Military conflict Nagorno-Karabakh. Causes of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh

Annotation. This article is devoted to the conflict between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan over the possession of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. This confrontation between two sovereign states is one of the most complex conflicts, which has deep roots, both ethnic and political, and is based on two basic principles - the right to self-determination of peoples and the territorial integrity of the state. The author examines the main causes of the conflict. An analysis was made of the factors that influenced the emergence and further development of this conflict. Particular attention is paid to the settlement of the conflict after active hostilities. The article also highlights the actions of other countries that are involved in the process of resolving this conflict. A possible variant of the development of events in the future, which would contribute to the resolution of the conflict, was considered.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region was part of the Azerbaijan SSR during the Soviet period. Since the majority of the population there were Armenians, it had a special status determined by republican law. "On the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region". However, during the years of perestroika, a conflict broke out between the Armenian and Azerbaijani population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which lasted from 1987 to 1994, the last three years were marked by full-scale military operations. Two independent countries, Armenia and Azerbaijan, were drawn into this war, using all their resources in the confrontation that began. On December 10, 1991, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh, in which 99.89% of those who voted supported secession from Azerbaijan. Local Azerbaijanis did not participate in this referendum. This indicates that the Azerbaijanis completely ignored the referendum, while the Armenians took this issue more seriously, seeing this as a key moment for joining Armenia. Different positions on this issue make it difficult to assess the real mood of the entire people in the region at that time, because of this it is almost impossible to say for sure whether the people of Nagorno-Karabakh really wanted to join, and what proportion was against it. In our opinion, the Azerbaijani side tried to keep Nagorno-Karabakh to the last, leaving the latter no other solution than war, since peace negotiations would have reached an impasse.

"In the course ofarmed warsstrengthNagorno-Karabakh Republic completely seized the territory directlyNKAO plusseveral Azerbaijani regions,locatedfor heroutside. Armenians completelyorpartiallycapturedterritory of Kalbajar, Lachin, Kubatli, Jebrail, Zangilan, Aghdam and Fizuli regions of Azerbaijan. The total area of the occupied territories, not counting Nagorno-Karabakh itself, is 7634 square meters. km". As we all know, the territory of modern Azerbaijan is 86,600 sq. km. However, assessments of the territories controlled by Azerbaijan from various resources differ. Well-known British journalist Thomas de Waal estimates the Armenian-controlled territory of Azerbaijan at 11,797 sq. km. , while Vladimir Stupishin, former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Armenia - less than 14%. The official position of Azerbaijan is estimated at 13,149 square meters. km. . That is, it means that 15.1% of the entire territory of Azerbaijan is under the control of Armenia.

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has become one of the most intractable, as both sides do not agree to make any concessions. At the stage of the collapse of the USSR, this conflict was accompanied by a sharp political, and then a full-scale military confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, on May 16-17, 1994, culminating in the signing, with the mediation of Russia, of an agreement on a ceasefire and non-resumption of hostilities. But the controversial issues that gave rise to the armed conflict have not been resolved to this day. We believe that the issue of the seven regions of Azerbaijan, under the control of Armenia, or in another way "safety zone", around the NCR is the sharpest and heaviest in resolution.

The OSCE Minsk Group on the Karabakh settlement remained the main deterrent. Officially, nine mediating countries were included in it, but its main current members are its co-chairs - Russia, the United States and France. For a long time, the co-chairing countries managed to maintain a common approach to the negotiation process based on the recognition of the status quo, i.e. the state of the “frozen conflict”, since neither the Azerbaijani nor the Armenian sides were ready to compromise. However, in recent years, especially after Western countries recognized the independence of the autonomous province of Kosovo and in the light of the results of the Russian-Georgian war in 2008, the situation began to change.

Back in November 2007, at a meeting of OSCE heads of government in Madrid, the foreign ministers of Russia, the United States, and France presented a list of basic principles for resolving the conflict, proposing to adopt on their basis the preparation of a draft peace treaty. They proposed a specific settlement plan, according to which:

the Armenian side must liberate at the first stage five of the seven occupied regions of Azerbaijan, where Azerbaijanis will begin to return;
international peacekeeping forces - peacekeepers - should be brought into the conflict zone;
temporary displaced persons from Azerbaijan return to their places of residence on the territory of the NKR;
after that, within 10-15 years, a referendum will be held, which should determine and consolidate the status of the republic.

Subsequent experience showed that none of the parties was ready to accept compromise, and therefore unpopular decisions for their countries, and without this, the settlement of the conflict seemed almost impossible. Over the past two decades, an atmosphere of total mutual rejection and distrust has developed in the societies of the two countries. The multiple meetings of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, were devoted to the discussion of possible solutions, which, however, did not lead to compromises.

The growing tension around the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in the spring and summer of 2010 threatened to escalate into an open armed clash against the backdrop of a sharp increase in Azerbaijan's militant activity and Armenia's actual rejection of the terms of the conflict settlement proposed by international mediators. All this forced the European Union, as well as Russia, the United States and France, as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, to once again publicly formulate the most acceptable conditions for resolving the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

At the beginning of June 2010, the European Parliament approved Resolution 2216 containing the requirement “in withdrawal of Armenian forces from all occupied regions of Azerbaijan”. At the same time, at a meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a decision was made to jointly search for ways to resolve "frozen" conflicts. And despite the high level of cooperation with Armenia, Russia's position on the settlement of the conflict around the NKR was consistently formulated in accordance with the principles agreed within the framework of the Minsk Group. "The main thing is that the process continues on the basis of respect for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and respect for other fundamental norms of international law, without the use of force," the Statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry dated May 24, 2010 said.

In this vein, meetings began to take place. Of particular note is the joint statement of the Presidents of the United States, Russia and France on June 26, 2010 on Nagorno-Karabakh in the Canadian city of Muskoka. This was followed by a ministerial meeting in Almaty at the OSCE forum. High-level visits are also carried out, these are: visit to Baku and Yerevan by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (July 2010); official visit to Azerbaijan of Turkish President Abdullah Gul (August 2010); finally, the visit to Yerevan and Baku of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (August-September 2010) and the meeting of the Presidents of the United States and Azerbaijan in the framework of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The joint statement of the presidents on 26 June 2010 once again summarized the principles agreed by the parties for a lasting solution to the conflict:

Return of territories around Nagorno-Karabakh.
Interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh, providing guarantees of security and self-government.
The presence of a corridor linking Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh.
Determining the future final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding will of its population.
The right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their places of origin.
International security guarantees, including a peacekeeping operation.

This, of course, is the basis for building a stable peace in this region. Each point is very important, because either it depends on and cannot be fully realized without the others, or one follows from the other. It is also worth noting that the paragraphs quite capaciously include the positions of both sides. However, so far, unfortunately, the negotiation process has not led to anything.

The adoption of this essentially basic document was followed by a visit to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The central point of her visit was Baku, where she once again stressed that the United States stands for a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh problem, taking into account the principles of territorial integrity, non-use of the threat of force and the right to self-determination, reflected in the Helsinki Final Act.

The visit to Armenia was focused on the problems of normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations and opening the Armenian-Turkish border - an issue of strategic importance for the American side. It was not possible to move these issues off the dead center, moreover, the lack of a direct link with the need to resolve the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh caused an extremely negative reaction in the political circles of Azerbaijan. Leading Azerbaijani political analysts described the US Secretary of State's visit as a "failure." However, despite the fact that the visit was not a success, it should not be written off. Any step in such a case will count if it is aimed at resolving the conflict.

More definite, from the point of view of Azerbaijan's interests, were the results of the official visit to Baku of Turkish President Abdullah Gul, during which on August 16, 2010 the parties signed “ Agreement on strategic partnership and mutual aid". At the same time, the Turkish president unequivocally hinted at the possibility of a forceful solution to the protracted conflict: “In today's world, the occupation of foreign lands cannot drag on for such a long period. If issues are not resolved, uncontrollable problems may arise.” Abdullah Gul called for "silent but resolute diplomacy" and his call was supported by the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, whose leaders declared their readiness to solve the problem by military means. At the same time, there were reports in the Azerbaijani press that temporarily displaced persons from the eastern part of the former autonomous region were preparing to return to Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

The risk of Turkey's intervention in the regional redistribution in the Caucasus, in the absence of real guarantees of stability from the United States, could lead to a new Caucasian war, which would pose difficult operational tasks for Moscow. Russia's strategic ally, Armenia, also found itself at the crossroads of external threats, where in August 2010 an open anti-Russian campaign was launched at the information level. At the same time, according to the assessment of the situation at the beginning of September, the situation could easily get out of control: incidents on the line of contact of armed units became almost daily, and the OSCE monitoring mission consisted of only 6 people. Therefore, it was important to build a system of checks and balances in order to prevent the conflict from spreading uncontrollably.

Under these conditions, state visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan by the President of Russia D.A. Medvedev. Russia's position was based on the main thesis: Azerbaijan and Armenia are Russia's strategic partners, war between them is unacceptable, cooperation with them is important for Russia as a regional and global player in the Caucasus.

Negotiations in Armenia ended with the signing of a new agreement on military cooperation and the extension of the stay of the Russian military base in Gyumri from 25 to 49 years. A kind of compensation was the fact that Russia assumed obligations to protect the borders of Armenia not only with Iran and Turkey, but also with Azerbaijan.

