of the empire. More and more Armenians remember the great Armenian kingdom. They will not only think about him more often, but also write about him when the governor and politics in Transcaucasia change. Grigory Golitsyn, appointed in 1886, will support Muslims: he will greatly reduce the number of Armenian officials, and Azerbaijanis will take their place. Golitsyn will see the Armenians as a danger, since they are the same Jews - this is what was written in the reports to St. Petersburg. Armenian schools will be closed, children will receive education according to the Russian model, the history and geography of Armenia will be excluded from school curricula. Armenian nationalists, in particular the Dashnaktsutyun party, will take the path of terror.
It is noteworthy that representatives of the empire were generally inactive. The Bolsheviks later saw the reason for the massacre in the fact that the imperial authorities deliberately pitted the more loyal Muslim Azerbaijani population against the revolutionary-minded Armenian population.
Armenian-Azerbaijani war 1918−1920
Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1919-1920
As already noted, the history around the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is reminiscent of how they fought in the Middle East. Only in smaller spaces, very close and no less confusing. Azerbaijan sought to reach the borders of friendly Turkey and take the territories inhabited by Azerbaijanis under its control. The main actions took place in Karabakh, Zangezur and Nakhichevan. Everything is in the direction from Azerbaijan to the border with Turkey. The Armenians also wanted to take control of all territories inhabited by Armenians.
Azerbaijani artilleryman in Karabakh
During the war, the mutual hatred of neighbors reached such an extent that both sides destroyed enemy settlements. The terrain in the war zones, according to the testimony of foreigners, was not just depopulated - there was simply nothing left there. Both sides expelled enemy peoples, shot, destroyed villages, and turned the resulting territories into purely Armenian or Azerbaijani territories.
The territories inhabited by Armenians in Azerbaijan were deserted or were inhabited by Azerbaijanis and Kurds. In the Shemakha district, 17 thousand Armenians were killed in 24 villages, in the Nukha district - 20 thousand Armenians in 20 villages. A similar picture was observed in Agdam and Ganja. In Armenia, areas inhabited by Azerbaijanis were also left without their original inhabitants. Dashnak, members of the Dashnaktsutyun party and controlled troops, “cleared” the Novobayazet, Erivan, Echmiadzin and Sharuro-Daralagez districts of Azerbaijanis.
Karabakh Armistice Commission, 1918
The Entente is doing something (the Bolsheviks won)
Due to the inaction, for obvious reasons, of the Russian authorities in this direction, to resolve the situation around the conflict at the very borders Ottoman Empire The British got involved with the Americans. And at first everything went favorably for the Armenians, they even called the British allies. The winners of the Great War were able to recapture Western Armenia on paper - in 1920 the Treaty of Sèvres was signed, denoting the division of Turkey. The implementation of the papers was prevented by the coming to power of the Kemalists in Turkey. They did not ratify the agreement signed by the Sultan's government.
British in Baku
In addition to the Treaty of Sèvres and the Paris Conference that took place a year before Sèvres (where, for example, the United States was given a mandate for the Transcaucasus in the spirit of those established in the Middle East), it should be noted the constant mediation of the British in the negotiations, their attempts to reconcile the parties. But, apparently, due to some goals in Paris, the British pursued a more pro-Azerbaijani policy, which aroused the indignation of the Armenians. The latter considered themselves a “little ally” of Britain. In general, the efforts of the Entente to establish peace in the region were in vain. And not even because the Bolsheviks came and pacified everyone with the power of the Red Army. It’s just that, apparently, such deep hatred is not smoothed over by papers and diplomats. This is still visible today.
https://www.site/2016-04-03/konflikt_v_nagornom_karabahe_chto_proishodit_kto_na_kogo_napal_i_pri_chem_tut_turciya
A new war is at hand for Russia
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh: what is happening, who attacked whom, what does Türkiye and Russia have to do with it
In Nagorno-Karabakh there is a serious escalation of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which could escalate into a full-fledged war. the site has collected the most important things that are known about what is happening at the moment.
What's happened?
