Background
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former members of the Soviet Union, has been terrorizing the citizens of the nations for almost three decades. The conflict stems over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh—also known as Artsakh—a territory that is the site of a separatist war fought in 1994, three years after the disbandment of the Soviet Union. The territory lies roughly 30 miles from the Armenian border and is populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians, who have occupied that land since 1994 and have also seized regions of Azerbaijan to create a “buffer zone” around the territory. However, the province is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan.
The deadly nature of the conflict is in part due to the use of cluster munitions in innocent civilian areas, which are, in fact, banned under international humanitarian law. A cluster munition is an explosive that releases smaller submunitions which are deadly and disastrous. Just as recently as October 28, 2020, Armenia was said to have fired or supplied the Smerch cluster munition rocket along with other weapons in an attack on a residential neighborhood close to a hospital in Barda. Azerbaijan has said that at least 21 were killed and 70 injured. The Armenian Defense Ministry has claimed that the accusations are “groundless and false.” Regardless, Armenia and Azerbaijan have not joined the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions because they don’t believe they can do so before settling this dispute, as the Convention prohibits cluster munitions and requires assistance to victims.
On the other hand, in September of 2020, Azerbaijan invaded the territory and has harmed the population there. The nation uses laser guided drones from some of its allies, including Turkey, Russia, and Israel, to attack the civilian volunteers who are defending Nagorno-Karabakh. This is especially frightening for Armenians because Turkey is acting as an ally and there is the fear that Turkey will resume the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1922. Historically, violence against Armenians has occurred since the collapse of the Soviet Union and in 1988-1990, Azerbaijani mobs raided, beat, and murdered ethnic Armenians, forcing them to flee. If Azerbaijan takes control again, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh could be forcibly deported to Armenia. And to make matters worse, the Azerbaijani government promotes hate speech and encourages violence against Armenians and adamantly denies the occurrence of the 1915 Armenian genocide.
On a more positive note, the Armenian Foreign Ministry has said that the country is “ready to engage” with the co-chairs of the Minsk group in order to “re establish a cease-fire...based on the 1994-1995 agreements.” Armenia continues to say that they want to maintain the peaceful resolution of this conflict. They have also come out and condemned the “joint actions of Azerbaijan and Turkey” and have said that they will continue to respond appropriately.
On Friday October 30th, Armenia and Azerbaijan met with the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, chaired by Russia, the United States, and France. They released a statement that Armenia and Azerbaijan both promise to avoid deliberately targeting residential areas over this crisis and also promised to offer proposals regarding their cease-fire plans. On Tuesday November 10, Russia brokered a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The deal maintains the current holdings of the territories, which is a significant gain for Azerbaijanis, and deploys Russian peacekeepers against the border. Numerous Armenians have gathered at the Armenian capital to protest the peace deal. Regardless, there is hope that there will be peace in the foreseeable future.
The deadly nature of the conflict is in part due to the use of cluster munitions in innocent civilian areas, which are, in fact, banned under international humanitarian law. A cluster munition is an explosive that releases smaller submunitions which are deadly and disastrous. Just as recently as October 28, 2020, Armenia was said to have fired or supplied the Smerch cluster munition rocket along with other weapons in an attack on a residential neighborhood close to a hospital in Barda. Azerbaijan has said that at least 21 were killed and 70 injured. The Armenian Defense Ministry has claimed that the accusations are “groundless and false.” Regardless, Armenia and Azerbaijan have not joined the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions because they don’t believe they can do so before settling this dispute, as the Convention prohibits cluster munitions and requires assistance to victims.
On the other hand, in September of 2020, Azerbaijan invaded the territory and has harmed the population there. The nation uses laser guided drones from some of its allies, including Turkey, Russia, and Israel, to attack the civilian volunteers who are defending Nagorno-Karabakh. This is especially frightening for Armenians because Turkey is acting as an ally and there is the fear that Turkey will resume the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1922. Historically, violence against Armenians has occurred since the collapse of the Soviet Union and in 1988-1990, Azerbaijani mobs raided, beat, and murdered ethnic Armenians, forcing them to flee. If Azerbaijan takes control again, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh could be forcibly deported to Armenia. And to make matters worse, the Azerbaijani government promotes hate speech and encourages violence against Armenians and adamantly denies the occurrence of the 1915 Armenian genocide.
On a more positive note, the Armenian Foreign Ministry has said that the country is “ready to engage” with the co-chairs of the Minsk group in order to “re establish a cease-fire...based on the 1994-1995 agreements.” Armenia continues to say that they want to maintain the peaceful resolution of this conflict. They have also come out and condemned the “joint actions of Azerbaijan and Turkey” and have said that they will continue to respond appropriately.
On Friday October 30th, Armenia and Azerbaijan met with the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, chaired by Russia, the United States, and France. They released a statement that Armenia and Azerbaijan both promise to avoid deliberately targeting residential areas over this crisis and also promised to offer proposals regarding their cease-fire plans. On Tuesday November 10, Russia brokered a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The deal maintains the current holdings of the territories, which is a significant gain for Azerbaijanis, and deploys Russian peacekeepers against the border. Numerous Armenians have gathered at the Armenian capital to protest the peace deal. Regardless, there is hope that there will be peace in the foreseeable future.
