Nagorno-Karabakh is the essence and history of the conflict. The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh: what is happening, who attacked whom, what does Turkey and Russia have to do with it

The Karabakh conflict between the Armenian and Azerbaijani populations of the autonomous republic of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan is the first large-scale ethnic clash on the territory of the Soviet Union.

It demonstrated the weakening of central power and became a harbinger of the upheavals that led to. The conflict is not over; it continues today, 25 years later.

Periods of calm alternate with local hostilities. The intensification of fighting from April 2 to 5, 2016 led to the death of more than 70 people on both sides. There is no solution that suits everyone and is not expected in the foreseeable future.

Neighbours

The conflict did not start suddenly. In the confrontation between the Ottoman and Russian empires, Russia traditionally supported the Armenians, and Turkey the Azerbaijanis. Geographically, Karabakh found itself between opponents - on the Azerbaijani side of the mountain range, but populated mainly by Armenians in the mountainous part, and the Azerbaijani population on the plain, centered in the city of Shushi.

Strange, but during the entire 19th century not a single open conflict was recorded. Only in the 20th century, with the weakening of the central government, contradictions began to move into a hot phase. During the revolution of 1905, the first interethnic clashes occurred, which lasted until 1907.

During Civil War in Russia in 1918–1920, the conflict again entered a hot phase, sometimes called the Armenian-Azerbaijani war. At the end of the Civil War, during the formation of the union republics, a decision was made to form the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region as part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The reasons for this decision are still unclear.

According to some reports, Stalin wanted to improve relations with Turkey in this way. Moreover, in the 1930s, during administrative changes, several regions of Nagorno-Karabakh bordering Armenia were transferred to Azerbaijan. Now the Autonomous Region did not have a common border with Armenia. The conflict has entered a smoldering phase.

In the 40s - 70s, the leadership of Azerbaijan pursued a policy of settling the NKAO with Azerbaijanis, which did not contribute to good relations between neighbors.

War

In 1987, Moscow's control over the union republics weakened and the frozen conflict began to flare up again. Numerous rallies took place on both sides. In 1988, Armenian pogroms swept across Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijanis left Armenia en masse. Azerbaijan blocked communications between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia; in response, Armenia declared a blockade of the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhichevan.

In the ensuing chaos, weapons began to flow from army garrisons and military warehouses to the participants in the confrontation. In 1990, the real war began. With the collapse of the USSR, the warring parties received full access to the weapons of the Soviet army in Transcaucasia. Armored vehicles, artillery and aviation appeared on the fronts. Russian military personnel in the region, abandoned by their command, often fought on both sides of the front, especially in aviation.

The turning point in the war occurred in May 1992, when the Lachin region of Azerbaijan, bordering Armenia, was captured by the Armenians. Now Nagorno-Karabakh was connected to Armenia by a transport corridor, through which military equipment and volunteers began to flow. In 1993 and the first half of 1994, the advantage of the Armenian formations became obvious.

Systematically expanding the Lachin corridor, the Armenians captured the regions of Azerbaijan lying between Karabakh and Armenia. The Azerbaijani population was expelled from them. Active operations ended in May 1994 with the signing of a ceasefire agreement. The Karabakh conflict was suspended, but did not end.

Results

• Up to 7 thousand dead in Karabakh (no exact figures)
• 11,557 Azerbaijani military deaths
• More than half a million refugees
• Armenians control 13.4% of the territory of Azerbaijan, which was not part of the NKAO before the war
• Over the past 24 years, several attempts have been made to bring the positions of the parties closer together, with the participation of Russia, the United States and Turkey. None of them were successful
• The common cultural traditions that have developed over centuries of living together have been completely destroyed. Both sides developed their own, diametrically opposed versions of history, theories and myths.

The most serious clashes have occurred in the zone of the Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation since 1994 - from the moment when the parties agreed on a truce, stopping the hot phase of the war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

On the night of April 2, the situation in the Karabakh conflict zone sharply worsened. “I ordered not to succumb to provocations, but the enemy has completely lost his belt,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev explained what was happening. The Armenian Ministry of Defense announced “offensive actions from the Azerbaijani side.”

Both sides announced significant losses in manpower and armored vehicles from the enemy and minimal losses on their part.

On April 5, the Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced that it had reached an agreement on a ceasefire in the conflict zone. However, Armenia and Azerbaijan have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce.

History of the conflict

On February 20, 1988, the Council of Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAO), predominantly populated by Armenians, addressed the leadership of the USSR, the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR with a request to transfer Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. The Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee refused, which led to mass protests in Yerevan and Stepanakert, as well as pogroms among both the Armenian and Azerbaijani populations.

In December 1989, the authorities of the Armenian SSR and NKAO signed a joint resolution on the inclusion of the region into Armenia, to which Azerbaijan responded with artillery shelling of the Karabakh border. In January 1990, the Supreme Council of the USSR declared a state of emergency in the conflict zone.

At the end of April - beginning of May 1991, Operation “Ring” was carried out in the NKAO by the forces of the Azerbaijani riot police and the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs troops. Over the course of three weeks, the Armenian population of 24 Karabakh villages was deported, and more than 100 people were killed. The forces of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Soviet army carried out actions to disarm participants in the clashes until August 1991, when the putsch began in Moscow, which led to the collapse of the USSR.