Armenian political scientist Sergei Minasyan positively assessed this fact, although he noted that the presence of a foreign military base to a certain extent limits the sovereignty of the state. Of course, the state limits itself somewhat, but we can evaluate this action positively. As noted earlier, Russia is not interested in major conflicts that could destabilize the region. It can also be noted that in the event of the victory of one side in armed clashes, they will cause a rise in nationalism in the other. Neighboring countries may also suffer from this, which, against their will, may be involved in a local conflict. However, the control of the borders by Russia provides an indisputable fact against such a course of events. Any side that goes on the offensive will first meet with Russia, with whom, it will suffer heavy losses and will no longer be able to continue active operations.

During the visit to Baku, a number of important documents for both sides were signed, including - on the state border and on a fourfold increase in gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Russia, while D.A. Medvedev also stated that Russia would not interfere with Azerbaijan's participation in Nabucco. This indicates that Russia does not take sides, and is ready to support both countries, while not igniting conflict between them.

In the meantime, according to the chairman of the public association "Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh", back in the summer, they began to prepare for the return to the regions liberated from occupation, as well as to the Shushi region, where the Azerbaijani population predominated before the war. Peace, though fragile, has begun to advance in this region. However, on this account, Thomas de Waal at the presentation of his book "Black Garden" when it was reprinted in 2013 by New York University: "I was in Karabakh about 10 times,” Thomas de Waal said at the presentation. - And the locals are trying to show, maybe even a little too insistently, how everything is fine with them. Nagorno-Karabakh is a surprisingly calm place. If you lose your bike there, someone will bring it to you in half an hour. They created all these functional institutions and ministries, although no one recognizes them. They want to show that they have built a state, and let's, they say, forget about the conflict. But this is a myth. On the surface, everything is very calm, but if you look closely, you will see conflict and trauma. ” This once again shows that this region still remains problematic, despite all efforts to stabilize it. The past conflict left an indelible mark on the life of the local population. Since the end of September, an international assessment mission led by the co-chairs of the Minsk Group began to work, which will have to assess the state of affairs in the occupied territories, in connection with which Azerbaijan suspended consideration of the draft resolution prepared by it at the 65th session of the UN General Assembly.

In early December 2010, the OSCE summit took place in Astana, which was marked by a new aggravation of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh - for the first time, contrary to an earlier agreement, a meeting between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan did not take place. It is difficult for the leaders of the two countries to agree on anything if Baku talks and wants to hear only about territorial integrity, and Yerevan about the independence of Karabakh, which is still legally part of Azerbaijan.

In early August 2014, shots were fired again in Nagorno-Karabakh, killing several dozen people on both sides. The old territorial dispute escalated with new force. Skeptics predicted a large-scale war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, then the weapons practically fell silent, providing a chance for diplomats and politicians to negotiate the terms of a truce and resolve unresolved problems. The Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic states that Azerbaijan is not yet ready for a peaceful solution to the issue.

The clashes between the military ceased after a trilateral meeting of the presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which took place on August 10 in Sochi at the initiative of Vladimir Putin. And although as a result no agreements were signed and no significant decisions were made, the negotiations with the participation of the leader of the country, with which both Armenia and Azerbaijan are connected in many areas, prompted the parties to dialogue. What is already very much: militant moods intensified in Yerevan and Baku. "However The Kremlin clearly played ahead of the curve, since the West and NATO were also ready to actively intervene in the situation and traditionally use it for their own purposes, including as a lever of pressure on Russia. We believe that this position is too critical. Of course, there was some risk, since any wrong decision on the part of the administration could have enormous consequences. We can observe that the actions of Russia in foreign policy allowed to resolve the problem, but it could also cause a negative effect by its actions.

President of the Scientific Society of Caucasian Studies Alexander Krylov noted that the long-term efforts of Moscow and the OSCE Minsk Group to resolve the Karabakh conflict are aimed primarily at creating conditions for negotiations. But the problem itself needs to be solved by Yerevan and Baku: "Negotiators shouldthemselvesidentify ways to solve the problem and their approaches to it, which will make it possible to mitigate the situation, and the mediators, towards whom reproaches are heard, cannot dictate their will to the conflicting parties. This is the main reason for misunderstanding in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Often the mediator dictated his will, and this did not benefit the warring parties themselves. Therefore, the task of Moscow and other mediators is to ensure the negotiation process, as well as to prevent war and reduce tension in the conflict zone.

Various countries and organizations have more than once seated the parties at the negotiating table. Thanks to this, both Armenia and Azerbaijan, in their official position, abandoned the armed conflict as the only possible solution to the problem. Undoubtedly, this is already a great success in the dialogue. Although, of course, it is still very far from a final settlement. There are many purely historical and political reasons, mutual resentment is strong, the victims of previous clashes have not yet been forgotten. Nevertheless, Russia today is a unique negotiating platform for Baku and Yerevan, which, through the direct mediation of the Russian president, allows you to establish personal contact between the leaders of the conflicting parties.

Russia builds relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan in different ways. If in one case we are talking about a military-political ally, then in the other case we are talking about an important trade and economic partner. Nevertheless, it is precisely the multi-channel approach, respect for one's neighbors and specific proposals for resolving the conflict that allow us to hope that, with the mediation of Moscow, the conflict will be resolved sooner or later. It's up to Baku and Yerevan.

The best way to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to continue direct dialogue between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia and discuss specific proposals and approaches for a final solution to the conflict.

We believe that a final solution to this issue cannot take place in the near future. This is directly related to the mood of the peoples in both states. The first step, and usually the most difficult and time consuming, is for the governments of both countries to change the mindset of the people from complete hostility and dislike to the opposite. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia are not ready to make concessions, as this, they think, will be an indicator of weakness. This will lead to the indignation of the people, which may lead to protests and riots. That is why, first of all, the propaganda that any step forward on the one hand is a victory for the other must stop. If this interethnic enmity is eradicated, then a large component of the conflict that once arose will be resolved. It is quite possible that Azerbaijanis who left their places of residence during the war will also be able to return to Nagorno-Karabakh. This would restore the integrity of the region, and would give a chance to understand the very essence of the problem. Since the region of the country, with a predominance of another nation, requires a carefully thought-out policy. It is quite possible, in the end, both sides will be able to come to a mutual agreement. As already mentioned, everything is in the hands of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and only they are destined to solve this issue.

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On April 2, 2016, the press service of the Armenian Ministry of Defense announced that the armed forces of Azerbaijan had launched an offensive along the entire area of contact with the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army. The Azerbaijani side reported that the hostilities began in response to the shelling of its territory.

The press service of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) stated that Azerbaijani troops went on the offensive in many sectors of the front, using large-caliber artillery, tanks and helicopters. Within a few days, official representatives of Azerbaijan announced the occupation of several strategically important heights and settlements. In several sectors of the front, the attacks were repulsed by the armed forces of the NKR.

After several days of heavy fighting across the front line, military representatives from both sides met to discuss terms for a ceasefire. It was reached on April 5, although, after this date, the truce was repeatedly violated by both sides. On the whole, however, the situation at the front began to calm down. The Azerbaijani armed forces have begun to strengthen the positions conquered from the enemy.

The Karabakh conflict is one of the oldest in the expanses of the former USSR, Nagorno-Karabakh became a hot spot even before the collapse of the country and has been in a state of frozen for more than twenty years. Why did it flare up with renewed vigor today, what are the strengths of the opposing sides and what should be expected in the near future? Can this conflict escalate into a full-scale war?

To understand what is happening in this region today, you should make a short digression into history. This is the only way to understand the essence of this war.

Nagorno-Karabakh: prehistory of the conflict

The Karabakh conflict has very old historical and ethno-cultural roots; the situation in this region has escalated significantly in the last years of the Soviet regime.

In ancient times, Karabakh was part of the Armenian kingdom, after its collapse, these lands became part of the Persian Empire. In 1813 Nagorno-Karabakh was annexed to Russia.

Bloody inter-ethnic conflicts took place here more than once, the most serious of which occurred during the weakening of the metropolis: in 1905 and 1917. After the revolution, three states appeared in Transcaucasia: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which included Karabakh. However, this fact absolutely did not suit the Armenians, who at that time made up the majority of the population: the first war began in Karabakh. The Armenians won a tactical victory, but suffered a strategic defeat: the Bolsheviks included Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

During the Soviet period, peace was maintained in the region, the issue of transferring Karabakh to Armenia was periodically raised, but did not find support from the country's leadership. Any manifestations of discontent were severely suppressed. In 1987, the first clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis began on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which led to human casualties. The deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAO) are asking to be annexed to Armenia.

In 1991, the creation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) was proclaimed and a large-scale war with Azerbaijan began. The fighting took place until 1994, at the front, the parties used aviation, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery. On May 12, 1994, the ceasefire agreement comes into force, and the Karabakh conflict passes into the frozen stage.

The result of the war was the actual obtaining of independence by the NKR, as well as the occupation of several regions of Azerbaijan adjacent to the border with Armenia. In fact, in this war, Azerbaijan suffered a crushing defeat, did not achieve its goals and lost part of its ancestral territories. This situation absolutely did not suit Baku, which for many years built its internal policy on the desire for revenge and the return of lost lands.

Current balance of power

In the last war, Armenia and the NKR won, Azerbaijan lost territory and was forced to admit defeat. For many years, the Karabakh conflict was in a frozen state, which was accompanied by periodic skirmishes on the front line.

However, during this period, the economic situation of the opposing countries changed greatly, today Azerbaijan has a much more serious military potential. During the years of high oil prices, Baku has managed to modernize the army and equip it with the latest weapons. Russia has always been the main supplier of weapons to Azerbaijan (this caused serious irritation in Yerevan), and modern weapons were also purchased from Turkey, Israel, Ukraine and even South Africa. The resources of Armenia did not allow it to qualitatively strengthen the army with new weapons. In Armenia, and in Russia, many thought that this time the conflict would end the same way as in 1994 - that is, with the flight and defeat of the enemy.