On the morning of April 2, it became known about a sharp escalation of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia mutually accused each other of shelling and offensive actions. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense stated that Armenia violated the ceasefire 127 times, including the use of mortars and heavy machine guns by the military. The Armenian authorities reported that, on the contrary, it was Azerbaijan that violated the truce and was conducting military operations using tanks, artillery and aircraft.
The press service of the Defense Army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced that it shot down a Mi-24/35 helicopter of the Azerbaijani armed forces, but Baku denied this information. Armenia said Azerbaijan also lost a tank and a drone.
Later, Armenia reported 18 military personnel killed, and Azerbaijan - 12. Nagorno-Karabakh also reported civilian casualties, including children killed as a result of shelling.
What is the current situation?
Clashes continue. Azerbaijan stated that on the night of April 2-3, border villages came under fire, although no one was killed. Baku claims that during the “response actions” several settlements and strategic heights in Nagorno-Karabakh were captured, but Yerevan denies this information, and it is still unclear who to believe. Both sides talk about heavy losses of their opponents. In Azerbaijan, for example, they are confident that they have already destroyed six enemy tanks, 15 artillery mounts and fortifications, and the enemy’s losses in killed and wounded amounted to 100 people. In Yerevan this is called “disinformation”.
In turn, the Karabakh news agency Artsakhpress reported that “in total, during the fighting on the night of April 1-2 and throughout the day, the Azerbaijani army lost more than 200 military personnel. In the direction of Talish alone, at least 30 soldiers of the Azerbaijani special forces unit were destroyed, in the direction of Martakert - 2 tanks, 2 drones, and in the northern direction - 1 helicopter.” The Armenian Ministry of Defense published a video of the downed Azerbaijani helicopter and photographs of the bodies of the crew.
As usual, both sides call each other “occupiers” and “terrorists”, the most contradictory information is published, it is better to treat even photographs and videos with skepticism. Modern warfare is an information war.
How world powers reacted
The escalation of the conflict worried all world powers, including Russia and the United States. At the official level, everyone is calling for a speedy settlement, a truce, a ceasefire, and so on.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first to express regret that the situation in the conflict zone had again descended into armed confrontation. According to presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, the head of state is calling for an immediate ceasefire in the region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with colleagues from Armenia and Azerbaijan, also calling on them to end the conflict.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and French President Franusa Hollande spoke in favor of a speedy settlement.
The Americans spoke in the same tone. “The United States strongly condemns the widespread violation of the truce along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has reportedly resulted in casualties, including among civilians,” said US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Following this, all participants in the so-called OSCE Minsk Group, which deals with the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, also called for stabilization of the situation. “We strongly condemn the use of force and deplore the senseless loss of life, including civilians,” the representatives of Russia, France and the United States said in a joint statement. The Minsk Group will meet in Vienna on April 5 to discuss the emerging situation in detail.
Late Saturday evening, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also commented on the conflict. He also called for the truce to be respected.
What do Russia, Türkiye and the West have to do with it?
At the same time, the Turkish authorities expressed support for only one side of the conflict - Azerbaijan. Turkey and Azerbaijan have close partnerships; they are politically and ethnically close countries. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed condolences to Ilham Aliyev over the death of Azerbaijani soldiers. Telephone conversations between Aliyev and Erdogan were covered in the media of the two countries. It was emphasized that Aliyev considers what happened to be a “provocation along the line of contact between troops” and calls the actions of the Azerbaijani military an “adequate response.”
Since relations between Turkey and Russia now leave much to be desired, some observers regard the escalation of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh as an attempt by Turkey (and, presumably, Western countries) to prevent the strengthening of Russia in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, and Black Sea region. For example, the Free Press website suggested that “the US and Britain have done everything they can to pit Russia and Turkey against each other. From this point of view, Karabakh intensifies the confrontation between Moscow and Ankara.”
NKR Ministry of Defense
“Azerbaijan has recently demonstrated that it remains a loyal ally of Turkey, and is now trying to receive dividends from this. Baku hopes to unfreeze the Karabakh conflict and resolve the Karabakh problem in its favor under the political cover of Ankara,” Deputy Director of the Tauride Information and Analytical Center RISI Sergei Ermakov told this site.