On September 2, 1991, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was proclaimed in Stepanakert. Official Baku recognized this act as illegal. During the outbreak of the war between Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and its supporting Armenia, the parties lost from 15 thousand to 25 thousand people killed, more than 25 thousand were injured, hundreds of thousands of civilians fled their places of residence. From April to November 1993, the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions demanding a ceasefire in the region.

On May 5, 1994, the three sides signed a truce agreement, as a result of which Azerbaijan effectively lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh. Official Baku still considers the region an occupied territory.

International legal status of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

According to the administrative-territorial division of Azerbaijan, the territory of the NKR is part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In March 2008, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution “The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan”, which was supported by 39 member states (the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the USA, Russia and France, voted against).

At the moment, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has not received recognition from the UN member states and is not its member; therefore, in the official documents of the UN member states and the organizations formed by them, some political categories are not used in relation to the NKR (president, prime minister -minister, elections, government, parliament, flag, coat of arms, capital).

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is recognized by the partially recognized states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldavian Republic.

Escalation of the conflict

In November 2014, relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan sharply deteriorated after Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijani military shot down an Armenian Mi-24 helicopter. Regular shelling resumed on the line of contact; for the first time since 1994, the sides accused each other of using large-caliber artillery weapons. During the year, deaths and injuries were repeatedly reported in the conflict zone.

On the night of April 2, 2016, large-scale hostilities resumed in the conflict zone. The Armenian Ministry of Defense announced “offensive actions” by Azerbaijan using tanks, artillery and aviation; Baku reported that the use of force was a response to shelling from mortars and heavy machine guns.

On April 3, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced a decision to unilaterally suspend military operations. However, both Yerevan and Stepanakert reported that the fighting continued.

Press Secretary of the Armenian Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan reported on April 4 that “fierce fighting along the entire length of the line of contact between Karabakh and Azerbaijani forces continues.”

For three days, the parties to the conflict reported large losses to the enemy (from 100 to 200 killed), but this information was immediately refuted by the opposing side. According to independent estimates by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 33 people were killed in the conflict zone and more than 200 were injured.

On April 5, the Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced that it had reached an agreement on a ceasefire in the conflict zone. Azerbaijan announced a stop to hostilities. Armenia announced the preparation of a bilateral ceasefire document.

How Russia armed Armenia and Azerbaijan

According to the UN Register of Conventional Arms, in 2013, Russia supplied heavy weapons to Armenia for the first time: 35 tanks, 110 armored combat vehicles, 50 launchers and 200 missiles for them. There were no deliveries in 2014.

In September 2015, Moscow and Yerevan agreed to provide a $200 million loan to Armenia for the purchase of Russian weapons in 2015–2017. This amount should be used to supply Smerch multiple launch rocket system launchers, Igla-S anti-aircraft missile systems, TOS-1A heavy flamethrower systems, RPG-26 grenade launchers, Dragunov sniper rifles, Tiger armored vehicles, ground complexes electronic intelligence "Avtobaza-M", engineering and communications equipment, as well as tank sights intended for the modernization of T-72 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles of the Armenian Armed Forces.

In the period 2010–2014, Azerbaijan concluded contracts with Moscow for the purchase of 2 divisions of S-300PMU-2 anti-aircraft missile systems, several batteries of Tor-2ME anti-aircraft missile systems, and about 100 combat and transport helicopters.

Agreements were also concluded for the purchase of at least 100 T-90S tanks and about 100 units of BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, 18 Msta-S self-propelled artillery mounts and the same number of TOS-1A heavy flamethrower systems, Smerch multiple launch rocket systems .

The total cost of the package was estimated at no less than $4 billion. Most of the contracts have already been completed. For example, in 2015, the Azerbaijani military received the last 6 of 40 Mi-17V1 helicopters and the last 25 of 100 T-90S tanks (under 2010 contracts), as well as 6 of 18 TOS-1A heavy flamethrower systems (under a 2011 agreement). In 2016, the Russian Federation will continue to supply BTR-82A armored personnel carriers and BMP-3 armored infantry vehicles (Azerbaijan received at least 30 of them in 2015).

Evgeny Kozichev, Elena Fedotova, Dmitry Shelkovnikov

The conflict between Azerbaijan on the one hand, and Armenia and NKR on the other, escalated on April 2, 2016: the parties accused each other of shelling border areas, after which positional battles began. According to the UN, at least 33 people were killed during the fighting.

Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenians prefer to use the ancient name Artsakh) is a small territory in Transcaucasia. Mountains cut by deep gorges, turning into valleys in the east, small fast rivers, forests below and steppes higher up the mountain slopes, a cool climate without sudden temperature changes. Since ancient times, this territory was inhabited by Armenians, was part of various Armenian states and principalities, and there are numerous monuments of Armenian history and culture on its territory.

At the same time, since the 18th century, a significant Turkic population has penetrated here (the term “Azerbaijanis” had not yet been accepted), the territory is part of the Karabakh Khanate, which was ruled by a Turkic dynasty, and the majority of the population were Muslim Turks.

In the first half of the 19th century, as a result of wars with Turkey, Persia and individual khanates, the entire Transcaucasus, including Nagorno-Karabakh, went to Russia. Somewhat later it was divided into provinces without taking into account ethnicity. Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, Nagorno-Karabakh was part of the Elizavetpol province, most of which was inhabited by Azerbaijanis.