If in 2003 Azerbaijan spent $135 million on the armed forces, then in 2018 the costs should exceed $1.7 billion. Baku's military spending peaked in 2013, when $3.7 billion was spent on military needs. For comparison: the entire state budget of Armenia in 2018 amounted to $2.6 billion.

Today, the total strength of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces is 67 thousand people (57 thousand people are ground forces), another 300 thousand are in reserve. It should be noted that in recent years, the Azerbaijani army has been reformed according to the Western model, switching to NATO standards.

The ground forces of Azerbaijan are assembled into five corps, which include 23 brigades. Today, the Azerbaijani army has more than 400 tanks (T-55, T-72 and T-90), and from 2010 to 2014 Russia delivered 100 of the latest T-90s. The number of armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles and armored vehicles and armored vehicles - 961 units. Most of them are products of the Soviet military-industrial complex (BMP-1, BMP-2, BTR-69, BTR-70 and MT-LB), but there are also the latest vehicles of Russian and foreign production (BMP-3, BTR-80A, armored vehicles manufactured Turkey, Israel and South Africa). Some of the Azerbaijani T-72s have been modernized by the Israelis.

Azerbaijan has almost 700 artillery pieces, including both towed and self-propelled artillery, including rocket artillery. Most of them were obtained during the division of Soviet military property, but there are also newer samples: 18 self-propelled guns "Msta-S", 18 self-propelled guns 2S31 "Vena", 18 MLRS "Smerch" and 18 TOS-1A "Solntsepek". Separately, it should be noted the Israeli MLRS Lynx (caliber 300, 166 and 122 mm), which are superior in their characteristics (primarily in accuracy) to Russian counterparts. In addition, Israel supplied the Azerbaijani Armed Forces with 155-mm self-propelled guns SOLTAM Atmos. Most of the towed artillery is represented by Soviet D-30 howitzers.

Anti-tank artillery is mainly represented by the Soviet anti-tank missiles MT-12 "Rapier", also in service are Soviet-made ATGMs ("Baby", "Competition", "Bassoon", "Metis") and foreign production (Israel - Spike, Ukraine - "Skif "). In 2014, Russia delivered several Khrizantema self-propelled ATGMs.

Russia has delivered serious sapper equipment to Azerbaijan, which can be used to overcome the enemy's fortified zones.

Also, air defense systems were received from Russia: S-300PMU-2 Favorit (two divisions) and several Tor-M2E batteries. There are old "Shilki" and about 150 Soviet complexes "Circle", "Osa" and "Strela-10". There is also a division of the Buk-MB and Buk-M1-2 air defense systems transferred by Russia and a division of the Israeli-made Barak 8 air defense system.

There are operational-tactical complexes "Tochka-U", which were purchased from Ukraine.

Armenia has a much smaller military potential, due to its more modest share in the Soviet "legacy". Yes, and with finances, Yerevan is much worse - there are no oil fields on its territory.

After the end of the war in 1994, large funds were allocated from the Armenian state budget for the creation of fortifications along the entire front line. The total number of ground forces of Armenia today is 48 thousand people, another 210 thousand are in reserve. Together with the NKR, the country can deploy about 70 thousand fighters, which is comparable to the army of Azerbaijan, but the technical equipment of the Armenian Armed Forces is clearly inferior to the enemy.

The total number of Armenian tanks is just over a hundred units (T-54, T-55 and T-72), armored vehicles - 345, most of them were made at the factories of the USSR. Armenia has practically no money to modernize the army. Russia transfers its old weapons to it and gives loans to buy weapons (of course, Russian ones).

The air defense of Armenia is armed with five divisions of S-300PS, there is information that the Armenians maintain the equipment in good condition. There are also older samples of Soviet technology: S-200, S-125 and S-75, as well as Shilka. Their exact number is unknown.

The Armenian Air Force consists of 15 Su-25 attack aircraft, Mi-24 (11 units) and Mi-8 helicopters, as well as multi-purpose Mi-2s.

It should be added that in Armenia (Gyumri) there is a Russian military base, where the MiG-29 and the S-300V air defense division are deployed. In the event of an attack on Armenia, according to the CSTO agreement, Russia must help its ally.

Caucasian knot

Today, the position of Azerbaijan looks much more preferable. The country has managed to create a modern and very strong armed forces, which was proven in April 2018. It is not entirely clear what will happen next: it is beneficial for Armenia to maintain the current situation, in fact, it controls about 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan. However, this is not very beneficial for Baku.

Attention should also be paid to the domestic political aspects of the April events. After the fall in oil prices, Azerbaijan is experiencing an economic crisis, and the best way to pacify the dissatisfied at such a time is to unleash a "small victorious war." In Armenia, things in the economy are traditionally bad. So for the Armenian leadership, the war is also a very suitable way to refocus the attention of the people.

In terms of numbers, the armed forces of both sides are roughly comparable, but in terms of their organization, the armies of Armenia and the NKR are decades behind the modern armed forces. Events at the front clearly showed this. The opinion that the high Armenian fighting spirit and the difficulties of waging war in mountainous areas will equalize everything turned out to be erroneous.

Israeli MLRS Lynx (caliber 300 mm and range 150 km) surpass in their accuracy and range everything that was made in the USSR and is now being produced in Russia. In combination with Israeli drones, the Azerbaijani army got the opportunity to inflict powerful and deep strikes on enemy targets.

The Armenians, having launched their counteroffensive, could not dislodge the enemy from all their positions.

With a high degree of probability, we can say that the war will not end. Azerbaijan demands to liberate the regions surrounding Karabakh, but the leadership of Armenia cannot agree to this. It would be political suicide for him. Azerbaijan feels like a winner and wants to continue fighting. Baku has shown that it has a formidable and combat-ready army that knows how to win.

The Armenians are angry and confused, they demand to recapture the lost territories from the enemy at any cost. In addition to the myth of the superiority of its own army, another myth has been shattered: that of Russia as a reliable ally. Over the past years, Azerbaijan has been receiving the latest Russian weapons, while only old Soviet weapons have been supplied to Armenia. In addition, it turned out that Russia is not eager to fulfill its obligations under the CSTO.

For Moscow, the state of the frozen conflict in the NKR was an ideal situation that allowed it to exert its influence on both sides of the conflict. Of course, Yerevan was more dependent on Moscow. Armenia has practically found itself surrounded by unfriendly countries, and if opposition supporters come to power in Georgia this year, it may find itself in complete isolation.

There is another factor - Iran. In the last war, he sided with the Armenians. But this time the situation may change. A large Azerbaijani diaspora lives in Iran, whose opinion the country's leadership cannot ignore.

Recently, talks were held in Vienna between the presidents of the countries mediated by the United States. The ideal solution for Moscow would be to introduce its own peacekeepers into the conflict zone, this would further strengthen Russian influence in the region. Yerevan will agree to this, but what should Baku offer to support such a move?

The worst-case scenario for the Kremlin would be the start of a full-scale war in the region. With the Donbass and Syria on the sidelines, Russia may simply not pull another armed conflict on its periphery.

Video about the Karabakh conflict

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in Transcaucasia, which is legally the territory of Azerbaijan. At the time of the collapse of the USSR, a military clash arose here, since the vast majority of the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh have Armenian roots. The essence of the conflict is that Azerbaijan makes quite reasonable demands on this territory, but the inhabitants of the region gravitate towards Armenia more. On May 12, 1994, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh ratified a protocol that established a truce, which resulted in an unconditional ceasefire in the conflict zone.

Excursion into history

Armenian historical sources claim that Artsakh (the ancient Armenian name) was first mentioned in the 8th century BC. According to these sources, Nagorno-Karabakh was part of Armenia in the early Middle Ages. As a result of the aggressive wars of Turkey and Iran in this era, a significant part of Armenia came under the control of these countries. The Armenian principalities, or melikdoms, at that time located on the territory of modern Karabakh, retained a semi-independent status.

Azerbaijan has its own point of view on this issue. According to local researchers, Karabakh is one of the most ancient historical regions of their country. The word "Karabakh" in Azerbaijani is translated as follows: "gara" means black, and "bag" means garden. Already in the 16th century, together with other provinces, Karabakh was part of the Safavid state, and after that it became an independent khanate.

Nagorno-Karabakh during the Russian Empire

In 1805, the Karabakh khanate was subordinated to the Russian Empire, and in 1813, under the Gulistan peace treaty, Nagorno-Karabakh also became part of Russia. Then, according to the Turkmenchay Treaty, as well as an agreement concluded in the city of Edirne, Armenians were resettled from Turkey and Iran and settled in the territories of Northern Azerbaijan, including Karabakh. Thus, the population of these lands is predominantly of Armenian origin.

As part of the USSR

In 1918, the newly created Azerbaijan Democratic Republic gained control over Karabakh. Almost simultaneously, the Armenian Republic makes claims to this area, but the ADR does not recognize these claims. In 1921, the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh with the rights of broad autonomy was included in the Azerbaijan SSR. Two years later, Karabakh receives the status of an autonomous region (NKAR).

In 1988, the Council of Deputies of the NKAO petitioned the authorities of the AzSSR and the ArmSSR of the republics and proposed to transfer the disputed territory to Armenia. This petition was not granted, as a result of which a wave of protest swept through the cities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. Solidarity demonstrations were also held in Yerevan.

