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{{Short description|Geopolitical region in Azerbaijan}}{{About|the geopolitical region|the former state located within the region|Republic of Artsakh}}{{pp|small=yes}}{{pp-move}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}

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)}}|common_name = Nagorno-Karabakh|image_map = Location Nagorno-Karabakh2.png|map_caption = Location and extent of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (lighter color)|area_km2 = 4,400|area_sq_mi = 1,700|percent_water = negligiblePUBLISHER=NKR ACCESS-DATE=20 FEBRUARY 2014 ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20191023134823/HTTP://GOV.NKR.AM/EN/REGIONS/, live, PUBLISHER=PRESIDENT.NKR.AM ACCESS-DATE=6 MAY 2012 ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20110122035106/HTTP://WWW.PRESIDENT.NKR.AM/EN/NKR/STATEPOWER/, live, |population_estimate_year = 2013|population_census_year = 2010|population_density_km2 = 29|population_density_sq_mi = 43|utc_offset = +43955467region:AZ|display=inline,title}}}}Nagorno-Karabakh ({{IPAc-en|n|ə|ˌ|ɡ|ɔːr|n|oʊ|_|k|ər|ə|ˈ|b|ɑː|k|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-Nagorno-Karabakh.wav}} {{respell|nə|GOR|noh|_|kər|ə|BAHK}})WEB, Nagorno-Karabakh,weblink Dictionary.com,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20230902032428weblink">weblink 2 September 2023, live, is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik. Its terrain mostly consists of mountains and forestland.Most of Nagorno-Karabakh was governed by ethnic Armenians under the breakaway Republic of Artsakh—also known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR)—from the end of the first Nagorno-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1994 to the announcement of the dissolution of the republic in September 2023. Representatives from the two sides held numerous inconclusive peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group regarding the region's disputed status, with its majority-Armenian population over time variously advocating either for Artsakh's independence from both states or for its integration into Armenia.WEB, 2020-09-29, Tensions mount as Armenia and Azerbaijan continue fighting,weblink live,weblink 2020-10-17, Dawn.com, Associated Press, The region is usually equated with the administrative borders of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, comprising {{convert|4,400|km2}}; however, the region's historical extent encompasses approximately {{convert|8,223|km2}}.Robert H. Hewsen. "The Meliks of Eastern Armenia: A Preliminary Study". Revue des etudes Arméniennes. NS: IX, 1972, pp. 288.BOOK, Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas, The University of Chicago Press, 264, 2001, 978-0-226-33228-4, On 27 September 2020, the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War broke out with an Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories.WEB,weblink Fighting erupts between Armenia, Azerbaijan over disputed region, Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera, 27 September 2020, 27 September 2020, 27 September 2020,weblink live, Azerbaijan made significant gains during the war, regaining all of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and capturing one-third of Nagorno-Karabakh, including Shusha and Hadrut.WEB, 2023-07-19, Armenia and Azerbaijan: A blockade that never ended and a peace deal hanging by a thread,weblink 2023-07-24, Global Voices, en, 27 July 2023,weblink live, WEB, Violence and Politics in Armenia-Azerbaijan Relations,weblink 2023-06-27, Baku Research Institute, 14 October 2022, en-US, As a result of the 2020 war, however, Azerbaijan received all territories around Soviet-era Nagorno Karabakh that were occupied by Armenian forces during the first Karabakh war, plus the two regions of Nagorno Karabakh proper: Shushi/Shusha and Hadrut., 8 June 2023,weblink live, JOURNAL, Cheterian, Vicken, 2022-10-20, Technological determinism or strategic advantage? Comparing the two Karabakh Wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Journal of Strategic Studies, en, 1–24, 10.1080/01402390.2022.2127093, 0140-2390, 253061240, The Armenian side also lost territories within the former NKAO, namely the district of Hadrut and the strategic town of Shusha/Shushi, areas that were not even considered for handover to Azerbaijan during the long years of diplomatic negotiations between the two wars., free, NEWS, Lynch, Ian J., 2020-11-18, A cold winter for peace in Nagorno-Karabakh?, en, Ahval,weblink 2023-06-27, The new agreement allows Azerbaijan to keep the territory it took by force, including Shusha and Hadrut, within the historic boundaries of Nagorno-Karabakh. It also requires Armenian forces to turn over other territories they have occupied for the last 26 years, including the so-called Lachin corridor, which is Nagorno-Karabakh’s primary link to Armenia proper., 2 December 2020,weblink live, The war ended on 10 November 2020 when a trilateral ceasefire agreement was signed between Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia, under which all the remaining occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh were formally returned to Azerbaijani control. The Republic of Artsakh became an isolated rump state connected with Armenia only by a narrow Russian-controlled corridor.On 19 September 2023, after a blockade lasting several months, Azerbaijan launched a fresh large-scale military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.NEWS, Azerbaijan Launches Offensive in Breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh, Children Among Casualties, Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty,weblink 19 September 2023, 19 September 2023,weblink live, NEWS, 19 September 2023, Azerbaijani forces strike Armenian-controlled Karabakh, raising risk of new Caucasus war, Reuters,weblink 19 September 2023, 19 September 2023,weblink live, WEB, 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan launches attack in Nagorno-Karabakh, announces 'evacuation' of Armenian population,weblink 19 September 2023, 19 September 2023,weblink live, WEB, 2023-09-19, Live updates {{!, Stepanakert under fire as Azerbaijan launches assault on Nagorno-Karabakh |url=https://oc-media.org/live-updates-stepanakert-under-fire-as-war-breaks-out-in-nagorno-karabakh/ |access-date=2023-09-19 |website=OC Media |language=en-US |archive-date=19 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919111339weblink |url-status=live }}WEB, 2023-09-19, Azerbaijan says it has begun 'anti-terrorist' operations in Nagorno-Karabakh,weblink 2023-09-19, France 24, en, 19 September 2023,weblink live, The Artsakh forces collapsed rapidly, resulting in an Azerbaijani victory, the dissolution of the Republic of Artsakh,WEB,weblink MSN, MSN, the exodus of almost the entire Armenian population from the regionNEWS, 2023-09-23, Nagorno-Karabakh talks: separatists lay down arms amid fears of refugee crisis, en-GB, The Guardian,weblink 2023-09-24, 0261-3077, and the entry of Azerbaijani security forces into the former Artsakh capital of Stepanakert, known as Khankendi by Azerbaijan.NEWS, 2023-09-29, AZ, Publika.AZ,weblink Azərbaycan polisi Xankəndidə - VİDEO, 2023-09-30, On 1 January 2024, the Republic of Artsakh was formally dissolved.NEWS, Sauer, Pjotr, 2023-09-28, Nagorno-Karabakh's breakaway government says it will dissolve itself, The Guardian,weblink 2024-01-01, 0261-3077,