By 1918, the Russian Empire collapsed as a result of well-known revolutionary events. Transcaucasia became the arena of bloody inter-ethnic struggle, which was restrained for the time being by the Russian authorities (It is worth noting that during the previous weakening of imperial power during the revolution of 1905-1907, Karabakh had already become an arena of clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.). The newly formed state of Azerbaijan laid claim to the entire territory of the former Elizavetpol province.

The Armenians, who formed the majority in Nagorno-Karabakh, wanted either to be independent or to join the Armenian Republic. The situation was accompanied by military clashes. Even when both states, Armenia and Azerbaijan, became Soviet republics, the territorial dispute between them continued. It was decided in favor of Azerbaijan, but with reservations: most of the territories with an Armenian population were allocated to the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAO) as part of the Azerbaijan SSR.

The reasons why the Union leadership made this decision are unclear. Assumptions include the influence of Turkey (in favor of Azerbaijan), the greater influence of the Azerbaijani “lobby” in the union leadership compared to the Armenian one, Moscow’s desire to maintain a hotbed of tension in order to act as the supreme arbiter, etc.

In Soviet times, the conflict quietly smoldered, breaking through either through petitions from the Armenian public for the transfer of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, or through measures of the Azerbaijani leadership to creepingly oust the Armenian population from the areas adjacent to the autonomous region. The abscess broke out as soon as the union power weakened during “perestroika.”

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh became significant for the Soviet Union. It clearly showed the growing helplessness of the central leadership. He demonstrated for the first time that the Union, which seemed indestructible in accordance with the words of its anthem, could be destroyed. In some ways, it was the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that became the catalyst for the collapse of the Soviet Union. Thus, its significance extends far beyond the region. It is difficult to say what path the history of the USSR, and therefore the whole world, would have taken if Moscow had found the strength to quickly resolve this dispute.

The conflict began in 1987 with mass rallies of the Armenian population under the slogans of reunification with Armenia. The Azerbaijani leadership, with the support of the Union, unequivocally rejects these demands. Attempts to resolve the situation boil down to holding meetings and issuing documents.

In the same year, the first Azerbaijani refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh appeared. In 1988, the first blood was shed - two Azerbaijanis died in a clash with Armenians and the police in the village of Askeran. Information about this incident leads to an Armenian pogrom in Azerbaijani Sumgait. This is the first case of mass ethnic violence in the Soviet Union in several decades and the first sound of the death bell for Soviet unity. Then the violence increases, the flow of refugees from both sides increases. The central government demonstrates helplessness, making real decisions is left to the republican authorities. The actions of the latter (deportations of the Armenian population and the economic blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan, the declaration of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the Armenian SSR by Armenia) are heating up the situation.

Since 1990, the conflict has escalated into a war with the use of artillery. Illegal ones are active armed forces. The leadership of the USSR is trying to use force (mainly against the Armenian side), but it is too late - the Soviet Union itself ceases to exist. Independent Azerbaijan declares Nagorno-Karabakh its part. NKAO proclaims independence within the borders of the autonomous region and the Shaumyan region of the Azerbaijan SSR.

The war lasted until 1994, accompanied by war crimes and great sacrifices civilians on both sides. Many cities were reduced to ruins. On the one hand, the armies of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia took part in it, on the other – the armies of Azerbaijan, with the support of Muslim volunteers from around the world (Afghan Mujahideen and Chechen militants are usually mentioned). The war ended after decisive victories of the Armenian side, which established control over most of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions of Azerbaijan. After this, the parties agreed to mediation by the CIS (primarily Russia). Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh has maintained a fragile peace, occasionally broken by cross-border firefights, but the problem is far from resolved.

Azerbaijan firmly insists on its territorial integrity, agreeing to discuss only the autonomy of the republic. The Armenian side equally firmly insists on the independence of Karabakh. The main obstacle to constructive negotiations is the mutual bitterness of the parties. By pitting nations against each other (or at least not preventing the incitement of hatred), the authorities have fallen into a trap - now they themselves are unable to take a step towards the other side without being accused of treason.

The depth of the gap between peoples is clearly visible in the coverage of the conflict by both sides. There is not even a hint of objectivity. The parties unanimously keep silent about pages of history that are unfavorable for themselves and immensely inflate the crimes of the enemy.

The Armenian side focuses on the historical belonging of the region to Armenia, on the illegality of the inclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh into the Azerbaijan SSR, and on the right of peoples to self-determination. The crimes of Azerbaijanis against the civilian population are depicted - such as pogroms in Sumgait, Baku, etc. At the same time, real events acquire clearly exaggerated features - such as the story of mass cannibalism in Sumgait. Azerbaijan's connection with international Islamic terrorism is rising. From the conflict, accusations shift to the structure of the Azerbaijani state in general.

The Azerbaijani side, in turn, emphasizes the long-standing ties between Karabakh and Azerbaijan (remembering the Turkic Karabakh Khanate) and the principle of the inviolability of borders. The crimes of Armenian militants are also remembered, while their own people are completely forgotten. The connection between Armenia and international Armenian terrorism is indicated. Unflattering conclusions are drawn about the world's Armenians as a whole.

In such a situation, it is extremely difficult for international mediators to act, especially considering the fact that the mediators themselves represent different world forces and act in different interests.

The parties declare their determination to defend principled positions - the integrity of Azerbaijan and the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, respectively. Perhaps this conflict will be resolved only when generations change and the intensity of hatred between peoples subsides.