Declaration of Independence

In the early autumn of 1991, when the Soviet Union had already begun to fall apart, the NKAO adopted a Declaration proclaiming the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Moreover, in addition to the NKAO, it included part of the territories of the former AzSSR. According to the results of the referendum held on December 10 of the same year in Nagorno-Karabakh, more than 99% of the population of the region voted for complete independence from Azerbaijan.

It is quite obvious that the referendum was not recognized by the Azerbaijani authorities, and the act of proclamation itself was designated as illegal. Moreover, Baku decided to abolish the autonomy of Karabakh, which it enjoyed in Soviet times. However, the destructive process has already been launched.

Karabakh conflict

For the independence of the self-proclaimed republic, Armenian detachments stood up, which Azerbaijan tried to resist. Nagorno-Karabakh received support from official Yerevan, as well as from the national diaspora in other countries, so the militia managed to defend the region. However, the Azerbaijani authorities still managed to establish control over several regions, which were initially proclaimed part of the NKR.

Each of the opposing sides cites its own statistics of losses in the Karabakh conflict. Comparing these data, we can conclude that 15-25 thousand people died in the three years of sorting out the relationship. At least 25,000 were wounded, and more than 100,000 civilians were forced to leave their places of residence.

Peace settlement

Negotiations, during which the parties tried to resolve the conflict peacefully, began almost immediately after an independent NKR was proclaimed. For example, on September 23, 1991, a meeting was held, which was attended by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia, as well as Russia and Kazakhstan. In the spring of 1992, the OSCE established a group for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Despite all the attempts of the international community to stop the bloodshed, it was not until the spring of 1994 that a ceasefire was achieved. On May 5, the Bishkek Protocol was signed in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, after which the participants ceased fire a week later.

The parties to the conflict failed to agree on the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan demands respect for its sovereignty and insists on maintaining its territorial integrity. The interests of the self-proclaimed republic are protected by Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh is in favor of a peaceful resolution of disputes, while the authorities of the republic emphasize that the NKR is able to stand up for its independence.

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Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Reference

(updated: 11:02 05.05.2009)

15 years ago (1994) Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia signed the Bishkek Protocol on ceasefire on May 12, 1994 in the Karabakh conflict zone.

15 years ago (1994) Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia signed the Bishkek Protocol on ceasefire on May 12, 1994 in the Karabakh conflict zone.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in Transcaucasia, de jure part of Azerbaijan. The population is 138 thousand people, the vast majority are Armenians. The capital is the city of Stepanakert. The population is about 50 thousand people.

According to Armenian open sources, Nagorno-Karabakh (the ancient Armenian name is Artsakh) was first mentioned in the inscription of Sardur II, king of Urartu (763-734 BC). In the early Middle Ages, Nagorno-Karabakh was part of Armenia, according to Armenian sources. After most of this country was captured by Turkey and Iran in the Middle Ages, the Armenian principalities (melikdoms) of Nagorno-Karabakh retained a semi-independent status.

According to Azerbaijani sources, Karabakh is one of the most ancient historical regions of Azerbaijan. According to the official version, the appearance of the term "Karabakh" dates back to the 7th century and is interpreted as a combination of the Azerbaijani words "gara" (black) and "bagh" (garden). Among other provinces of Karabakh (Ganja in Azerbaijani terminology) in the 16th century. was part of the Safavid state, later became an independent Karabakh khanate.

According to the Kurekchay Treaty of 1805, the Karabakh Khanate, as a Muslim-Azerbaijani land, was subordinated to Russia. AT 1813 Under the Gulistan Peace Treaty, Nagorno-Karabakh became part of Russia. In the first third of the 19th century, according to the Treaty of Turkmenchay and the Treaty of Edirne, the artificial placement of Armenians resettled from Iran and Turkey began in Northern Azerbaijan, including in Karabakh.

On May 28, 1918, the independent state of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was created in Northern Azerbaijan, which retained its political power over Karabakh. At the same time, the declared Armenian (Ararat) Republic put forward its claims to Karabakh, which were not recognized by the government of the ADR. In January 1919, the ADR government created the Karabakh province, which included the Shusha, Javanshir, Jabrayil and Zangezur districts.

AT July 1921 By decision of the Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), Nagorno-Karabakh was included in the Azerbaijan SSR on the basis of broad autonomy. In 1923, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region was formed on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.

February 20, 1988 Extraordinary session of the Regional Council of Deputies of the NKAR adopted a decision "On the petition to the Supreme Soviets of the AzSSR and the ArmSSR on the transfer of the NKAO from the AzSSR to the ArmSSR." The refusal of the allied and Azerbaijani authorities caused demonstrations of protest by Armenians not only in Nagorno-Karabakh, but also in Yerevan.

On September 2, 1991, a joint session of the Nagorno-Karabakh regional and Shahumyan regional councils was held in Stepanakert. The session adopted a Declaration on the proclamation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic within the borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, the Shahumyan region and part of the Khanlar region of the former Azerbaijan SSR.

December 10, 1991, a few days before the official collapse of the Soviet Union, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh, in which the vast majority of the population - 99.89% - spoke in favor of complete independence from Azerbaijan.

During the conflict, regular Armenian units completely or partially captured seven regions that Azerbaijan considered its own. As a result, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh.

At the same time, the Armenian side believes that part of Karabakh remains under the control of Azerbaijan - the villages of the Mardakert and Martuni regions, the entire Shaumyan region and the Getashen sub-region, as well as Nakhichevan.

In the description of the conflict, the parties give their own figures on losses, which differ from those of the opposite side. According to consolidated data, the losses of both sides during the Karabakh conflict amounted to 15,000 to 25,000 people killed, more than 25,000 wounded, hundreds of thousands of civilians left their homes.

May 5, 1994 Through the mediation of Russia, Kyrgyzstan and the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia signed a protocol that went down in the history of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict as Bishkek, on the basis of which an agreement on a ceasefire was reached on May 12.

On May 12 of the same year, a meeting was held in Moscow between the Minister of Defense of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan (now the President of Armenia), the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan Mammadraffi Mammadov and the commander of the NKR Defense Army Samvel Babayan, at which the commitment of the parties to the previously reached ceasefire agreement was confirmed.

The negotiation process to resolve the conflict began in 1991. September 23, 1991 A meeting of the Presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Armenia took place in Zheleznovodsk. In March 1992, the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was established to resolve the Karabakh conflict, co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France. In mid-September 1993, the first meeting of representatives of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh took place in Moscow. At about the same time, a private meeting was held in Moscow between Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and then-Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Robert Kocharyan. Since 1999, regular meetings have been held between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Azerbaijan insists on maintaining its territorial integrity, Armenia defends the interests of the unrecognized republic, since the unrecognized NKR is not a party to the negotiations.

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Karabakh conflict

The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, located in the Armenian Highlands, has an area of 4.5 thousand square meters. kilometers.

The Karabakh conflict, which has become the cause of hatred and mutual enmity between the once friendly peoples, is rooted in the twenties of the last century. It was at this time that the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, now called Artsakh, turned into a bone of contention between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Even before the October Revolution, these two republics, drawn into the Karabakh conflict, along with neighboring Georgia, took part in territorial disputes. And in the spring of 1920, the current Azerbaijanis, whom the Russians called "Caucasian Tatars", with the support of the Turkish interventionists, massacred the Armenians, who at that time made up 94% of the entire population of Artsakh. The main blow fell on the administrative center - the city of Shushi, where more than 25 thousand people were slaughtered. The Armenian part of the city was wiped off the face of the earth.

But the Azerbaijanis miscalculated: having killed the Armenians, having destroyed Shushi, they, although they became masters in the region, received a completely destroyed economy, which had to be restored for more than a dozen years.

The Bolsheviks, not wanting to flare up full-scale hostilities, recognize Artsakh as one of the parts of Armenia, along with two regions - Zangezur and Nakhichevan.

However, Joseph Stalin, who in those years served as People's Commissar for National Affairs, under pressure from Baku and the then leader of the Turks, Ataturk, forcibly changes the status of the republic and transfers it to Azerbaijan.

This decision causes a storm of indignation and indignation among the Armenian population. In fact, it was it that provoked the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Almost a hundred years have passed since then. In subsequent years, Artsakh, being part of Azerbaijan, secretly continued to fight for its independence. Letters were sent to Moscow, which spoke of official Baku's attempts to expel all Armenians from this mountainous republic, however, there was only one answer to all these complaints and requests for reunification with Armenia: “socialist internationalism”.

The Karabakh conflict, the causes of which lie in the violation of the people's right to self-determination, arose against the backdrop of a very alarming situation. In relation to the Armenians in 1988, an open policy of eviction began. The situation was heating up.

In the meantime, official Baku developed its own plan, according to which the Karabakh conflict was to be “resolved”: in the city of Sumgayit, all the living Armenians were massacred in one night.

At the same time, multimillion-dollar rallies began in Yerevan, the main demand of which was to consider the possibility of Karabakh secession from Azerbaijan, the response to which were actions in Kirovabad.

It was at this time that the first refugees appeared in the USSR, who left their homes in a panic.

Thousands of people, mostly old people, came to Armenia, where camps were set up for them all over the territory.

The Karabakh conflict gradually developed into a real war. Volunteer detachments were created in Armenia, and regular troops were sent from Azerbaijan to Karabakh. Famine began in the republic.

In 1992, the Armenians captured Lachin, the corridor between Armenia and Artsakh, ending the blockade of the republic. At the same time, significant territories were seized in Azerbaijan itself.

The unrecognized republic of Artsakh, after the collapse of the USSR, held a referendum at which it was decided to declare its independence.

In 1994, a tripartite agreement on the cessation of hostilities was signed in Bishkek with the participation of Russia.

