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Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
1988–2024 conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict[lower-alpha 6] is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbaijanis until their expulsion during the 1990s. The Nagorno-Karabakh region was entirely claimed by and partially controlled by the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, but was recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan gradually re-established control over Nagorno-Karabakh region and the seven surrounding districts.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict | |||||||||
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Part of the post-Soviet conflicts | |||||||||
![]() Military situation in the region before September 20, 2023. For a detailed map, see here | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
![]() ![]() Military support Foreign fighters Arms suppliers Diplomatic support |
![]() Foreign fighters Arms suppliers Diplomatic support Supported by: ![]() | ||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
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Strength | |||||||||
2018: 65,000 (active servicemen)[43][lower-alpha 5] 1993–1994: 30,000–40,000[46][47] |
2019: 66,950 (active servicemen)[48] 1993–1994: 42,000–56,000[47][46][49] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
28,000–38,000 killed (1988–1994)[54] 3,000 killed (May 1994 – August 2009)[55] 541–547+ killed (2010–2019)[56] 7,717 killed (2020)[57] 44 killed (2021–2022)[58] |
Throughout the Soviet period, Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast were heavily discriminated against. The Soviet Azerbaijani authorities worked to suppress Armenian culture and identity in Nagorno-Karabakh, pressured Armenians to leave the region and encouraged Azerbaijanis to settle within it, although Armenians remained the majority population.[63] During the glasnost period, a 1988 Nagorno-Karabakh referendum was held to transfer the region to Soviet Armenia, citing self-determination laws in the Soviet constitution. This act was met with a series of pogroms against Armenians across Azerbaijan, before violence committed against both Armenians and Azerbaijanis occurred.[64]
The conflict escalated into a full-scale war in the early 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The war was won by Artsakh and Armenia, and led to occupation of regions around Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh. There were expulsions of ethnic Armenians from Azerbaijan and ethnic Azerbaijanis from Armenia and the Armenian-controlled areas.[65] The ceasefire ending the war, signed in 1994 in Bishkek, was followed by two decades of relative stability, which significantly deteriorated in the 2010s. A four-day escalation in April 2016 resulted in hundreds of casualties but only minor changes to the front line.
In late 2020, the large-scale Second Nagorno-Karabakh War resulted in thousands of casualties and a significant Azerbaijani victory. An armistice was established by a tripartite ceasefire agreement on November 10, resulting in Azerbaijan regaining all of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh as well as capturing one-third of Nagorno-Karabakh itself.[66] Ceasefire violations in Nagorno-Karabakh and on the Armenian–Azerbaijani border continued following the 2020 war. Azerbaijan began blockading Artsakh in December 2022, and launched a large-scale military offensive in September 2023,[67][68][69] resulting in a ceasefire agreement. Most ethnic Armenians fled,[70] and Artsakh was officially dissolved on 1 January 2024.[71][26]