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NAGORNO-KARABAKH

CONFLICT: BACKGROUND, DEVELOPMENT, CONSEQUENCES

A.G. Ibragimov

Baku State University, Baku, Azerbaijan

Annotation. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has gone down in history as one of the most tragic, it was reflected in the fate of millions of people. Both at the pre-war stage of the conflict and subsequently, the moral truth was on the Azerbaijani side, which defended the status quo, an administrative-territorial division that did not at all impede the comprehensive development of the Azerbaijani and Armenian nations. As a result of Armenian aggression in 1993-1994. Seven regions of Azerbaijan around Nagorno-Karabakh were also captured - Kelbajar, Lachin, Kubatly, Jabrail, Zangilan, Agdam and Fizuli. About 1 million people became refugees and internally displaced persons. In May 1994, the Bishkek Truce Protocol was signed. The escalation of the armed conflict resulted in the adoption by the UN Security Council of four resolutions on April 30, July 29, October 14 and November 12, 1993. These resolutions confirmed the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Keywords: Nagorno-Karabakh, conflict, Armenian aggression, occupation, refugees,

Analysis of primary sources and literature shows that the main goal of the territorial claims and aggression of the Armenian side against Azerbaijan from the very beginning was the desire to lay the foundation of the Armenian state at the expense of Azerbaijani lands, and then, expanding it in various ways, to create “Great Armenia”. Although during the years of Soviet power the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh was raised several times, the Armenians and their patrons at that time were unable to achieve their goals. Therefore they would be forced to

whether to wait for the arrival of a certain historical moment.

Karabakh is one of the most ancient historical regions of Azerbaijan. The name of Karabakh, considered an integral part of Azerbaijan, comes from the Azerbaijani words “gara” (black) and “bagh” (garden). The phrase “gara” and “bagh” has the same ancient history as the history of the Azerbaijani people. The attribution of this phrase throughout the world to the specific territory of Azerbaijan is an irrefutable truth. The word “Karabakh”, with which the Azerbaijani people called part of their native land, was mentioned in the original sources 1300 years ago (from the 7th century!)1. At first, “Karabakh” as a historical and geographical concept designated a specific space, but later it was referred to the vast geographical territory of Azerbaijan.

As you can see, being a political-geographical space, in history there has always been a concept not of “Nagorno-Karabakh”, but a concept that covers the entire territory of Karabakh as a whole - mountains, plains - general concept"Karabakh". In other words, the concept of “Nagorno-Karabakh” is a “product” of a later time and is a name given from the separatist intentions of one of the parts of Karabakh. Conventional logic confirms this: if there is Nagorno-Karabakh, then there is also a lowland one, i.e. low-lying, Karabakh! The truth is: today in Azerbaijan there is both Nagorno-Karabakh and Lowland Karabakh (i.e. lowland Karabakh!). Both plain (lowland) and mountainous Karabakh in all historical eras have been the homeland of only one people - the Azerbaijani, whose language contains the words “gara” and “bagh”.

Hundreds of the most ancient, rare examples of folklore and musical masterpieces of the Azerbaijani people were created in Karabakh and are associated with Karabakh.

According to the Treaty of Kurekchay, the Karabakh Khanate, as exclusively mu-

1 Karabakh: etymology, territory and borders//

http://azerbaijan.az/portal/Karabakh/History/history_r.

Sulman-Azerbaijani land was subordinated to Russia [Guseinov 2009: 246252]. Treaty of Kurekchay, reflecting historical reality, at the same time, is the most reliable document proving that Karabakh, including the mountainous part of this region, belongs to the Azerbaijani people.

According to the Treaty of Kurekchay in 1805, the Karabakh Khanate was actually annexed to Russia. During the liquidation of the Karabakh Khanate, his ethnic composition was reflected in the “Description”, compiled by order of the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the Caucasus A.P. Ermolov (1816-1827). According to the “Description” in the Karabakh province, out of 20,095 families, 15,729 were Azerbaijani (1,111 in the city, 14,618 in the village), 4,366 were Armenian, including Albanian (421 in the city, 3,945 in the village)1. By the way, the majority of these Armenians were Gregorianized and Armenianized Albanians. As a result of the massive resettlement of Armenians to Karabakh, new Armenian villages began to appear here. (Later, the Armenians erected monuments in Karabakh “in honor” of the resettlement, but in the 80s of the twentieth century, after laying claim to Azerbaijani lands, they were destroyed). According to official data, from 1828 to 1830, in just 2 years, 40 thousand were resettled from Iran to Northern Azerbaijan, including Karabakh, and from Ottoman Empire 90 thousand Armenians. With unofficial Armenian settlers, their number crossed 200 thousand.2

Thus, Tsarist Russia created good conditions for the mass resettlement of Armenians to Northern Azerbaijan, in particular to Karabakh, as well as for their administrative-political, socio-economic and cultural development. Soon the Armenian side began to wage an open struggle for the implementation of the idea of ​​“Great Armenia” on Azerbaijani lands. One of the main components of this idea was the destruction of the local population, i.e. Azerbaijanis in Karabakh, Iravan, Nakhchivan and other lands

1 Notes of A.P. Ermolova 1798-1826 M., 1991.

2 Caucasian calendar of the Russian Empire 1897, LXШ - Elizabeth province. St. Petersburg, 1904, p. 3

Azerbaijan, and the seizure of the lands on which they lived. Since 1890, after the failure of the Armenian revolts against Ottoman state, Northern Azerbaijan became the center of the struggle.