At the same time, Leonid Gusev, a researcher at the analytical center of the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO, said in an interview with the Reedus agency that Azerbaijan and Armenia are unlikely to start a full-fledged war, and Turkey does not need another major conflict at all. “I don't think this can happen. Turkey today has big problems in addition to Azerbaijan and Karabakh. It is now much more important for her to somehow smooth out the conflict with Russia than to enter into some kind of war with her, even if it is in absentia. Moreover, in my opinion, there are some minimal positive changes in relations between Turkey and Russia,” he believes.
What is happening in Karabakh itself?
They are preparing for war there. According to the Sputnik Armenia agency, the administration of the republic is forming lists of reservists and organizing a collection of volunteers. Hundreds of people, according to authorities, are heading to the areas of clashes. According to the agency, in the capital of the NKR, Stepanekert, it is still calm and even night cafes are open.
What is the conflict about?
Since 1988, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been unable to agree on the ownership of Nagorno-Karabakh, a vast area on the border of the two countries. IN Soviet era it was an autonomous region of the Azerbaijan SSR, but its main population was ethnic Armenians. In 1988, the region announced its withdrawal from the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, Azerbaijan completely lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh during a military conflict, and the area declared independence, calling itself the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).
Since then, the world community has not been able to talk about the fate of the NKR. Russia, the USA and France are participating in the negotiations within the OSCE. Armenia advocates the independence of the NKR, and Azerbaijan seeks to return the territory to its state. Although NKR is not formally recognized as a state, the Armenian community around the world does a lot to lobby for Armenia’s interests in the conflict. For example, a number of American states adopted resolutions recognizing the independence of the NKR.
It is perhaps impossible to say that some countries are definitely “for Armenia”, while others are “for Azerbaijan” (with the possible exception of Turkey). Russia has friendly relations with both countries.
In the zone of the Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation, the most serious clashes have occurred since 1994 - from the moment when the parties agreed on a truce, stopping the hot phase of the war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
On the night of April 2, the situation in the Karabakh conflict zone sharply worsened. “I ordered not to succumb to provocations, but the enemy has completely lost his belt,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev explained what was happening. The Armenian Ministry of Defense announced “offensive actions from the Azerbaijani side.”
Both sides announced significant losses in manpower and armored vehicles from the enemy and minimal losses on their part.
On April 5, the Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced that an agreement had been reached on a ceasefire in the conflict zone. However, Armenia and Azerbaijan have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce.
History of the conflict
On February 20, 1988, the Council of Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAO), predominantly populated by Armenians, addressed the leadership of the USSR, the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR with a request to transfer Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. The Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee refused, which led to mass protests in Yerevan and Stepanakert, as well as pogroms among both the Armenian and Azerbaijani populations.
In December 1989, the authorities of the Armenian SSR and NKAO signed a joint resolution on the inclusion of the region into Armenia, to which Azerbaijan responded with artillery shelling of the Karabakh border. In January 1990, the Supreme Council of the USSR declared a state of emergency in the conflict zone.
At the end of April - beginning of May 1991, Operation “Ring” was carried out in the NKAO by the forces of the Azerbaijani riot police and the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs troops. Over the course of three weeks, the Armenian population of 24 Karabakh villages was deported, and more than 100 people were killed. The forces of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Soviet army carried out actions to disarm participants in the clashes until August 1991, when the putsch began in Moscow, which led to the collapse of the USSR.
On September 2, 1991, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was proclaimed in Stepanakert. Official Baku recognized this act illegal. During the outbreak of the war between Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and its supporting Armenia, the parties lost from 15 thousand to 25 thousand people killed, more than 25 thousand were injured, hundreds of thousands of civilians fled their places of residence. From April to November 1993, the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions demanding a ceasefire in the region.
On May 5, 1994, the three sides signed a truce agreement, as a result of which Azerbaijan effectively lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh. Official Baku still considers the region an occupied territory.
International legal status of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
According to the administrative-territorial division of Azerbaijan, the territory of the NKR is part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In March 2008, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution “The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan”, which was supported by 39 member states (the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the USA, Russia and France, voted against).