Nagorno-Karabach
Nagorno-Karabakh or Artsakh is internationally perceived as a de facto independent territory under Azerbaijan, a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. It is mainly governed by the Republic of Artsakh (formerly known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) with an Armenian ethnic majority established by the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (Autonomous oblasts of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were administrative units created for a number of smaller nations, which were given autonomy within the fifteen republics of the USSR) of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and backed by the Armenian forces.
On 27 September, a “frozen conflict” revived as a consequence of Armenian shelling according to Azerbaijan, but Armenia diagreed, claiming it as a repercussion of an Azerbaijani military operation which injured hundreds of Armenian civilians and killed at least 400.
In the 1980s, Armenia began to issue open territorial claims regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh region, resulting in a military escalation in the region. These were raised not only by nationalist groups but also by the Armenian government authorities, such as the adoption of a settlement “on the unification of Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh” on December 1, 1989. Since 1905, Azerbaijanis have not been given autonomous status, unlike the Armenians living in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and have been expelled from present-day Armenia, leaving millions wounded, homeless, and dead. Until the signing of the agreement and ceasefire on May 12, 1994, 20% of the Azerbaijani territory was occupied by the Armenian armed forces.
After years of claims and terror attacks, open hostility commenced in 1988 when the region proposed to join Armenia. This tense situation intensified to war after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. This displaced roughly a million people and led to a loss of an estimated 30,000 lives. A ceasefire in 1994 ended the conflict, with Armenia capturing the Nagorno-Karabakh region along with considerable area outside the territory.
There have been more than 80 meetings between the two nations, organized either independently or through international organisations. Numerous resolutions from a variety of international organizations, including the European Union in 1933, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 1993, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk group (specifically created for this dispute), have called out Armenia, urging them to withdraw their troops and negotiate peacefully.
Due to the consistent reliance on aggression, many Azerbaijanis living in the region have become refugees, civilian casualties, taken on disabilities, gone missing, held as hostages, or taken as prisoners. Due to COVID-19 and the oil and petroleum industry’ s prominence in Azerbaijan, the oil prices have dropped sharply, taking on a toll on the economy, with the World Bank’s predicting a contraction of 4.2%.
Armenia has violated various moral and international legal boundaries by depicting clear intentions of annexing a legal territory of Azerbaijan, not recognizing proposed peace settlements, and ignoring documented resolutions by various international organizations. This has resulted in a bilateral history of violence, leading to antipathy and distrust between Armenians and Azerbaijanis with minimal progress towards a peaceful resolution.
The primary concerns of Azerbaijan are the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the return of Azerbaijani refugees - including the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the coexistence of Azerbaijani and Armenian communities. Azerbaijan has always been upfront in negotiating for peace, but this won’t stop them from using force when it comes to protecting their sovereignty and territorial integrity, as stated Prime Minister Ilham Aliyev.
On 27 September, a “frozen conflict” revived as a consequence of Armenian shelling according to Azerbaijan, but Armenia diagreed, claiming it as a repercussion of an Azerbaijani military operation which injured hundreds of Armenian civilians and killed at least 400.
In the 1980s, Armenia began to issue open territorial claims regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh region, resulting in a military escalation in the region. These were raised not only by nationalist groups but also by the Armenian government authorities, such as the adoption of a settlement “on the unification of Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh” on December 1, 1989. Since 1905, Azerbaijanis have not been given autonomous status, unlike the Armenians living in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and have been expelled from present-day Armenia, leaving millions wounded, homeless, and dead. Until the signing of the agreement and ceasefire on May 12, 1994, 20% of the Azerbaijani territory was occupied by the Armenian armed forces.
After years of claims and terror attacks, open hostility commenced in 1988 when the region proposed to join Armenia. This tense situation intensified to war after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. This displaced roughly a million people and led to a loss of an estimated 30,000 lives. A ceasefire in 1994 ended the conflict, with Armenia capturing the Nagorno-Karabakh region along with considerable area outside the territory.
There have been more than 80 meetings between the two nations, organized either independently or through international organisations. Numerous resolutions from a variety of international organizations, including the European Union in 1933, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 1993, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk group (specifically created for this dispute), have called out Armenia, urging them to withdraw their troops and negotiate peacefully.
Due to the consistent reliance on aggression, many Azerbaijanis living in the region have become refugees, civilian casualties, taken on disabilities, gone missing, held as hostages, or taken as prisoners. Due to COVID-19 and the oil and petroleum industry’ s prominence in Azerbaijan, the oil prices have dropped sharply, taking on a toll on the economy, with the World Bank’s predicting a contraction of 4.2%.
Armenia has violated various moral and international legal boundaries by depicting clear intentions of annexing a legal territory of Azerbaijan, not recognizing proposed peace settlements, and ignoring documented resolutions by various international organizations. This has resulted in a bilateral history of violence, leading to antipathy and distrust between Armenians and Azerbaijanis with minimal progress towards a peaceful resolution.
The primary concerns of Azerbaijan are the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the return of Azerbaijani refugees - including the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the coexistence of Azerbaijani and Armenian communities. Azerbaijan has always been upfront in negotiating for peace, but this won’t stop them from using force when it comes to protecting their sovereignty and territorial integrity, as stated Prime Minister Ilham Aliyev.