The Armenian side, starting in 1905, began the targeted mass extermination of the Azerbaijani people. The policy of Armenian genocide against Azerbaijanis in Karabakh took a more tragic form. However, even the massacres committed in 1905-1906. did not calm the Armenians. Using historical conditions, created by the First World War, they again set out to create a mythical state - “Great Armenia”.

In 1915, after the failure of new rebellions against the Ottoman state, the Armenian side, concentrating its main forces in the South Caucasus, continued the genocide against the Azerbaijanis. After the fall of tsarist power in Russia (1917, February), then the Bolsheviks coming to power (1917, October), in the anarchic situation created in Transcaucasia, the Armenian armed groups united with the Bolshevik Dashnaks and moved on to a new, more terrible stage of genocide against the Azerbaijanis.

New mass exterminations, which began in March 1918 in Baku and then spread throughout Azerbaijan, dealt a crushing blow to the Azerbaijani people. With the creation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, a new stage began in the history of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic has taken measures to stop the plans of armed bandit groups and the Dashnak-Bolshevik regime to destroy the Azerbaijani people in Northern Azerbaijan.

On May 28, 1918, the Azerbaijani people created an independent state in Northern Azerbaijan. In the Declaration of Independence, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic declared that it was the legal heir to the lands of Northern Azerbaijan occupied by Russia on the basis of the Gulistan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828) treaties [Azerbaijan Republic 1998: 273].

The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic has published a legally and politically sound geographical map its territory. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic sought to restore its legal authority over the entire historical territory of Karabakh, which is an integral part of Azerbaijan. At the same time, the newly declared Armenian (Ararat) Republic put forward its unfounded claims to Karabakh. The government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic rejected these claims.

To capture Karabakh, the Armenian side continued the previously begun genocide during the period of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The Azerbaijani government, taking into account the current situation, created the Karabakh province in January 1919, which included Shusha, Javanshir, Jebrail and Zangezur districts. At the end of 1919 and spring of 1920. Armed bandit groups of Armenian Dashnaks in the territory of Zangezur committed mass destruction of the civilian Azerbaijani population.

During the period of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, one of the most treacherous armed rebellions of Armenians in Shusha occurred on March 22, 1920, on the day the Azerbaijani people celebrated the Novruz holiday. This separatist rebellion was carried out by order of the Bolsheviks, who wanted to seize Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that they managed to suppress this Armenian separatist rebellion in many places, they still managed to capture the Askeran fortress. As a result of military-political events, the Azerbaijan People's Republic restored sovereign rights in Karabakh. However, the separatist rebellions of the Armenian side against the state in whose territory they lived, and the genocide they committed on the eve of the occupation in April 1920, damaged the protection of the northern borders of the country and accelerated the collapse of the independent Azerbaijani state.

According to its relief, Karabakh is divided into flat and mountainous parts. This reality has been confirmed in science. Thus, the son of the famous Caucasus expert M.A. Skibitskogo A.M. Skibitsky in the article “Caucasian Crisis” writes: “The mountainous part of the Karabakh Khanate at that time was called Nagorno-Karabakh. This included in the east - the Karabakh mountain range, in the west - the lands between the mountains of Zangezur, as well as the Karabakh plateau, separating Upper Karabakh from Lower Karabakh, the Arana” [Skibitsky 1991]. As it turns out, the territory of Karabakh, when it was part of Tsarist Russia, i.e. The lands of the former Karabakh Khanate underwent various administrative divisions and therefore the concept of “Karabakh” lost its former meaning. The term “Nagorno-Karabakh” was introduced into circulation at the same time by the Dashnaks.

Since that time, the concept of “Nagorno-Karabakh” began to acquire not only geographical, but also political interest. After the Bolsheviks seized power in Northern Azerbaijan, this concept begins to acquire administrative and political significance and turns into one of the main concepts in Azerbaijani-Armenian relations. At the same time, a change is taking place around Nagorno-Karabakh from a geographical point of view. As A.M. Skibitsky writes, “...The Karabakh plateau acquired autonomy in 1923 and was named the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug or, within the new borders of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh for short” [Skibitsky 1991].

Thus, an integral part of Azerbaijan, Karabakh was artificially divided into lowland (Aran) and mountainous parts, and the Azerbaijani leadership was forced to give autonomy status to the Armenians who settled in the mountainous part of Karabakh later. And this step was taken without taking into account the opinion of Azerbaijanis living in the same part of Karabakh, grossly violating their rights, and a corresponding referendum was not held.

The territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh region was not formulated on the basis

scientifically geographical principles reflecting real history, but was formulated on the basis of a voluntaristic approach that has its own special goals, that is, it was organized by uniting local territories densely populated by Armenians under the name of autonomous associations.

On the one hand, the preservation of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, as lands historically belonging to it, and on the other hand, the special care provided to the NKAO by Azerbaijan created exceptional opportunities for its socio-political and economic development during the period of Soviet power. However, in 1980, having set themselves the goal of separating Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan, Armenian ideologists and their patrons began to openly deny this. Even in the preamble of the resolution adopted on March 24, 1988, as a result of the efforts of the patrons of the Armenian separatists, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, speaking about the socio-economic development of NKAO, especially noted the results of development in the socio-economic sectors of the region.