At the moment, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has not received recognition from the UN member states and is not a member of it; therefore, in the official documents of the UN member states and the organizations formed by them, some political categories are not used in relation to the NKR (president, prime minister -minister, elections, government, parliament, flag, coat of arms, capital).
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is recognized by the partially recognized states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldavian Republic.
Escalation of the conflict
In November 2014, relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan sharply deteriorated after the Azerbaijani military shot down an Armenian Mi-24 helicopter in Nagorno-Karabakh. Regular shelling resumed on the line of contact; for the first time since 1994, the sides accused each other of using large-caliber artillery weapons. During the year, deaths and injuries were repeatedly reported in the conflict zone.
On the night of April 2, 2016, large-scale hostilities resumed in the conflict zone. The Armenian Ministry of Defense announced “offensive actions” by Azerbaijan using tanks, artillery and aviation; Baku reported that the use of force was a response to shelling from mortars and heavy machine guns.
On April 3, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced a decision in unilaterally suspend hostilities. However, both Yerevan and Stepanakert reported that the fighting continued.
Press Secretary of the Armenian Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan reported on April 4 that “fierce fighting along the entire length of the line of contact between Karabakh and Azerbaijani forces continues.”
For three days, the parties to the conflict reported large losses to the enemy (from 100 to 200 killed), but this information was immediately refuted by the opposite side. According to independent estimates by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 33 people were killed in the conflict zone and more than 200 were injured.
On April 5, the Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced that an agreement had been reached on a ceasefire in the conflict zone. Azerbaijan announced a stop to hostilities. Armenia announced the preparation of a bilateral ceasefire document.
How Russia armed Armenia and Azerbaijan
According to the UN Register of Conventional Arms, in 2013, Russia supplied heavy weapons to Armenia for the first time: 35 tanks, 110 armored combat vehicles, 50 launchers and 200 missiles for them. There were no deliveries in 2014.
In September 2015, Moscow and Yerevan agreed to provide a $200 million loan to Armenia for the purchase of Russian weapons in 2015–2017. This amount should be used to supply Smerch multiple launch rocket system launchers, Igla-S anti-aircraft missile systems, TOS-1A heavy flamethrower systems, RPG-26 grenade launchers, sniper rifles Dragunov, "Tiger" armored vehicles, "Avtobaza-M" ground-based electronic reconnaissance systems, engineering and communications equipment, as well as tank sights intended for the modernization of T-72 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles of the Armenian Armed Forces.
In the period 2010–2014, Azerbaijan concluded contracts with Moscow for the purchase of 2 divisions of S-300PMU-2 anti-aircraft missile systems, several batteries of Tor-2ME anti-aircraft missile systems, and about 100 combat and transport helicopters.
Agreements were also concluded for the purchase of at least 100 T-90S tanks and about 100 units of BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, 18 Msta-S self-propelled artillery systems and the same number of TOS-1A heavy flamethrower systems, Smerch multiple launch rocket systems .
The total cost of the package was estimated at no less than $4 billion. Most of the contracts have already been completed. For example, in 2015, the Azerbaijani military received the last 6 of 40 Mi-17V1 helicopters and the last 25 of 100 T-90S tanks (under 2010 contracts), as well as 6 of 18 TOS-1A heavy flamethrower systems (under a 2011 agreement). In 2016, the Russian Federation will continue to supply BTR-82A armored personnel carriers and BMP-3 armored infantry vehicles (Azerbaijan received at least 30 of them in 2015).