Etymology

File:Kaukasus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|June 2001 NASA photograph of the snow-covered Lesser Caucasus in the south of the Greater Caucasus. Around the year 1800, the Karabakh KhanateKarabakh Khanate{{For|the etymology of Karabakh|Karabakh#Etymology}}The prefix Nagorno- derives from the Russian attributive adjective ({{wikt-lang|ru|нагорный}}), which means "highland". The Azerbaijani names of the region include the similar adjectives (mountainous) or (upper). Such words are not used in the Armenian name, but appeared in the region's official name during the Soviet era as Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. Other languages apply their own wording for mountainous, upper, or highland; for example, the official name used for the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in French is , meaning "Upper Karabakh".The names for the region in the various local languages all translate to "mountainous Karabakh", or "mountainous black garden":

• , {{small|transliterated}} {{transliteration|hy|Leá¹™nayin Ä arabaÄ¡}}, {{IPA-hy|lÉ›rnɑˈjin ʁɑɾɑˈbɑʁ|pron}} {{Audio|Nagorno-Karabakh AM.ogg|listen}}
• , , {{lit.|mountainous Karabakh}}, {{IPA-az|dɑɣˈlɯɣ ɡɑˈɾɑbÉ‘É£|pron}} {{Audio|Az-NagornoKarabakh.ogg|listen}}{{br}}or , , {{lit.|upper Karabakh}}, {{IPA-az|juxɑˈɾɯ ɡɑˈɾɑbÉ‘É£|pron}} {{Audio|Az-YukhariKarabakh.ogg|listen}}
• , {{small|transliterated}} {{transliteration|ru|Nagorny Karabakh}}, {{IPA-ru|nɐˈɡornɨj kÉ™rɐˈbax|pron}}

Armenians living in the area often call Nagorno-Karabakh Artsakh (), the name of the 10th province of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia. Urartian inscriptions (9th–7th centuries BC) use the name for the region. Ancient Greek sources called the area .Strabo (ed. H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A.) . Geography {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923061928weblink |date=23 September 2023 }}. The Perseus Digital Library. 11.14.4. Retrieved 21 November 2007.