The first clashes between the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides occurred in February 1988 after the leadership of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region attempted to withdraw it from Azerbaijan. Through the joint efforts of troops and local law enforcement agencies, the situation was brought under control, and the epicenter of the conflict temporarily shifted to the political plane.

The next ethnic clashes in the NKAO in the fall of 1988 led to a sharp escalation of the situation. At the end of November - beginning of December, Armenian armed forces carried out the first large-scale operation, deporting, with the support of local law enforcement agencies and the inaction of internal troops, about 200 thousand Azerbaijanis from areas of compact residence in Armenia to the territory of the neighboring republic. The consequence of the deportation was a general destabilization of the situation in Azerbaijan. Massive actions took place

protests of the population in Baku, Ganja, Nakhichevan and other cities.

On January 15, a state of emergency was introduced on the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug and adjacent regions of Azerbaijan, and additional troops were deployed. In an effort to restore control over Azerbaijan and prevent the transfer of power to the opposition, the military-political leadership of the USSR led by M. Gorbachev, once again ignoring the reasons, nature and specifics of the events, authorized a large-scale military operation. On the night of January 19/20, troops were brought into the city, undertaking an operation to unblock engineering barriers created on the approaches to Baku and within its boundaries. The deployment of troops was accompanied by deliberate lethal fire and significant casualties among the population.

From the end of August internal troops The USSR, by order of the command, practically stopped enforcing the state of emergency in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug. Taking advantage of this circumstance, the leadership of the separatist movement came out of hiding, legalized its activities and proclaimed on September 2, 1991 the creation of the “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” on the territory of the autonomy. All armed groups (local militia, party formations, detachments from Armenia) numbering up to 15 thousand militants were united into a single “NKR self-defense forces” (later renamed the “NKR Defense Army”) and subordinated to the Defense Committee.

Armenia took full advantage of the features of the new geopolitical situation in the interests of strengthening its positions. At the end of January 1992, Armenian formations began to capture the last Azerbaijani settlements of Karabakh, which were in complete isolation. During the first half of February, the Armenians, with the support of artillery and armored vehicles, captured the suburb of Stepanakert (Karkidjahan), settlements along the Shusha-Khojaly road and around Shusha. The city of Khojaly was completely blocked, air

communication with it was interrupted due to the intensive use by the Armenian side of man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems and anti-aircraft artillery against Azerbaijani transport helicopters. The city's small garrison consisted of a riot police company, a territorial battalion of local militia and a mortar battery. On the night of February 25/26, after an assault with the participation of units of the 366th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment, Khojaly and the nearby airport were captured by the Armenians. At the same time, the personnel of the Armenian formations, on the direct orders of the command, carried out massacres against the population of the city, who were retreating in an eastern direction to the Azerbaijani positions.

On the night of May 7/8, the operation to capture Shushi began, accompanied by the deployment of large forces supported by artillery, tanks, and infantry fighting vehicles. As a result of envelopment from three sides, the Azerbaijani garrison, left without support and having lost contact with the command, after several counterattacks, was forced to retreat on May 10 through the Lysogorsky pass to the town of Lachin, having previously destroyed the armored vehicles that were left without fuel and ammunition. Over the next seven days, the Armenian units continued the offensive. By May 18, with converging attacks from the areas of Goris (Armenia) and Shusha (Karabakh), they established control over the city of Lachin and the highway passing through it. Thus, the Armenian army managed to create a land corridor up to 20 km wide between Armenia and the territory of Karabakh.

At the turn of 1992-1993. The military-political situation around the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has undergone a significant change. It was based on general shifts in Russian politics, the growth of power trends, and the resuscitation of the traditional southern vector of Russian geopolitical expansion. By that time, the Armenian leaders, relying on the support of a number of groups in the Russian leadership, managed to form an unequivocal

the belief that Armenia is Russia's only ally and last foothold in the strategically important Caucasus region, which Moscow views as a zone of geopolitical rivalry and intensive penetration by neighboring states.

On March 27, large forces of the Armenian army, under the cover of a propaganda campaign regarding the ongoing Azerbaijani offensive, began to capture the Kelbajar region. By the evening of April 2, after fierce fighting, Armenian units occupied the regional center. The occupation of the Kelbajar region marked a qualitatively new period of escalation of the conflict - the beginning of the implementation by the military-political leadership of Armenia of plans for a phased occupation of part of the territory of Azerbaijan. After assessing the situation in Azerbaijan as a result of the events in Ganja, the Armenian command regrouped its forces and gave the order to begin the operation. On the morning of June 12, units of the Armenian expeditionary force launched a massive offensive in the direction of the regional centers of Agdam and Agdara. As a result, on the night of July 23/24, after 42 days of continuous hostilities, units of the Agdam brigade were forced to leave the city and retreat in the northern and eastern directions. On August 20, after stubborn fighting, Armenian units occupied the regional center of Jebrail. By August 25, the entire territory of the region was occupied. On August 22, units of the Azerbaijani army were forced to leave the city of Fizuli and the region of the same name. At the end of August, after a regrouping, the Armenian army launched a strike in converging directions from the territory of Armenia and Karabakh into the Gubadli region of Azerbaijan. On August 31, the regional center of Gubadly was taken; the northern part of the area was occupied by September 2.

In mid-October, the Armenian armed forces launched another offensive on the southern sector of the front. An Armenian armored column occupied Zangilan and adjacent settlements on November 1.