Evgeny Kozichev, Elena Fedotova, Dmitry Shelkovnikov
There are plenty of places on the geopolitical map of the world that can be marked in red. Here military conflicts either subside or flare up again, many of which have a history of more than a century. There are not so many such “hot” spots on the planet, but it is still better if they do not exist at all. However, unfortunately, one of these places is not so far from Russian border. We are talking about the Karabakh conflict, which is quite difficult to talk about briefly. The very essence of this confrontation between Armenians and Azerbaijanis goes back to the end of the nineteenth century. And many historians believe that the conflict between these nations has existed for a much longer time. It is impossible to talk about it without mentioning the Armenian-Azerbaijani war, which took large number lives on both sides. The historical chronicle of these events is kept very carefully by Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Although each nationality sees only its own rightness in what happened. In the article we will analyze the causes and consequences of the Karabakh conflict. We will also briefly outline the current situation in the region. We will highlight several sections of the article to the Armenian-Azerbaijani war of the late nineteenth - early twentieth centuries, part of which are armed clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Characteristics of military conflict
Historians often argue that the causes of many wars and armed conflicts are misunderstandings among the mixed local population. The Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 1918-1920 can be characterized in the same way. Historians call it an ethnic conflict, but they see the main reason for the outbreak of war in territorial disputes. They were most relevant in those places where historically Armenians and Azerbaijanis coexisted in the same territories. The peak of military clashes occurred at the end of the First World War. The authorities managed to achieve relative stability in the region only after the republics joined the Soviet Union.
The First Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic did not enter into direct clashes with each other. Therefore, the Armenian-Azerbaijani war had some similarities with partisan resistance. The main actions took place in disputed territories, where the republics supported militia groups created by their fellow citizens.
During the entire period that the Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 1918-1920 lasted, the bloodiest and most active actions took place in Karabakh and Nakhichevan. All this was accompanied by real massacres, which ultimately became the cause of a demographic crisis in the region. Armenians and Azerbaijanis call the most difficult pages in the history of this conflict:
- March massacre;
- massacre of Armenians in Baku;
- Shusha massacre.
It should be noted that the young Soviet and Georgian governments tried to provide mediation services in the Armenian-Azerbaijani war. However, this approach had no effect and did not guarantee stabilization of the situation in the region. The problem was resolved only after the Red Army occupied the disputed territories, which led to the overthrow of the ruling regime in both republics. However, in some regions the fire of war was only slightly extinguished and flared up more than once. When we talk about this, we mean the Karabakh conflict, the consequences of which our contemporaries still cannot fully appreciate.
Background to military operations
Since ancient times, tensions have been noted in the disputed territories between the people of Armenia and the people of Azerbaijan. The Karabakh conflict was just a continuation of a long and dramatic history unfolding over several centuries.
Religious and cultural differences between the two peoples were often considered to be the reason that led to the armed conflict. However, the real reason for the Armenian-Azerbaijani war (in 1991 it broke out with new strength) there was a territorial issue.
In 1905, the first mass riots began in Baku, which resulted in an armed conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Gradually it began to flow to other regions of Transcaucasia. Wherever the ethnic composition was mixed, regular clashes occurred, which were harbingers of a future war. Her trigger can be called the October Revolution.
Since the seventeenth year of the last century, the situation in Transcaucasia has been completely destabilized, and the hidden conflict turned into an open war, which claimed many lives.
A year after the revolution, serious changes occurred in the once united territory. Initially, independence was declared in Transcaucasia, but the newly created state lasted only a few months. Historically, it is natural that it split into three independent republics:
- Georgian Democratic Republic;
- Republic of Armenia (the Karabakh conflict hit the Armenians very seriously);
- Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
Despite this division, a significant Armenian population lived in Zangezur and Karabakh, which became part of Azerbaijan. They categorically refused to obey the new authorities and even created organized armed resistance. This partly gave rise to the Karabakh conflict (we will look at it briefly a little later).
The goal of the Armenians living in the designated territories was to become part of the Republic of Armenia. Armed clashes between scattered Armenian detachments and Azerbaijani troops recurred regularly. But both sides could not come to any final decision.
In turn, a similar situation arose. It included the Erivan province, densely populated by Muslims. They resisted joining the republic and received material support from Turkey and Azerbaijan.
The eighteenth and nineteenth years of the last century were the initial stage for the military conflict, when the formation of opposing camps and opposition groups took place.
The most important events for the war took place in several regions almost simultaneously. Therefore, we will look at the war through the prism of armed clashes in these areas.
