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Political status of Nagorno-Karabakh

Soviet-era borders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Nagorno Karabakh
Aftermath of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war
  Areas captured by Azerbaijan during the war, to stay under its control.
  Agdam District: to be evacuated by Armenia by 20 November.
  Kalbajar District: to be evacuated by Armenia by 25 November.
  Lachin District: to be evacuated by Armenia by 1 December.
  Part of Nagorno-Karabakh remaining under the control of Artsakh
  Lachin corridor, with Russian peacekeepers.
  The two access roads to Nagorno-Karabakh.
  All economic and transport connections in the region to be unblocked, including transport connections between Nakhchivan and rest of Azerbaijan (arrow's hypothetical location chosen by a Wikipedia user, and not defined by the statement itself)
  Line of Contact before the 2020 conflict.
  Other zones claimed by Artsakh.

The political status of Nagorno-Karabakh remained unresolved from its declaration of independence on 10 December 1991[1][2] to its September 2023 collapse. During Soviet times, it had been an ethnic Armenian autonomous oblast of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a conflict arose between local Armenians who sought to have Nagorno-Karabakh join Armenia and local Azerbaijanis who opposed this.

The conflict soon escalated into ethnic cleansing and open warfare in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, as a result of which the region came under the control of an Armenia-allied de facto state, the Republic of Artsakh. The surrounding regions of Azerbaijan were occupied by the self-declared republic under the justification of a "security belt," which was intended to be exchanged for recognition of autonomous status from Azerbaijan.[3][4]

Negotiations took place sporadically over the following decades, during which a ceasefire generally prevailed between Armenia/Artsakh and Azerbaijan (albeit without peacekeeping forces). Turkey and Azerbaijan closed their borders to Armenia and took other diplomatic steps to isolate it. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council, OSCE Minsk Group, and other bodies made various statements and proposed dialogue initiatives, none of which were successful.

In the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijani forces, backed by Turkey, took control of the southern half of the region, including Shusha and Hadrut. Armenia was forced to concede additional territories to preserve Stepanakert and the northern half of the Republic of Artsakh under local Armenian control, protected by Russian peacekeepers. The political status of this reduced region was not specified in the ceasefire agreement. In the wake of a tightened blockade by Azerbaijan, in which the Lachin Corridor was closed, and subsequent Azerbaijani offensive on 19 September 2023, the Artsakh government surrendered and voted to disband itself, effective 1 January 2024,[5] although it later annulled this decree in exile for being unconstitutional.[6][7] But Armenia's prime-minister recognized Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Karabakh, and rejected the functioning of Nagorno-Karabakh government in exile in Armenia.[8]

Virtually all of the Karabakhi Armenian population fled to Armenia via the newly-reopened Lachin Corridor. Despite being offered Azerbaijani citizenship, Karabakh's Armenian residents did not trust Azerbaijan's guarantees of security due to the country's history of human rights abuses, Armenophobia, and lack of rights to ethnic minorities.[9][10][11]

The Republic of Artsakh was never recognized by any UN member state, including Armenia. For 30 years, international mediators and human rights organizations referred to the right of self-determination for the Armenian population.[12][13] Following the second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, Azerbaijan refused any special status or autonomy to its ethnically Armenian residents.[14][15]