History

Antiquity and Early Middle Ages

File:Amaras-vank.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The Amaras Monastery, founded in the 4th century by St Gregory the Illuminator. In the 5th century, Mesrop Mashtots, inventor of the Armenian alphabetArmenian alphabetFile:Gandzasar Monastery1.jpg|thumb|200px|The monastery at Gandzasar was commissioned by the House of Khachen and completed in 1238]]Nagorno-Karabakh falls within the lands occupied by peoples known to modern archaeologists as the Kura-Araxes culture who lived between the two rivers Kura and Araxes.JOURNAL, Edens, Christoper, Aug–Nov 1995, Transcaucasia at the End of the Early Bronze Age, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, The American Schools of Oriental Research, 299/300, The Archaeology of Empire in Ancient Anatolia, 53, pp. 53–64 [56], 10.2307/1357345, 1357345, 163585471, The ancient population of the region consisted of various autochthonous local and migrant tribes who were mostly non-Indo-Europeans.BOOK, Robert H., Hewsen, Ethno-History and the Armenian Influence upon the Caucasian Albanians, Samuelian, Thomas J., Classical Armenian Culture. Influences and Creativity, Chicago, Scholars Press, 1982, 27–40, 0-89130-565-3, According to the prevailing western theory, these natives intermarried with Armenians who came to the region after its inclusion into Armenia in the 2nd (or possibly earlier, the 4th) century BC.Hewsen, Robert H. Armenia: a Historical Atlas. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2001, p. 32–33, map 19 (shows the territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the Orontids' Kingdom of Armenia) Other scholars suggest that the Armenians settled in the region as early as the 7th century BC.WEB,weblink Armenia and Iran, R. Schmitt, M. L. Chaumont, Encyclopædia Iranica, 20 February 2012, 21 January 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120121173617weblink">weblink live, Around 180 BC, Artsakh became one of the 15 provinces of the Armenian Kingdom and remained so until the 4th century.Hewsen, Robert H. "The Kingdom of Artsakh", in T. Samuelian & M. Stone, eds. Medieval Armenian Culture. Chico, CA, 1983. While formally having the status of a province (nahang), Artsakh possibly formed a principality on its own â€” like Armenia's province of Syunik. Other theories suggest that Artsakh was a royal land, belonging directly to the king of Armenia.Hewsen. Armenia, pp. 100–103. King Tigran the Great of Armenia (who ruled from 95 to 55 BC) founded in Artsakh one of four cities named "Tigranakert" after himself.WEB,weblink ИСТОРИЯ ИМПЕРАТОРА ИРАКЛА. Сочинене епископа Себеоса, писателя VII века. Пер. с армянского К.Патканяна., vehi.net, 25 December 2008, 30 March 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190330014746weblink">weblink live, The ruins of the ancient Tigranakert, located {{convert|30|mi|-1|abbr=on|order=flip}} north-east of Stepanakert, are being studied by a group of international scholars.In 387 AD, after the partition of Armenia between the Roman Empire and Sassanid Persia, two Armenian provinces — Artsakh and Utik — became part of the Sassanid satrapy of Caucasian Albania, which in turn came under strong Armenian religious and cultural influence.WEB, Azerbaijan, Evgeny Dmitrievich Silaev, 13 June 2023,weblink Encyclopædia Britannica, 15 January 2021, 18 November 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081118105319weblink">weblink live, BOOK, Walker, Christopher J., Armenia and Karabagh: The Struggle for Unity, Minority Rights Group Publications, 10, 1991,weblink At the time the population of Artsakh and Utik consisted of Armenians and several Armenized tribes.Armenian culture and civilization flourished in the early medieval Nagorno-Karabakh. In the 5th century, the first-ever Armenian school was opened on the territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh at Amaras Monastery through the efforts of St. Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet.Viviano, Frank. "The Rebirth of Armenia", National Geographic Magazine, March 2004, p. 18, St. Mesrop was very active in preaching the Gospel in Artsakh and Utik. Overall, Mesrop Mashtots made three trips to Artsakh and Utik, ultimately reaching pagan territories at the foothills of the Greater Caucasus.Movses Kalankatuatsi. History of the Land of Aluank, Book I, chapters 27, 28 and 29; Book II, chapter 3. The 7th-century Armenian linguist and grammarian Stephanos Syunetsi stated in his work that Armenians of Artsakh had their own dialect, and encouraged his readers to learn it.Н.Адонц. «Дионисий Фракийский и армянские толкователи», Пг., 1915, 181—219