Nakhchivan. Muslim resistance
The Mudros Truce, signed in the eighteenth year of the last century and marking the defeat, immediately changed the balance of power in Transcaucasia. Its troops, previously introduced into the Transcaucasian region, were forced to hastily leave it. After several months of independent existence, it was decided to integrate the liberated territories into the Republic of Armenia. However, this was done without the consent of local residents, most of whom were Azerbaijani Muslims. They began to resist, especially since the Turkish military supported this opposition. A small number of soldiers and officers were transferred to the territory of the new Republic of Azerbaijan.
Its authorities supported their compatriots and made an attempt to isolate the disputed regions. One of the Azerbaijani leaders even declared Nakhichevan and several other regions closest to it as an independent Arak Republic. Such an outcome promised bloody clashes, for which the Muslim population of the self-proclaimed republic was ready. The support of the Turkish army was very helpful and, according to some forecasts, the Armenian government troops would have been defeated. Serious clashes were avoided thanks to British intervention. Through her efforts, a General Government was formed in the territories declared independent.
In a few months of 1919, under British protectorate, the disputed territories managed to restore peaceful life. Gradually, telegraph communication with other countries was established, the railway track was repaired and several trains were launched. However, British troops could not remain in these territories for long. After peaceful negotiations with the Armenian authorities, the parties came to an agreement: the British left the Nakhichevan area, and Armenian military units entered there with full rights to these lands.
This decision led to outrage among Azerbaijani Muslims. The military conflict broke out with renewed vigor. Looting occurred everywhere, houses and Muslim shrines burned. In all areas close to Nakhichevan, battles and minor clashes raged. The Azerbaijanis created their own units and performed under the British and Turkish flags.
As a result of the battles, the Armenians almost completely lost control over Nakhichevan. The surviving Armenians were forced to leave their homes and flee to Zangezur.
Causes and consequences of the Karabakh conflict. Historical background
This region still cannot boast of stability. Despite the fact that theoretically a solution to the Karabakh conflict was found back in the last century, in reality it did not become a real way out of the current situation. And its roots go back to ancient times.
If we talk about the history of Nagorno-Karabakh, then I would like to dwell on the fourth century BC. It was then that these territories became part of the Armenian kingdom. Later they became part of and for six centuries were territorially part of one of its provinces. Subsequently, these areas changed their affiliation more than once. They were ruled by Albanians, Arabs, again Naturally, territories with such a history as distinctive feature have a heterogeneous population composition. This became one of the reasons for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
To better understand the situation, it must be said that at the very beginning of the twentieth century there were already clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in this region. From 1905 to 1907, the conflict periodically made itself felt with short-term armed clashes among the local population. But the October Revolution became the starting point of a new round in this conflict.
Karabakh in the first quarter of the twentieth century
In 1918-1920, the Karabakh conflict flared up with renewed vigor. The reason was the proclamation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. It was supposed to include Nagorno-Karabakh with a large Armenian population. It did not accept the new government and began to resist it, including armed resistance.
In the summer of 1918, the Armenians living in these territories convened the first congress and elected their own government. Knowing this, the Azerbaijani authorities took advantage of the help of Turkish troops and began to gradually suppress the resistance of the Armenian population. The Armenians of Baku were the first to be attacked; the bloody massacre in this city became a lesson for many other territories.
By the end of the year the situation was far from normal. Clashes between Armenians and Muslims continued, chaos reigned everywhere, and looting and brigandage became widespread. The situation was complicated by the fact that refugees from other regions of Transcaucasia began to flock to the region. According to preliminary estimates by the British, about forty thousand Armenians disappeared in Karabakh.
The British, who felt quite confident in these territories, saw an interim solution to the Karabakh conflict in the transfer of this region under the control of Azerbaijan. This approach could not help but shock the Armenians, who considered the British government their ally and assistant in regulating the situation. They did not agree with the proposal to leave the resolution of the conflict to the Paris Peace Conference and appointed their representative in Karabakh.
Attempts to resolve the conflict
The Georgian authorities offered their assistance in stabilizing the situation in the region. They organized a conference, which was attended by plenipotentiary delegates from both young republics. However, the resolution of the Karabakh conflict turned out to be impossible due to different approaches to its solution.