  1. ^ "Nagorno-Karabakh: The Volatile Core of the South Caucasus". 2023-03-04. Archived from the original on 2023-05-25. Retrieved 2023-06-09. The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh is one of four frozen conflicts that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Legally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan, it declared independence in 1991 and then defended that independence in a war with Azerbaijan that lasted until 1994. While it enjoys no international recognition of sovereignty, Nagorno-Karabakh has been de facto independent since its declaration and has been supported militarily and economically by neighboring Armenia.
  2. ^ "Conflicts in Transcaucasia". assembly.coe.int. Archived from the original on 2021-05-11. Retrieved 2023-06-09. At the end of 1991 the parties were in stark confrontation after Azerbaijan abolished Nagorno-Karabakh's autonomous status and the latter declared independence after the plebiscite-referendum of 10 December 1991.
  3. ^ Episkopos, Mark (2020-12-20). "Nagorno-Karabakh and the Fresh Scars of War". The National Interest. Archived from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2023-06-09. The goal has long been to trade these territories, sometimes called the "security belt," in exchange for a robust autonomous status for Nagorno-Karabakh on the best possible terms.
  4. ^ Kucera, Joshua (2020-11-09). "In Nagorno-Karabakh, the Cycle of Ethnic Cleansing Continues". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 2023-06-03. Retrieved 2023-06-09. Armenians originally envisaged the seizure of these territories as a temporary measure: a security belt and a bargaining chip to return to Azerbaijan in exchange for concessions in return, such as the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh itself as Armenian.
  5. ^ "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will cease to exist from Jan 1 2024 - Nagorno-Karabakh authorities". Reuters. 2023-09-28. Archived from the original on 2023-09-28. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  6. ^ "Artsakh Leader Annuls Earlier Decree to Dissolve Government". Hetq.am. 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  7. ^ AFP, Agence France Presse. "Karabakh Dissolution Not Valid, Says Separatist Leader". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  8. ^ Stepanian, Ruzanna (28 March 2024). "Pashinian Slams, Warns Karabakh Leaders". «Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Nagorno-Karabakh blockade: Azerbaijani journalist speaks out". openDemocracy. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  10. ^ "Kennan Cable No. 81: What's at Stake in Nagorno-Karabakh: U.S. Interests and the Risk of Ethnic Cleansing | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2023-04-04. The history of violence against Armenians in Azerbaijan, including the recent execution of Armenian prisoners of war and the sexual mutilation of female soldiers, give Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh little confidence in their safety...According to Freedom House, Azerbaijan's government "has worked to stifle public expressions of Talysh and Lezgin identity, among other targeted groups."
  11. ^ Vock, Ido (2023-06-08). "Fear and loathing in Armenia". New Statesman. Retrieved 2023-06-09. Azerbaijan says the territory's inhabitants can live as Azerbaijani citizens under its sovereignty, but Armenians treat these claims with derision. 'Azerbaijani dissidents say even Azerbaijanis do not enjoy their constitutional rights,' Tigran Grigoryan, head of the Regional Centre for Democracy and Security, an Armenian think tank, told me. 'So how can Armenians expect to?'
  12. ^ "Kennan Cable No. 81: What's at Stake in Nagorno-Karabakh: U.S. Interests and the Risk of Ethnic Cleansing | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Archived from the original on 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2023-04-04. For nearly 30 years, they built a self-proclaimed independent republic with democratic elections, a free press, and a range of public institutions. Officially, it remained within the territorial boundaries of Azerbaijan, unrecognized by any foreign country, though international mediators made reference to the right of self-determination for local Armenians as part of ongoing peace talks.
  13. ^ "A Peace to End All Peace? Statement on the International Actors Sponsoring So-Called Peace Negotiations Between Armenia and Azerbaijan". Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention. 2023-05-23. Archived from the original on 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2023-06-09. The Lemkin Institute believes that, given the circumstances, the self-determination of the people of Artsakh is a form of genocide prevention in addition to a right recognized by the Charter of the United Nations and several human rights treaties and declarations, which has become part of international jus cogens. Self-determination is further a recognized right of all peoples under oppressive colonial regimes.
  14. ^ Isayev, Heydar (April 20, 2022). "Azerbaijan quiet as Karabakh negotiations progress". eurasianet.org. Archived from the original on 2023-01-02. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  15. ^ Vock, Ido (2023-06-08). "Fear and loathing in Armenia". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 2023-06-08. Retrieved 2023-06-09. President Aliyev told Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to 'obey the laws of Azerbaijan [and] be a loyal and normal citizen of Azerbaijan'. He threatened that if the territory's separatist institutions were not dissolved, Azerbaijan would dissolve them by force and rejected the prospect of international protections for ethnic Armenians.

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