Line of Contact (Nagorno-Karabakh)

The Line of Contact (Armenian: շփման գիծ, shp’man gits, Azerbaijani: təmas xətti) was the front line which separated Armenian forces (the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army and the Armenian Armed Forces) and the Azerbaijan Armed Forces from the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994 until the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement.

It was formed in the aftermath of the May 1994 ceasefire that ended the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–94).^[1] During its existence, the mountain range of Murovdag (Mrav) was the northern part of the line of contact and essentially served as a natural border between the two forces.^[2][3] The length of the line of contact was between 180 kilometres (110 mi)^[4] and 200 kilometres (120 mi) until 2020.^[5]

For the first time since the 1994 ceasefire, the front line slightly shifted during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,^[6] when Azerbaijan recaptured some hectares of territory.^[7] The Line of Contact effectively dissolved during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, after Azerbaijan made significant military gains against the internationally unrecognised Republic of Artsakh including capturing parts of the original Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. Armenian forces later withdrew from almost the entirety of Karabkh territories that it remained in control of as part of the 2020 ceasefire agreement, officially ending the existence of the Line of Contact.^[8] A new line of contact exists between the remaining Artsakhi zone in the former Autonomous Oblast controlled by Russian Armed Forces peacekeepers and the recaptured Azerbaijani territories.