The Armenian authorities proposed to be guided by ethnic characteristics. Historically, these territories belonged to the Armenians, so their claims to Nagorno-Karabakh were justified. However, Azerbaijan made undeniable arguments in favor of an economic approach to deciding the fate of the region. It is separated from Armenia by mountains and is in no way connected with the state territorially.
After lengthy disputes, the parties did not reach a compromise. Therefore, the conference was considered a failure.
Further course of the conflict
After an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan introduced an economic blockade of these territories. He was supported by the British and Americans, but even they were forced to admit such measures were extremely cruel, as they led to starvation among the local population.
Gradually, the Azerbaijanis increased their military presence in the disputed territories. Periodic armed clashes did not develop into a full-fledged war only thanks to representatives from other countries. But this could not last long.
The participation of the Kurds in the Armenian-Azerbaijani war was not always mentioned in official reports of that period. But they took an active part in the conflict, joining specialized cavalry units.
At the beginning of 1920, at the Paris Peace Conference, it was decided to recognize the disputed territories as Azerbaijan. Despite the nominal solution to the issue, the situation has not stabilized. Robberies and robberies continued, and bloody ethnic cleansing became a frequent occurrence, claiming the lives of entire settlements.
Armenian revolt
The decisions of the Paris Conference led to relative peace. But in the current situation, it was just the calm before the storm. And it struck in the winter of 1920.
Against the backdrop of renewed national massacres, the Azerbaijani government demanded the unconditional submission of the Armenian population. For this purpose, an Assembly was convened, whose delegates worked until the first days of March. However, they also did not reach a consensus. Some advocated only for economic unification with Azerbaijan, while others refused any contact with the authorities of the republic.
Despite the established truce, the governor-general, appointed by the Azerbaijani republican government to govern the region, gradually began to draw military contingents here. At the same time, he introduced a lot of rules restricting the movement of Armenians and drew up a plan for the destruction of their settlements.
All this only aggravated the situation and led to the beginning of the uprising of the Armenian population on March 23, 1920. Armed groups attacked several settlements simultaneously. But it was possible to achieve noticeable results only in one of them. The rebels failed to hold the city: already in early April it was returned to the authority of the governor-general.
Failure did not stop the Armenian population, and the long-standing military conflict resumed with renewed vigor on the territory of Karabakh. During April, settlements passed from one hand to another, the forces of the opponents were equal, and the tension only intensified every day.
At the end of the month, the Sovietization of Azerbaijan took place, which radically changed the situation and the balance of power in the region. Over the next six months, Soviet troops gained a foothold in the republic and entered Karabakh. Most of the Armenians went over to their side. Those officers who did not lay down their arms were shot.
Subtotals
Initially, the right to it was assigned to Armenia, but a little later the final decision was the introduction of Nagorno-Karabakh into Azerbaijan as an autonomy. However, this outcome did not satisfy either side. Minor conflicts arose periodically, provoked either by the Armenian or Azerbaijani populations. Each of the peoples considered themselves to have their rights infringed, and the question of transferring the region to Armenian rule was raised more than once.
The situation only seemed stable outwardly, which was proven in the late eighties and early nineties of the last century, when they started talking about the Karabakh conflict again (1988).
Renewed conflict
Until the end of the eighties, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh remained relatively stable. Discussions about changing the status of autonomy were carried out periodically, but this was done in very narrow circles. The policies of Mikhail Gorbachev influenced the mood in the region: the dissatisfaction of the Armenian population with their situation intensified. People began to gather for rallies, words were heard about deliberately restraining the development of the region and a ban on the resumption of ties with Armenia. During this period, the nationalist movement intensified, whose leaders talked about the disdainful attitude of the authorities towards Armenian culture and traditions. Increasingly, appeals were made to the Soviet government with calls for the autonomy to secede from Azerbaijan.
Ideas of reunification with Armenia also leaked into print media. In the republic itself, the population actively supported new trends, which negatively affected the authority of the leadership. Trying to contain popular uprisings, the Communist Party was rapidly losing its position. Tension in the region grew, which inevitably led to another round of the Karabakh conflict.