The Karabakh conflict is one of the most tragic pages of reality to this day. That is why both Russia and the entire world community are trying to resolve it peacefully.

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History of the disaster. How the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began | History | Society

In a series of interethnic conflicts that engulfed the Soviet Union in the last years of its existence, Nagorno-Karabakh became the first. The restructuring policy launched Mikhail Gorbachev, was tested for strength by the events in Karabakh. The audit showed the complete failure of the new Soviet leadership.

A region with a complex history

Nagorno-Karabakh, a small piece of land in the Transcaucasus, has an ancient and difficult fate, where the life paths of neighbors - Armenians and Azerbaijanis are intertwined.

The geographical region of Karabakh is divided into flat and mountainous parts. In Plain Karabakh, the Azerbaijani population historically prevailed, in Nagorno - Armenian.

Wars, peace, wars again - and so the peoples lived side by side, now at enmity, now reconciling. After the collapse of the Russian Empire, Karabakh became the scene of a fierce Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 1918-1920. The confrontation, in which nationalists played the main role on both sides, came to naught only after the establishment of Soviet power in the Transcaucasus.

In the summer of 1921, after a heated discussion, the Central Committee of the RCP (b) decided to leave Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the Azerbaijan SSR and grant it wide regional autonomy.

The Autonomous Oblast of Nagorno-Karabakh, which became the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in 1937, preferred to consider itself part of the Soviet Union rather than part of the Azerbaijan SSR.

"Defrosting" mutual grievances

For many years, these subtleties were ignored in Moscow. Attempts in the 1960s to raise the topic of the transfer of Nagorno-Karabakh to the Armenian SSR were severely suppressed - then the central leadership considered that such nationalist encroachments should be nipped in the bud.

But the Armenian population of the NKAO still had a reason for concern. If in 1923 Armenians made up over 90 percent of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, by the mid-1980s this percentage had dropped to 76. This was no accident - the leadership of the Azerbaijan SSR deliberately staked on changing the ethnic component of the region.

While the situation in the country as a whole remained stable, everything was calm in Nagorno-Karabakh too. Minor skirmishes on national grounds were not taken seriously.

Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika, among other things, "unfrozen" the discussion of previously taboo topics. For the nationalists, whose existence until now was possible only in the deep underground, this was a real gift of fate.

It was in Chardakhlu

Big things always start small. The Armenian village of Chardakhly existed in the Shamkhor region of Azerbaijan. During the Great Patriotic War, 1250 people went to the front from the village. Of these, half were awarded orders and medals, two became marshals, twelve - generals, seven - Heroes of the Soviet Union.

In 1987 secretary of the district committee of the Asadov party decided to replace director of the local state farm Yegiyan on the leader-Azerbaijani.

The villagers were outraged not even by the dismissal of Yegiyan, who was accused of abuse, but by the way it was done. Asadov acted rudely, impudently, suggesting that the former director "leave for Yerevan." In addition, the new director, according to the locals, was "a barbeque with a primary education."

The inhabitants of Chardakhlu were not afraid of the Nazis, they were not afraid of the head of the district committee either. They simply refused to recognize the new appointee, and Asadov began to threaten the villagers.

From a letter from Chardakhly residents to the USSR Prosecutor General: “Every visit of Asadov to the village is accompanied by a detachment of police and a fire engine. There was no exception and the first of December. Arriving with a police detachment late in the evening, he forcibly gathered the communists in order to hold the party meeting he needed. When he did not succeed, they began to beat the people, arrested and took 15 people on a pre-arrived bus. Among those beaten and arrested were participants and invalids of the Great Patriotic War ( Vartanian V., Martirosyan X.,Gabrielyan A. etc.), milkmaids, advanced link ( Minasyan G.) and even former deputy of the Supreme Council of Az. SSR of many convocations Movsesyan M.

Not satisfied with his atrocity, the misanthropic Asadov again on December 2, with an even larger police detachment, organized another pogrom in his homeland Marshal Baghramyan on his 90th birthday. This time 30 people were beaten and arrested. Such sadism and lawlessness would be the envy of any racist from the colonial countries.”

“We want to go to Armenia!”

An article about the events in Chardakhly was published in the newspaper Selskaya Zhizn. If the center did not attach much importance to what was happening, then in Nagorno-Karabakh a wave of indignation arose among the Armenian population. How so? Why does the unbelted functionary go unpunished? What will happen next?

“The same thing will happen to us if we don't join Armenia,” - who and when said it first is not so important. The main thing is that already at the beginning of 1988, the official press organ of the Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan and the Council of People's Deputies of the NKAO "Soviet Karabakh" began to print materials that supported this idea.

Delegations of the Armenian intelligentsia went to Moscow one after another. Meeting with representatives of the Central Committee of the CPSU, they assured that in the 1920s Nagorno-Karabakh was assigned to Azerbaijan by mistake, and now is the time to correct it. In Moscow, in the light of the policy of perestroika, the delegates were received, promising to study the issue. In Nagorno-Karabakh, this was perceived as the readiness of the center to support the transfer of the region to the Azerbaijan SSR.

The situation began to heat up. Slogans, especially from the lips of young people, sounded more and more radical. People far from politics began to fear for their safety. They began to look at neighbors of a different nationality with suspicion.

The leadership of the Azerbaijan SSR held a meeting of party and economic activists in the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, at which they branded "separatists" and "nationalists". The stigma was, in general, correct, but, on the other hand, did not give answers to the question of how to live on. Among the party activists of Nagorno-Karabakh, the majority supported calls for the transfer of the region to Armenia.

Politburo for all good things

The situation began to get out of control of the authorities. Since mid-February 1988, a rally was held almost non-stop in the central square of Stepanakert, the participants of which demanded the transfer of the NKAR to Armenia. Actions in support of this demand began in Yerevan as well.

On February 20, 1988, an extraordinary session of people's deputies of the NKAR addressed the Supreme Soviets of the Armenian SSR, the Azerbaijan SSR and the USSR with a request to consider and positively resolve the issue of transferring the NKAO from Azerbaijan to Armenia: The Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR to show a deep understanding of the aspirations of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and resolve the issue of transferring the NKAO from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR, at the same time petition the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for a positive decision on the issue of transferring the NKAO from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR " ,

Every action creates a reaction. Mass actions began to take place in Baku and other cities of Azerbaijan demanding to stop the attacks of Armenian extremists and keep Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the republic.

On February 21, the situation was considered at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. What Moscow decides was closely monitored by both sides of the conflict.

“Consistently guided by the Leninist principles of national policy, the Central Committee of the CPSU appealed to the patriotic and internationalist feelings of the Armenian and Azerbaijani population with a call not to succumb to the provocations of nationalist elements, to strengthen in every possible way the great heritage of socialism - the fraternal friendship of the Soviet peoples,” the text published after the discussion said. .

Probably, this was the essence of Mikhail Gorbachev's policy - general correct phrases about everything good and against everything bad. But persuasion didn't help. While the creative intelligentsia spoke at rallies and in the press, the local radicals more and more often controlled the process.

Rally in the center of Yerevan in February 1988. Photo: RIA Novosti / Ruben Mangasaryan

First blood and pogrom in Sumgayit

The Shusha region of Nagorno-Karabakh was the only one in which the Azerbaijani population predominated. The situation here was fueled by rumors that in Yerevan and Stepanakert "Azerbaijani women and children are being brutally murdered." There were no real grounds for these rumors, but they were enough for an armed crowd of Azerbaijanis to start a "campaign to Stepanakert" on February 22 to "put things in order."

Near the village of Askeran, the distraught avengers were met by police cordons. It was not possible to reason with the crowd, shots were fired. Two people were killed, and, ironically, one of the first victims of the conflict was an Azerbaijani who was killed by an Azerbaijani policeman.

The real explosion occurred where they were not expected - in Sumgayit, a satellite city of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. At that time, people began to appear there, calling themselves "refugees from Karabakh" and talking about the horrors committed by the Armenians. In fact, there was not a word of truth in the stories of the "refugees", but they heated up the situation.

Sumgayit, founded in 1949, was a multinational city - Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Russians, Jews, Ukrainians lived and worked here for decades ... Nobody was ready for what happened in the last days of February 1988.

It is believed that the last straw was a TV report about a skirmish near Askeran, where two Azerbaijanis were killed. A rally in Sumgayit in support of the preservation of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan turned into an action at which the slogans “Death to the Armenians!” began to sound.

Local authorities and law enforcement agencies could not stop what was happening. Pogroms began in the city, which lasted for two days.

According to official figures, 26 Armenians died in Sumgayit, hundreds were injured. It was possible to stop the madness only after the introduction of troops. But even here everything turned out to be not so simple - at first the military was ordered to exclude the use of weapons. Only after the number of wounded soldiers and officers exceeded a hundred, patience snapped. Six Azerbaijanis were added to the dead Armenians, after which the riots ceased.

Exodus

The blood of Sumgayit has made ending the conflict in Karabakh an extremely difficult task. For Armenians, this pogrom became a reminder of the massacres in the Ottoman Empire that took place at the beginning of the 20th century. In Stepanakert they repeated: “Look what they are doing? Can we stay in Azerbaijan after that?”

Despite the fact that Moscow began to use tough measures, there was no logic in them. It happened that two members of the Politburo, coming to Yerevan and Baku, made mutually exclusive promises. The authority of the central government fell catastrophically.

After Sumgayit, the exodus of Azerbaijanis from Armenia and Armenians from Azerbaijan began. Frightened people, leaving everything acquired, fled from their neighbors, who suddenly became enemies.