High Middle Ages

Around the mid 7th century, the region was conquered by the invading Muslim Arabs through the Muslim conquest of Persia. Subsequently, it was ruled by local governors endorsed by the Caliphate. According to some sources, in 821 the ArmenianThe Cambridge History of Iran {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923061953weblink |date=23 September 2023 }}. — Cambridge University Press, 1975. — vol. 4. — p. 506 "He was handed to Afshin's troops by Sahl b. Sunbadh, an Armenian prince in 222/836-7, and executed in Samarra (223/837) while his brother and assistant 'Abd-Allah was delivered to the prince of Tabaristan, Ibn Sharvin, who had him put to death in Baghdad." prince Sahl Smbatian revolted in Artsakh and established the House of Khachen, which ruled Artsakh as a principality until the early 19th century.Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, 2001, pp. 119, 155, 163, 264–65. According to other sources, Sahl Smbatian "was of the Zamirhakan family of kings," and in the year 837–838 he acquired sovereignty over Armenia, Georgia, and Albania.BOOK,weblink The History of the Caucasian Albanians By Movses Dasxuranci, Movses Dasxuranci translated by C. J. F. Dowsett, Oxford University Press, 1961, London, 217, BOOK, Тер-Григорян Т.И. Неизданные страницы "Истории Албанской страны"Моисея Каланкайтукского. Архив Ин-та истории АН Азерб. ССР, № 1386, л.18, The name "Khachen" originated from Armenian word "khach," which means "cross".Christopher Walker. The Armenian presence in Mountainous Karabakh, in John F. R. Wright et al.: Transcaucasian Boundaries (SOAS/GRC Geopolitics). 1995, p. 93 By 1000 the House of Khachen proclaimed the Kingdom of Artsakh with John Senecherib as its first ruler.Hewsen, Robert H. "The Kingdom of Artsakh", in T. Samuelian & M. Stone, eds. Medieval Armenian Culture. Chico, CA, 1983 Initially Dizak in southern Artsakh also formed a kingdom ruled by the ancient House of Aranshahik, descended from the earliest Kings of Caucasian Albania. In 1261, after the daughter of the last king of Dizak married the king of Artsakh, ArmenianArḡūn Āqā — Encyclopædia Iranica. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517001944weblink |date=17 May 2012 }} P. Jackson "It can only have caused resentment among the Muslims, and the Christian author Kirakos, in stark contrast with Jovaynī, has nothing favorable to say concerning Arḡūn’s exactions: his harsh treatment of certain Armenian princes, such as Jalāl of Ḵačen, whom he had executed in 659/1261, made him especially hateful." prince Hasan Jalal Dola, the two states merged into one ArmenianWEB,weblink Armenia {{!, Geography, Population, Map, Religion, & History |author= |date=13 June 2023 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |quote=A few native Armenian rulers survived for a time in the Kiurikian kingdom of Lori, the Siuniqian kingdom of Baghq or Kapan, and the principates of Khachen (Artzakh) and Sasun." |access-date=23 June 2022 |archive-date=28 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428164747weblink |url-status=live }} Principality of Khachen. Subsequently, Artsakh continued to exist as a de facto independent principality.