For eight months of 1993, Azerbaijan, which was in a state of perma-

nent internal political crisis, lost control over the territory of six districts with a total area of ​​14 thousand square meters as a result of the enemy’s offensive. km.

Starting from May 12, 1994, active hostilities on the front line ceased. However, despite the losses suffered, the presence of internal and economic problems, Azerbaijan retained sufficient political will and significant military-technical, industrial, demographic, and ideological potential to continue the fight.

The future of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not a direct continuation of the current situation. First of all, because the events of diplomatic history after the conclusion of the truce are assessed according to one moral criterion, formulated by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan I. Aliyev: “Diplomatic successes, of course, make us happy... But if our lands are still under occupation, then everything these results are not of fundamental importance. They will be important when the Azerbaijani lands are liberated from the occupying forces, and our compatriots return to their homes. Our compatriots must return to the occupied lands - the territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh and to Nagorno-Karabakh."

The damage that was caused to Azerbaijan during the Karabakh war cannot be assessed in numbers. Firstly, the Armenian aggressors brazenly seized 20% of the land of the sovereign Republic of Azerbaijan. As a result of this aggression, about 20 thousand people were killed, 50 thousand were wounded and left disabled, more than a million people lost their native land, became internally displaced, 5 thousand people went missing. In addition, as a result of the war and occupation of the territory, Azerbaijan suffered huge socio-economic losses.

damage. The total amount of direct and indirect losses amounted to about $56 billion.1 The region had powerful communication

1 Newspaper “Echo”, 06/09/2012.

lines with a length of 25 thousand km, roads - 3984 km, electrical lines - 14 thousand km, water supply - 2.3 thousand km, gas pipeline - 2 thousand km, sewer lines - 240 km, 2500 transformers, 34 thousand telephone rooms2. In addition, 4 airports remained in the occupied territory, Railway(Baku-Agdam-Khankendi and Baku-Nakhchivan-Yerevan).

As a result of the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by the Armenian side, 647.9 thousand hectares of fertile land were destroyed, including 199 thousand hectares of cultivated land, 62 thousand hectares of perennial crops, more than 50 thousand vineyards, 244 thousand heads of cattle and small ruminants etc. In addition, a large number of tractors, combines, cars, as well as 7296 hydraulic installations, 36 pumping stations, 26 water irrigation systems, etc.3 were left in the occupied territories. In the occupied territories, 690 schools, 250 kindergartens, 65 professional institutions, 2 higher educational institutions were destroyed. About 700 were destroyed in the occupied territories medical institutions(clinics, maternity hospitals, children's hospitals, ambulance stations, pharmacies, etc.). The damage caused to health care amounts to $1.2 billion. As a result of the occupation of the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Armenian armed forces destroyed and destroyed 1,421 cultural centers and clubs, 8 district, 32 city, 10 children's and 683 rural libraries, 6 cultural parks and recreation, 47 children's music schools, 3 theaters, 3 galleries, 464 historical monuments, about 40 thousand historical items and 4.6 million books4.

Of the 22 looted museums, the Armenian aggressors took away 40 thousand museum valuables and exhibits, including those of world significance worth 20.5 billion manats5. The invaders included among the looted and destroyed museums of Kelbajar-

Museum of History and Local Lore with unique historical exhibits, gold and silver items, rare and expensive stones, carpets and other handicrafts and crafts, the Museum of the History of the City of Shushi and the Bread Museum in the city of Agdam, as well as the Museum of Stone Monuments in the Zangelan District . In Agdam, Lachin, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jebrail and other regions, 20 modern buildings of cultural palaces were destroyed.

As a result of military aggression by the Republic of Armenia, thousands of Azerbaijani citizens were taken captive or hostage, and also went missing. Presenting themselves to the whole world as a long-suffering people, the Armenians committed crimes against humanity against the Azerbaijanis in the most cruel and merciless form. With the aim of searching for and releasing Azerbaijani citizens who were captured or missing, as well as coordinating the activities of government bodies in this direction, it was created on January 13, 1993 State Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the Affairs of Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Citizens and its Working Group. As a result of the measures taken, 1,335 Azerbaijani citizens, including 129 children, 312 women and 246 elderly people, have been released from captivity over the past period. 4869 people, including 55 children, 326 women, 409 elderly people are listed as missing1. In the course of work carried out with released citizens, as well as other irrefutable facts indicate that out of 4869 missing citizens, at least 783 people (from of them 18 children, 46 women, 69 old people) were taken captive or hostage by the Armenians2. Despite the fact that the Armenian side completely denies the fact that these people were captured, some from this list were visited in captivity by representatives of the International Committee

1 Captured, taken hostage and missing/ http: // azerbaijan. az/ portal/ Karabakh/Tragedy/humanitarianTragedy_03_r.html

Red Cross. And also International working group to search for missing persons, release prisoners and hostages, consisting of human rights activists from Germany, Russia and Georgia confirm the fact of the capture of some persons from this list. As a result of the latest ethnic cleansing policy carried out systematically by Armenia in 1988-1992, 250 thousand Azerbaijanis living on its territory and who found refuge in Azerbaijan were forcibly expelled to the last from their homes. Since 1988, a plan has been implemented for the forced expulsion of Azerbaijanis living in 126 populated areas Nagorno-Karabakh, which is an integral part of Azerbaijan. It was during this period that the most tragic event of the twentieth century occurred. - the Armenian armed forces, with the support of Soviet troops, in one night in Nagorno-Karabakh destroyed the city of Khojaly, in which 6 thousand Azerbaijanis lived, 613 civilians were brutally killed, 150 people went missing. In this bloody tragedy, 1,000 civilians were injured to varying degrees, and 1,275 people - old people, women and children - were taken prisoner and subjected to cruel insults, torture, and humiliation.