It would be unfair to talk only about the scum. Not all of them were knocked down - during the pogroms in Sumgayit, the Azerbaijanis, often risking their own lives, hid the Armenians. In Stepanakert, where the "avengers" started hunting the Azerbaijanis, they were rescued by the Armenians.

But these worthy people could not stop the growing conflict. Here and there, new clashes broke out, which did not have time to stop the internal troops brought into the region.

The general crisis that began in the USSR increasingly diverted the attention of politicians from the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh. Neither side was ready to make concessions. By the beginning of 1990, illegal armed formations on both sides launched hostilities, the number of dead and wounded was already in the tens and hundreds.

Servicemen of the USSR Ministry of Defense on the streets of the city of Fizuli. Introduction of a state of emergency on the territory of the NKAR, the regions of the Azerbaijan SSR bordering it. Photo: RIA Novosti / Igor Mikhalev

Education in hate

Immediately after the August putsch of 1991, when the central government practically ceased to exist, independence was proclaimed not only by Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Since September 1991, what is happening in the region has become a war in the full sense of the word. And when, at the end of the year, units of the internal troops of the already defunct USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs were withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh, no one else could prevent the massacre.

The Karabakh war, which lasted until May 1994, ended with the signing of an armistice agreement. The total losses of the parties killed by independent experts are estimated at 25-30 thousand people.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has existed as an unrecognized state for more than a quarter of a century. The Azerbaijani authorities still declare their intention to regain control over the lost territories. Fighting of varying intensity on the contact line breaks out regularly.

On both sides, people will be blinded by hatred. Even a neutral comment about a neighboring country is seen as a national betrayal. From an early age, children are instilled with the idea of who is the main enemy that must be destroyed.

“From where and for what, neighbor,
So many troubles have fallen on us?

Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanyan in 1909 he wrote the poem "A drop of honey". In Soviet times, it was well known to schoolchildren in the translation of Samuil Marshak. Tumanyan, who died in 1923, could not have known what would happen in Nagorno-Karabakh at the end of the 20th century. But this wise man, who knew history well, in one poem showed how sometimes monstrous fratricidal conflicts arise from mere trifles. Do not be too lazy to find and read it in full, and we will give only its ending:

... And the fire of war blazed,
And two countries are ruined
And there is no one to mow the field,
And there is no one to carry the dead.
And only death, ringing scythe,
Wandering through the desert...
Leaning at the gravestones
Alive to Alive says:
- Where and for what, neighbor,
So many troubles have fallen on us?
Here the story ends.
And if any of you
Ask the narrator a question
Who is more guilty here - a cat or a dog,
And is it really so much evil
Crazy fly brought -
The people will answer for us:
There will be flies - there would be honey! ..

P.S. The Armenian village of Chardakhlu, the birthplace of the heroes, ceased to exist at the end of 1988. More than 300 families inhabiting it moved to Armenia, where they settled in the village of Zorakan. Previously, this village was Azerbaijani, but with the outbreak of the conflict, its inhabitants became refugees, just like the inhabitants of Chardakhlu.

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The Karabakh conflict in brief: the essence of the war and news from the front

The Karabakh conflict is one of the oldest in the expanses of the former USSR, Nagorno-Karabakh became a hot spot even before the collapse of the country and has been in a state of frozen for more than twenty years. Why did it flare up with renewed vigor today, what are the strengths of the opposing sides and what should be expected in the near future? Can this conflict escalate into a full-scale war?

To understand what is happening in this region today, you should make a short digression into history. This is the only way to understand the essence of this war.

Nagorno-Karabakh: prehistory of the conflict

The Karabakh conflict has very old historical and ethno-cultural roots; the situation in this region has escalated significantly in the last years of the Soviet regime.

In ancient times, Karabakh was part of the Armenian kingdom, after its collapse, these lands became part of the Persian Empire. In 1813 Nagorno-Karabakh was annexed to Russia.

Current balance of power

In the last war, Armenia and the NKR won, Azerbaijan lost territory and was forced to admit defeat. For many years, the Karabakh conflict was in a frozen state, which was accompanied by periodic skirmishes on the front line.

Anti-tank artillery is mainly represented by the Soviet anti-tank missiles MT-12 "Rapier", also in service are Soviet-made ATGMs ("Malyutka", "Konkurs", "Fagot", "Metis") and foreign production (Israel - Spike, Ukraine - "Skif "). In 2014, Russia delivered several Khrizantema self-propelled ATGMs.

Russia has delivered serious sapper equipment to Azerbaijan, which can be used to overcome the enemy's fortified zones.

There are operational-tactical complexes "Tochka-U", which were purchased from Ukraine.

Separately, it is worth noting unmanned aerial vehicles, among which there are even shock ones. Azerbaijan bought them from Israel.

The country's Air Force is armed with Soviet MiG-29 fighters (16 units), MiG-25 interceptors (20 units), Su-24 and Su-17 bombers, and Su-25 attack aircraft (19 units). In addition, the Azerbaijani Air Force has 40 L-29 and L-39 trainers, 28 Mi-24 attack helicopters and Mi-8 and Mi-17 combat transport helicopters supplied by Russia.

Armenia has a much smaller military potential, due to its more modest share in the Soviet "legacy". Yes, and with finances, Yerevan is much worse - there are no oil fields on its territory.

The Armenian Air Force consists of 15 Su-25 attack aircraft, Mi-24 (11 units) and Mi-8 helicopters, as well as multi-purpose Mi-2s.

Caucasian knot

Today, the position of Azerbaijan looks much more preferable. The country has managed to create a modern and very strong armed forces, which was proved in April 2018. It is not entirely clear what will happen next: it is beneficial for Armenia to maintain the current situation, in fact, it controls about 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan. However, this is not very beneficial for Baku.

In terms of numbers, the armed forces of both sides are roughly comparable, but in terms of their organization, the armies of Armenia and the NKR are decades behind the modern armed forces. Events at the front clearly showed this. The opinion that the high Armenian fighting spirit and the difficulties of waging war in mountainous areas will equalize everything turned out to be erroneous.

The Armenians, having launched their counteroffensive, could not dislodge the enemy from all their positions.

Video about the Karabakh conflict

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The essence and history of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh has been one of the most potentially explosive points in the South Caucasus for more than 25 years. Today there is a war going on here again – Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of escalation. Read the history of the conflict in Sputnik Help.

TBILISI, April 3 - Sputnik. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan began in 1988, when the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan SSR. Negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict have been held since 1992 within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a historical region in Transcaucasia. The population (as of January 1, 2013) is 146.6 thousand people, the vast majority are Armenians. The administrative center is the city of Stepanakert.

Background

Armenian and Azerbaijani sources have different points of view on the history of the region. According to Armenian sources, Nagorno-Karabakh (ancient Armenian name - Artsakh) at the beginning of the first millennium BC. was part of the political and cultural sphere of Assyria and Urartu. First mentioned in the cuneiform writing of Sardur II, king of Urartu (763-734 BC). In the early Middle Ages, Nagorno-Karabakh was part of Armenia, according to Armenian sources. After most of this country was captured by Turkey and Persia in the Middle Ages, the Armenian principalities (melikdoms) of Nagorno-Karabakh retained a semi-independent status. In the 17th-18th centuries, the princes of Artsakh (meliks) led the liberation struggle of Armenians against the Shah's Persia and Sultan's Turkey.

According to Azerbaijani sources, Karabakh is one of the most ancient historical regions of Azerbaijan. According to the official version, the appearance of the term "Karabakh" dates back to the 7th century and is interpreted as a combination of the Azerbaijani words "gara" (black) and "bagh" (garden). Among other provinces, Karabakh (Ganja in Azerbaijani terminology) was part of the Safavid state in the 16th century, and later became an independent Karabakh khanate.

In 1813, according to the Gulistan peace treaty, Nagorno-Karabakh became part of Russia.

In early May 1920, Soviet power was established in Karabakh. On July 7, 1923, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (AO) was formed from the mountainous part of Karabakh (part of the former Elizavetpol province) as part of the Azerbaijan SSR with the administrative center in the village of Khankendy (now Stepanakert).

How did the war start

On February 20, 1988, an extraordinary session of the regional Council of Deputies of the NKAO adopted a decision "On a petition to the Supreme Soviets of the AzSSR and the ArmSSR on the transfer of the NKAO from the AzSSR to the ArmSSR."

The refusal of the allied and Azerbaijani authorities caused demonstrations of protest by Armenians not only in Nagorno-Karabakh, but also in Yerevan.

On September 2, 1991, a joint session of the Nagorno-Karabakh regional and Shahumyan regional councils took place in Stepanakert, which adopted a Declaration on the proclamation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic within the borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, the Shaumyan region and part of the Khanlar region of the former Azerbaijan SSR.

On December 10, 1991, a few days before the official collapse of the Soviet Union, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh, in which the overwhelming majority of the population - 99.89% - voted for complete independence from Azerbaijan.

Official Baku recognized this act as illegal and abolished the autonomy of Karabakh that existed in the Soviet years. Following this, an armed conflict began, during which Azerbaijan tried to keep Karabakh, and the Armenian detachments defended the independence of the region with the support of Yerevan and the Armenian diaspora from other countries.

Victims and losses

The losses of both sides during the Karabakh conflict amounted, according to various sources, to 25 thousand people were killed, more than 25 thousand were injured, hundreds of thousands of civilians left their places of residence, more than four thousand people are missing.

As a result of the conflict, Azerbaijan lost over Nagorno-Karabakh and - in whole or in part - seven regions adjacent to it.

Negotiation

On May 5, 1994, through the mediation of Russia, Kyrgyzstan and the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh signed a protocol calling for a ceasefire on the night of May 8-9. This document entered the history of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict as the Bishkek Protocol.