By 1988, the first clashes between the Armenian and Azerbaijani populations were recorded. The impetus for them was the dismissal of the head of a collective farm in one of the villages - an Armenian. Mass unrest was suspended, but in parallel, a collection of signatures in favor of unification was launched in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. With this initiative, a group of delegates was sent to Moscow.
In the winter of 1988, refugees from Armenia began to arrive in the region. They talked about the oppression of the Azerbaijani people in Armenian territories, which added tension to an already difficult situation. Gradually, the population of Azerbaijan was divided into two opposing groups. Some believed that Nagorno-Karabakh should finally become part of Armenia, while others traced separatist tendencies in the unfolding events.
At the end of February, Armenian people's deputies voted to appeal to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a request to consider the pressing issue with Karabakh. Azerbaijani deputies refused to vote and demonstratively left the meeting room. The conflict gradually got out of control. Many feared bloody clashes among the local population. And they were not long in coming.
On February 22, it was difficult to separate two groups of people - from Agdam and Askeran. In both populated areas Quite strong opposition groups have formed that have weapons in their arsenal. We can say that this clash was the signal for the start of a real war.
In early March, a wave of strikes swept across Nagorno-Karabakh. In the future, people will resort to this method more than once to attract attention. At the same time, people began to take to the streets of Azerbaijani cities in support of the decision on the impossibility of revising the status of Karabakh. The most widespread such processions were in Baku.
The Armenian authorities tried to contain the pressure of the people, who increasingly advocated unification with the once-disputed regions. Several official groups have even been formed in the republic, collecting signatures in support of the Karabakh Armenians and conducting explanatory work on this issue among the masses. Moscow, despite numerous appeals from the Armenian population, continued to adhere to the decision on the previous status of Karabakh. However, she encouraged the representatives of this autonomy with promises to establish cultural ties with Armenia and provide a number of concessions to the local population. Unfortunately, such half-measures could not satisfy both sides.
Rumors about the oppression of certain nationalities spread everywhere, people took to the streets, many of them had weapons. The situation finally got out of control in late February. At this time, bloody pogroms of Armenian neighborhoods took place in Sumgait. For two days law enforcement agencies could not restore order. Official reports never included reliable information about the number of victims. The authorities still hoped to hide the real state of affairs. However, the Azerbaijanis were determined to carry out mass pogroms, destroying the Armenian population. It was with difficulty that we managed to prevent a repeat of the situation with Sumgait in Kirovobad.
In the summer of 1988, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan reached a new level. The republics began to use conventionally “legal” methods in confrontation. These include a partial economic blockade and the adoption of laws regarding Nagorno-Karabakh without considering the opinions of the opposite side.
Armenian-Azerbaijani war 1991-1994
Until 1994, the situation in the region was extremely difficult. A Soviet group of troops was introduced into Yerevan; in some cities, including Baku, the authorities established curfew. Popular unrest often resulted in massacres, which even the military contingent was unable to stop. Artillery shelling has become the norm on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The conflict escalated into a full-scale war between both republics.
In 1991, it was proclaimed a republic, which caused another round of hostilities. Armored vehicles, aviation and artillery were used on the fronts. Casualties on both sides only provoked further military operations.
Let's sum it up
Today, the causes and consequences of the Karabakh conflict (in a brief summary) can be found in any school history textbook. After all, he is an example of a frozen situation that has never found its final solution.
In 1994, the warring parties entered into an agreement on the Intermediate result of the conflict can be considered an official change in the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the loss of several Azerbaijani territories that were previously classified as border areas. Naturally, Azerbaijan itself considered the military conflict not resolved, but merely frozen. Therefore, in 2016, shelling of the territories adjacent to Karabakh began.
Today the situation threatens to escalate again into a full-fledged military conflict, because the Armenians do not at all want to return to their neighbors the lands annexed several years ago. Russian government advocates a truce and seeks to leave the conflict frozen. However, many analysts believe that this is impossible, and sooner or later the situation in the region will again become uncontrollable.