As a result of the military aggression of the Armenian armed forces since 1988, more than 600 thousand people from the surrounding areas of Nagorno-Karabakh were forcibly expelled from their permanent places of residence and temporarily settled in more than 1,600 residential facilities in 62 cities and regions of the republic3.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST

1. Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Baku, 1998, p. 273.

2. Hasanov A. Modern international relationships And foreign policy Azerbaijan, Baku, 2007.

3 Refugees and internally displaced persons/ http://

azerbaijan.az/portal/Karabakh/Tragedy/humanitarian

Tragedy_02_r.html

3. Hasanov A., Abbasbeyli A. Azerbaijan in the system of international and regional organizations, Baku, 1999.

4. Guseinov S.S. Legal analysis of the Kurek-Chay Treaty of 1805 between Ibrahim Khan of Karabakh and the treaties of 1813 (Gulistan), 1828 (Turk-Menchay), concluded between Russian Empire and Persia // News of the Russian State Pedagogical University. A.I. Herzen, issue 117, 2009, pp. 246-252.

5. Jangir Arasly. Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Military aspect. Baku: Ergun Publishing House, 1995.

6. Skibitsky A. Karabakh crisis, Soyuz, 1991, No. 7.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT: PREHISTORY, DEVELOPMENT, CONSEQUENCES

Abstract.The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered the history of the twentieth century as one of the most tragic, reflected in the destinies of millions of people. As in the pre-war stage of the conflict, and subsequently, the moral truth was on the Azerbaijani side, which defended the status quo, the administrative-territorial division, which did not impede the comprehensive development of the Azerbaijani and Armenian nations.As a result of the aggression of Armenia in 1993-1994, seven districts were captured: Kelbadjar, Lachin, Kubatly, Jabrail, Zangilan, Agdam and Fizuli. About 1 million people became refugees and internally displaced persons. In May 1994, the Bishkek Protocol on Armistice was signed. The escalation of the armed conflict in 1993 resulted in the adoption by the UN Security Council of four resolutions in 1993: April 30, July 29, October 14 and November 12, 1993. These resolutions con-

firmed the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan and adopted the formulation “Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan”.

Keywords:NagornoKarabakh, conflict, Armenian aggression, occupation, refugees.

1. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Baku, 1998, p. 273.

2. Hasanov A. Modern international relations and foreign policy of Azerbaijan, Baku, 2007.

3. Hasanov A., Abbasbeyli A. Azerbaijan in the system of international and regional organizations, Baku, 1999.

4. Huseynov SS Legal analysis of the Ku-Rechchay treaty of 1805 between Ibrahim Khan of Karabakh and the agreements of 1813 (Gulistan), 1828 (Turkmenchay), concluded between the Russian Empire and Persia // Proceedings of the Russian State Pedagogical University. A.I. Herzen, issue 117, 2009, p.246-252.

5. Jhangir Arasly. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Military aspect. Baku: Publishing House "Ergun", 1995.

6. Skibitsky A. The Karabakh crisis, the Union, 1991, No. 7.

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

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 maintained a semi-independent status.

According to Azerbaijani sources, Karabakh is one of the most ancient historical regions of Azerbaijan. By 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) in the 16th century. was part of the Safavid state, and later became the independent Karabakh Khanate.

According to the Kurekchay Treaty of 1805, the Karabakh Khanate, as a Muslim-Azerbaijani land, was subordinated to Russia. IN 1813 According to 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 in Northern Azerbaijan, including Karabakh, began.

On May 28, 1918, the independent state of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was created in Northern Azerbaijan, retaining 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 ADR government. In January 1919, the ADR government created the Karabakh province, which included Shusha, Javanshir, Jebrail and Zangezur districts.

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

February 20, 1988 An extraordinary session of the regional Council of Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug adopted a decision “On a petition to the Supreme Councils of the AzSSR and the Armenian SSR for the transfer of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug from the AzSSR to the Armenian SSR.” The refusal of the Union and Azerbaijani authorities caused protest demonstrations 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 district councils was held in Stepanakert. At the session, a Declaration was adopted 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 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 during the Soviet years. Following this, an armed conflict began, during which Azerbaijan tried to hold Karabakh, and Armenian troops defended the independence of the region with the support of Yerevan and the Armenian diaspora from other countries.

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 subdistrict, as well as Nakhichevan.

In the description of the conflict, the parties provide their own figures for losses, which differ from the data opposite side. According to consolidated data, the losses of both sides during the Karabakh conflict amounted to 15 to 25 thousand people killed, more than 25 thousand wounded, hundreds of thousands of civilians fled their places of residence.

May 5, 1994 With the mediation of Russia, Kyrgyzstan and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia signed a protocol that went down in the history of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict as the Bishkek Protocol, on the basis of which a ceasefire agreement 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 parties’ commitment 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 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group to resolve the Karabakh conflict was established, 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. Around the same time, a closed meeting between the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and the then Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Robert Kocharyan took place in Moscow. 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.