The negotiation process to resolve the conflict began in 1991. Since 1992, negotiations have been underway on a peaceful settlement of the conflict within the framework of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France. The group also includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Turkey.

Since 1999, regular bilateral and trilateral meetings of the leaders of the two countries have been held. The last meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, within the framework of the negotiation process on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, took place on December 19, 2015 in Bern (Switzerland).

Despite the confidentiality surrounding the negotiation process, it is known that they are based on the so-called updated Madrid principles, transmitted by the OSCE Minsk Group to the parties to the conflict on January 15, 2010. The main principles of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, called Madrid, were presented in November 2007 in the capital of Spain.

Azerbaijan insists on maintaining its territorial integrity, Armenia defends the interests of the unrecognized republic, since the NKR is not a party to the negotiations.

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Nagorno-Karabakh: causes of the conflict

The war in Nagorno-Karabakh is inferior in scale
Chechen: about 50,000 people died in it, but in terms of duration
this conflict surpasses all Caucasian wars of recent decades. So,
today it is worth remembering why Nagorno-Karabakh became known to the whole world, the essence and causes of the conflict, and what the latest news is from this region.

Prehistory of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh

The prehistory of the Karabakh conflict is very long, but
in short, its reason can be expressed as follows: Azerbaijanis, who are
Muslims, have long begun to argue over territory with the Armenians, who are
Christians. It is difficult for a modern layman to understand the essence of the conflict, since
kill each other because of nationality and religion in the 20-21st century, yes, as well as
because of the territory - complete idiocy. Well, you don't like the state, within the borders
whom you turned out to be, pack your bags, but go to Tula or Krasnodar with tomatoes
trade - you are always welcome there. Why war, why blood?

The scoop is to blame

Once, under the USSR, Nagorno-Karabakh was included in
Azerbaijan SSR. By mistake or not by mistake, it doesn't matter, but the paper is on the ground
was with the Azerbaijanis. Probably, it would be possible to agree peacefully, to dance
collective lezginka and treat each other with watermelon. But it was not there. Armenians
they did not want to live in Azerbaijan, to accept its language and legislation. But also
dump in Tula to sell tomatoes or in your Armenia is not very
were going to. Their argument was iron and quite traditional: “they lived here
Didi!

Azerbaijanis to give
they didn’t want their territory either, they also had didas there, and even paper on
the earth was. Therefore, they did exactly the same as Poroshenko in Ukraine, Yeltsin
in Chechnya and Snegur in Transnistria. That is, they sent troops to guide
constitutional order and protection of the integrity of borders. The first channel, I would call
this is a Bandera punitive operation or an invasion of blue fascists. By the way,
well-known hotbeds of separatism and wars actively fought on the side of the Armenians -
Russian Cossacks.

In general, the Azerbaijanis began to shoot at the Armenians, and the Armenians at
Azerbaijanis. In those years, God sent a sign to Armenia - the Spitak earthquake, in
which killed 25,000 people. Well, it seems like the Armenians would have taken it, but left
to the vacant place, but they still really did not want to give the land
Azerbaijanis. And so they shot at each other for almost 20 years, signed
all sorts of agreements, stopped shooting, and then started again. Latest
news from Nagorno-Karabakh is still periodically full of headlines about shootings,
dead and wounded, that is, although there is no big war, it is smoldering. Here in 2014
year, with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group, together with the United States and France, a process was launched to
settlement of this war. But even this did not bear fruit much - period continues
stay hot.

Probably everyone guesses what is in this conflict and
Russian trail. Russia really could have settled the conflict in
Nagorno-Karabakh, but it is not profitable for her. Formally, it recognizes the boundaries
Azerbaijan, but helps Armenia - just as duplicitously as in Transnistria!

Both states are very dependent on Russia and lose this
the dependence of the Russian government does not want. Both countries have
Russian military facilities - in Armenia, a base in Gyumri, and in Azerbaijan -
Gabala radar. Russian Gazprom deals with both countries, buying gas
for deliveries to the EU. And if one of
countries from under Russian influence, so it will be able to become independent and
rich, what good else will join NATO or hold a gay parade. Russia therefore
very interested in the weak countries of the CIS, so it supports death, war there
and conflicts.

But as soon as power changes, Russia will unite with
Azerbaijan and Armenia within the EU, tolerance will come in all countries,
Muslims, Christians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Russians will embrace each other and will
visit each other.

In the meantime, the percentage of hatred for each other among Azerbaijanis and
Armenians are simply over the top. Get yourself an account in VK under an Armenian or Azeri,
chat, and just be amazed at how serious the split is.

I want to believe that maybe in 2-3 generations this
hatred will subside.

There are enough 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 more than a century of history. There are not so many such “hot” spots on the planet, but it is still better that they do not exist at all. However, unfortunately, one of these places is not so far from the Russian border. We are talking about the Karabakh conflict, which is rather difficult to briefly describe. 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 claimed a large number of lives on both sides. The historical chronicle of these events is kept by Armenians and Azerbaijanis very carefully. Although each nationality sees only its rightness in what happened. In the article we will analyze the causes and consequences of the Karabakh conflict. And also briefly outline the current situation in the region. We will single out several sections of the article to the Armenian-Azerbaijani war of the late nineteenth - early twentieth century, part of which are armed clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Characteristics of the 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 the main reason for the outbreak of war is seen 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 came 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 resemblance to partisan resistance. The main actions took place in the disputed territories, where the republics supported the militias created by their fellow citizens.

For all the time that the Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 1918-1920 lasted, the most bloody and active actions took place in Karabakh and Nakhichevan. All this was accompanied by a real massacre, which eventually became the cause of the demographic crisis in the region. Armenians and Azerbaijanis call the most difficult pages in the history of this conflict:

March massacre;
the 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 become a guarantor of the stabilization of the situation in the region. The problem was solved 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. Speaking of this, we mean the Karabakh conflict, the consequences of which our contemporaries still cannot fully appreciate.

History of hostilities

Since ancient times, tense relations 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 story unfolding over several centuries.

Religious and cultural differences between the two peoples were often considered the reason that led to the armed clash. However, the real reason for the Armenian-Azerbaijani war (in 1991 it broke out with renewed vigor) was the territorial issue.

In 1905, the first 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, there were regular clashes that were harbingers of a future war. Its trigger mechanism can be called the October Revolution.

Since the seventeenth year of the last century, the situation in the Transcaucasus has completely destabilized, and the hidden conflict turned into an open war that claimed many lives.

A year after the revolution, serious changes took place in the once unified territory. Initially, independence was proclaimed in Transcaucasia, but the newly created state lasted only a few months. It is historically natural that it broke up 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 lot of 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 briefly consider it a little later).

The goal of the Armenians living in the announced territories was to become part of the Republic of Armenia. Armed clashes between scattered Armenian detachments and Azerbaijani troops were repeated regularly. But neither side could come to any final decision.

In turn, a similar situation has developed. 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 consider the war through the prism of armed clashes in these areas.

Nakhichevan. Muslim resistance

The Truce of Mudros, signed in the eighteenth year of the last century and marked the defeat, immediately changed the balance of power in the Transcaucasus. Its troops, previously introduced into the Transcaucasian region, were forced to hastily leave it. After several months of independent existence, it was decided to introduce the liberated territories into the Republic of Armenia. However, this was done without the consent of the local residents, most of whom were Azerbaijani Muslims. They began to resist, especially since the Turkish military supported this opposition. Soldiers and officers in small numbers 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 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 the intervention of Britain. Through her efforts, a governor-general was formed in the declared independent territories.

In a few months of the nineteenth year, under the British protectorate, the disputed territories managed to restore a 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 region, and the Armenian military units entered there with full rights to these lands.

This decision led to the indignation of Azerbaijani Muslims. The military conflict broke out with renewed vigor. Looting took place everywhere, houses and Muslim shrines were burned. In all areas close to Nakhichevan, battles and minor clashes thundered. Azerbaijanis created their own units and performed under 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. History reference

This region cannot boast of stability so far. Despite the fact that theoretically a solution to the Karabakh conflict was found 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 a part of one of its provinces and for six centuries were geographically part of it. In the future, these areas have changed their ownership more than once. They were ruled by Albanians, Arabs, again Naturally, territories with such a history as a distinctive feature have a heterogeneous composition of the population. This was one of the causes of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

For a better understanding of 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 by short-term armed skirmishes 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 number of the 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, looting and robbery 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 of the British, about forty thousand Armenians disappeared in Karabakh.

The British, who felt quite confident in these territories, saw an intermediate solution to the Karabakh conflict in the transfer of this region under the control of Azerbaijan. Such an approach could not 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 solution 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 attended by plenipotentiary delegates from both young republics. However, the settlement of the Karabakh conflict turned out to be impossible due to different approaches to its solution.

The Armenian authorities offered to be guided by ethnic characteristics. Historically, these territories belonged to the Armenians, so their claims to Nagorno-Karabakh were justified. However, Azerbaijan made compelling 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 come to a compromise. Therefore, the conference was considered a failure.

Further course of the conflict

After an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan imposed an economic blockade of these territories. He was supported by the British and Americans, but even they were forced to recognize such measures as 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 it couldn't go on for 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 for Azerbaijan. Despite the nominal solution of the issue, the situation has not stabilized. Looting and robbery continued, and bloody ethnic cleansing, which claimed the lives of entire settlements, became a frequent occurrence.

Armenian uprising

The decisions of the Paris Conference led to relative peace. But in the current situation, he was just the calm before the storm. And it struck in the winter of 1920.

Against the backdrop of a renewed national massacre, the Azerbaijani government demanded the unconditional submission of the Armenian population. For this purpose, an Assembly was convened, the delegates of which worked until the first days of March. However, no consensus was reached either. Some advocated only 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 manage the region, gradually began to gather military contingent here. In parallel, he introduced a lot of rules restricting Armenians in movement, 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 at the same time. But only one of them managed to achieve a noticeable result. The rebels failed to hold the city: already in the first days of April it was returned under the authority of the governor-general.

The failure did not stop the Armenian population, and the long-standing military conflict resumed on the territory of Karabakh with renewed vigor. During April, the 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 entrenched themselves 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, neither side was satisfied with the outcome. Periodically, minor conflicts arose, provoked either by the Armenian or by the Azerbaijani population. Each of the peoples considered themselves infringed in their rights, and the issue of transferring the region under the rule of Armenia was raised repeatedly.

The situation only outwardly seemed stable, which was proved in the late eighties - early nineties of the last century, when they again started talking about the Karabakh conflict (1988).

Renewal of the conflict

Until the end of the 1980s, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh remained conditionally stable. There were talks about changing the status of autonomy from time to time, but this was done in very narrow circles. The policy of Mikhail Gorbachev influenced the mood in the region: the dissatisfaction of the Armenian population with their position intensified. The people began to gather for rallies, there were words about the deliberate restraint of the development of the region and the ban on resuming ties with Armenia. During this period, the nationalist movement became more active, whose leaders spoke about the disdainful attitude of the authorities towards Armenian culture and traditions. Increasingly, there were appeals to the Soviet government calling for the withdrawal of autonomy from Azerbaijan.

The ideas of reunification with Armenia also leaked into the print media. In the republic itself, the population actively supported new trends, which negatively affected the authority of the leadership. Trying to hold back popular uprisings, the Communist Party was rapidly losing its positions. 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 in one of the villages of the head of the collective farm - an Armenian. Mass riots were 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 the 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, the Armenian people's deputies voted for an appeal to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a request to consider the urgent issue with Karabakh. Azerbaijani deputies refused to vote and defiantly left the meeting room. The conflict gradually got out of control. Many feared bloody clashes among the local population. And they did not keep themselves waiting.

On February 22, with difficulty, they managed to separate two groups of people - from Aghdam and Askeran. Quite strong opposition groups with weapons in their arsenal have formed in both settlements. We can say that this clash was the signal for the start of a real war.

In the first days of March, a wave of strikes swept through Nagorno-Karabakh. In the future, the people will more than once resort to this method of attracting attention to themselves. In parallel, people began to take to the streets of Azerbaijani cities, speaking in support of the decision on the impossibility of revising the status of Karabakh. The most massive were such processions in Baku.

The Armenian authorities tried to contain the pressure of the people, who increasingly advocated unification with once disputed areas. Several official groups have even 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 former status of Karabakh. However, she encouraged the representatives of this autonomy with promises to establish cultural ties with Armenia and provide a number of indulgences to the local population. Unfortunately, such half-measures could not satisfy both sides.

Rumors spread everywhere about the oppression of certain nationalities, people took to the streets, many of them had weapons. The situation finally got out of control in late February. At that time, bloody pogroms of the Armenian quarters took place in Sumgayit. For two days, law enforcement agencies could not restore order. The official reports did not include 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. With difficulty, it was possible to prevent a repetition of the situation with Sumgayit in Kirovobad.

In the summer of 1988, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan reached a new level. The republics began to use conditionally "legal" methods in the confrontation. These include a partial economic blockade and the adoption of laws regarding Nagorno-Karabakh without considering the views of the opposite side.

Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 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 a curfew. Popular unrest often resulted in massacres, which even the military contingent could not stop. On the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, shelling by artillery has become the norm. The conflict escalated into a full-scale war between the two republics.

In 1991, it was proclaimed a republic, which caused another round of hostilities. Armored vehicles, aviation and artillery were used at the fronts. Casualties on both sides only provoked regular military operations.

Summing up

Today, the causes and consequences of the Karabakh conflict (in brief) can be found in any school history textbook. After all, he is an example of a frozen situation that has not 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 previously belonged to the border. Naturally, Azerbaijan itself considered the military conflict not resolved, but merely frozen. Therefore, in 2016, the shelling of the territories adjacent to Karabakh began.

Today, the situation threatens to escalate into a full-fledged military conflict again, because the Armenians do not at all want to return to their neighbors the lands annexed several years ago. The Russian government advocates a truce and seeks to keep the conflict frozen. However, many analysts believe that this is impossible, and sooner or later the situation in the region will again become uncontrollable.

Where is Nagorno-Karabakh located?

Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed region on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was founded on September 2, 1991. The population is estimated in 2013 to be over 146,000. The vast majority of believers are Christians. The capital and largest city is Stepanakert.

What started the confrontation?

At the beginning of the 20th century, mainly Armenians lived in the region. It was then that this area became the site of bloody Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes. In 1917, due to the revolution and the collapse of the Russian Empire, three independent states were proclaimed in Transcaucasia, including the Republic of Azerbaijan, which included the Karabakh region. However, the Armenian population of the region refused to obey the new authorities. In the same year, the First Congress of the Armenians of Karabakh elected its own government - the Armenian National Council.

The conflict between the parties continued until the establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan. In 1920, Azerbaijani troops occupied the territory of Karabakh, but after a couple of months, the resistance of the Armenian armed groups was crushed thanks to the Soviet troops.

In 1920, the population of Nagorno-Karabakh was granted the right to self-determination, but de jure the territory continued to submit to the authorities of Azerbaijan. Since that time, not only riots, but also armed clashes have periodically flared up in the region.

How and when was the self-proclaimed republic created?

In 1987, the dissatisfaction with the socio-economic policy on the part of the Armenian population increased sharply. The measures taken by the leadership of the Azerbaijan SSR did not affect the situation. Mass strikes of students began, and thousands of nationalist rallies were held in the large city of Stepanakert.

Many Azerbaijanis, having assessed the situation, decided to leave the country. On the other hand, Armenian pogroms began to take place everywhere in Azerbaijan, as a result of which a huge number of refugees appeared.

Photo: TASS

The regional council of Nagorno-Karabakh decided to withdraw from Azerbaijan. In 1988, an armed conflict began between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. The territory got out of Azerbaijan's control, but the decision on its status was postponed indefinitely.

In 1991, hostilities began in the region with numerous losses on both sides. Agreements on a complete ceasefire and settlement of the situation were reached only in 1994 with the help of Russia, Kyrgyzstan and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly in Bishkek.

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When did the conflict escalate?

It should be noted that relatively recently the long-term conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh again reminded of itself. This happened in August 2014. Then skirmishes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border took place between the military of the two countries. More than 20 people died on both sides.

What is happening now in Nagorno-Karabakh?

On the night of April 2, it happened. The Armenian and Azerbaijani sides blame each other for its escalation.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announces shelling by the Armenian armed forces using mortars and heavy machine guns. It is alleged that over the past day, the Armenian military violated the ceasefire 127 times.

In turn, the Armenian military department says that the Azerbaijani side undertook "active offensive operations" on the night of April 2 using tanks, artillery and aircraft.

Are there any victims?

Yes there is. However, their data differ. According to the official version of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over 200 were injured.

UN OCHA:“According to official sources in Armenia and Azerbaijan, at least 30 soldiers and 3 civilians have died as a result of the fighting. The number of wounded, both civilian and military, has not yet been officially confirmed. According to unofficial sources, more than 200 people were injured.”

How did the authorities and public organizations react to this situation?

The Russian Foreign Ministry maintains constant contact with the leadership of the foreign ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia. and Maria Zakharova called on the parties to end the violence in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, reports of a serious

It should be noted that it remains the most stressful. , Yerevan refuted these statements and called them a trick. Baku denies these accusations and speaks of provocations by Armenia. Azerbaijani President Aliyev convened the country's Security Council, which was broadcast on national television.

The appeal of the PACE President to the parties to the conflict with an appeal to refrain from the use of violence and resume negotiations on a peaceful settlement has already been published on the organization's website.

A similar call was made by the International Committee of the Red Cross. He convinces Yerevan and Baku to protect the civilian population. Also, the committee's employees say they are ready to become mediators in the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Portal for the student. Self-training

Nagorno-Karabakh: prehistory of the conflict

Current balance of power

Caucasian knot

Video about the Karabakh conflict

Excursion into history

Nagorno-Karabakh during the Russian Empire

As part of the USSR

Declaration of Independence

Karabakh conflict

Peace settlement

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Reference

Karabakh conflict

History of the disaster. How the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began | History | Society

A region with a complex history

"Defrosting" mutual grievances

It was in Chardakhlu

“We want to go to Armenia!”

Politburo for all good things

First blood and pogrom in Sumgayit

Exodus

Education in hate

“From where and for what, neighbor, So many troubles have fallen on us?

The Karabakh conflict in brief: the essence of the war and news from the front

Nagorno-Karabakh: prehistory of the conflict

Current balance of power

Caucasian knot

Video about the Karabakh conflict

The essence and history of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh

Background

How did the war start

Victims and losses

Negotiation

Nagorno-Karabakh: causes of the conflict

Prehistory of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh

The scoop is to blame

Characteristics of the military conflict

History of hostilities

Nakhichevan. Muslim resistance

Causes and consequences of the Karabakh conflict. History reference

Karabakh in the first quarter of the twentieth century

Attempts to resolve the conflict

Further course of the conflict

Armenian uprising

Subtotals

Renewal of the conflict

Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 1991-1994

Summing up

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