Late Middle Ages

File:Şuşa qalası (2).jpg|thumb|250px|The Shusha fortress, built by the Karabakh Khanate ruler Panah Ali KhanPanah Ali KhanFile:Five principalities of karabakh.png|thumb|250px|left|The semi-independent (Melikdoms of Karabakh|Five Principalities]] (Armenian: Խամսայի Մելիքություններ) of Karabakh (Gyulistan, Jraberd, Khachen, Varanda, and Dizak), widely considered to be the last relic of Armenian statehood (15th–19th century).Robert H. Hewsen. Russian–Armenian relations, 1700–1828. Society of Armenian Studies, N4, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984, p 37BOOK, George A. Bournoutian, A History of Qarabagh: An Annotated Translation of Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi's Tarikh-e Qarabagh, Mazda Publishers, 1994, 1-56859-011-3, )In the 15th century, the territory of Karabakh was part of the states ruled subsequently by the Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu Turkic tribal confederations. According to Abu Bakr Tihrani, during the period of Jahan Shah (1438–1468), the ruler of Kara Koyunlu, Piri bey Karamanli held the governorship of Karabakh.BOOK,weblink (original) کتاب دیاربکریه: از تواریخ‌ قراقوینلو و چغاتای. ویسنده: ابوبکر طهرانی. به تصحیح‌ و اهتمام‌: نجاتی‌ لوغال‌، فاروق‌ سومه‌. تهران‌ : کتابخانه طهوری‏‫،۱۳۵۶., Abū Bakr Ṭihrānī. Kitāb-i Diyārbakriyya, 138, However, according to Robert H. Hewsen, the Turkoman lord Jahan Shah (1437–67) assigned the governorship of upper Karabakh to local Armenian princes, allowing a native Armenian leadership to emerge consisting of five noble families led by princes who held the titles of meliks. These dynasties represented the branches of the earlier House of Khachen and were the descendants of the medieval kings of Artsakh. Their lands were often referred to as the Country of Khamsa (five in Arabic). In a Charter (2 June 1799) of the Emperor Paul I titled "About their admission to Russian suzerainty, land allocation, rights and privileges", it was noted that the Christian heritage of the Karabakh region and all their people were admitted to the Russian suzerainty.BOOK, Полное Собрание Законов Российской Империи c 1649 года. Том XXV. 1798–1799. СПб.: Печатано в Типографии II Отделения Собственной Его Императорского Величества Канцелярии, 1830, № 18.990, c.674–675. (Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire since 1649. Volume XXV. 1798–1799. SPb .: Printed at the Printing House of the II Branch of His Imperial Majesty's Own Office, 1830, No. 18.990, p.674-675), However, according to Robert Hewsen, the Russian Empire recognized the sovereign status of the five princes in their domains by the charter of Emperor Paul I dated 2 June 1799.Robert H. Hewsen. Russian–Armenian relations, 1700–1828. Society of Armenian Studies, N4, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984, p 37.The Armenian meliks were granted supreme command over neighbouring Armenian principalities and Muslim khans in the Caucasus by the Iranian king Nader Shah, in return for the meliks' victories over the invading Ottoman Turks in the 1720s.Walker, Christopher J. Armenia: Survival of a Nation. London: Routledge, 1990 p. 40 {{ISBN|0-415-04684-X}} These five principalitiesRaffi, The History of Karabagh's Meliks, Vienna, 1906, in ArmenianIn English, Raffi, The Five Melikdoms of Karabagh translated by Ara Stepan Melkonian, Garod Books Ltd. 2010, London. {{ISBN|9781903656570}} in Karabakh were ruled by Armenian families who had received the title Melik (prince) and were the following:

• Principality of Gulistan – under the leadership of the Melik-Beglarian family
• Principality of Jraberd – under the leadership of the Melik-Israelian family
• Principality of Khachen – under the leadership of the Hasan-Jalalian family
• Principality of Varanda – under the leadership of the Melik-Shahnazarian family
• Principality of Dizak – under the leadership of the Melik-Avanian family

From 1501 to 1736, during the existence of the Safavid Empire, the province of Karabakh was governed by the Ziyadoghlu Qajar dynasty, until Nader Shah took over Karabakh from their rule.BOOK, Павлова И.К. Хроника времен Сефевидов. Соч. Мухаммад-Масума Исфахани "Хуласат ас-сийар". М.:Наука, 1993, c.59–61., The Armenian meliks maintained full control over the region until the mid-18th century.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} In the early 18th century, Iran's Nader Shah took Karabakh out of control of the Ganja khans in punishment for their support of the Safavids, and placed it under his own control{{in lang|ru}} Abbas-gulu Aga Bakikhanov. Golestan-i Iram {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220125707weblink |date=20 February 2007 }}; according to an 18th-century local Turkic-Muslim writer Mirza Adigezal bey, Nadir shah placed Karabakh under his own control, while a 19th-century local Turkic Muslim writer Abbas-gulu Aga Bakikhanov states that the shah placed Karabakh under the control of the governor of Tabriz.WEB,weblink МИРЗА АДИГЕЗАЛЬ-БЕК->КАРАБАГ-НАМЕ->ГЛАВЫ 1–6, www.vostlit.info, 26 December 2006, 21 August 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100821124203weblink">weblink live, In the mid-18th century, as internal conflicts between the meliks led to their weakening, the Karabakh Khanate was formed. The Karabakh khanate, one of the largest khanates under Iranian suzerainty,BOOK, Bournoutian, George A., The 1820 Russian Survey of the Khanate of Shirvan: A Primary Source on the Demography and Economy of an Iranian Province prior to its Annexation by Russia, 2016, Gibb Memorial Trust, xvii, Serious historians and geographers agree that after the fall of the Safavids, and especially from the mid-eighteenth century, the territory of the South Caucasus was composed of the khanates of Ganja, Kuba, Shirvan, Baku, Talesh, Sheki, Karabagh, Nakhchivan and Yerevan, all of which were under Iranian suzerainty., 978-1909724808, was headed by Panah-Ali khan Javanshir. For the reinforcement of the power of Karabakh khanate, Khan of Karabakh, Panah-Ali khan Javanshir, built up “the fortress of Panahabad (today Shusha)” in 1751. During that time, Otuziki, Javanshir, Kebirli, and other Turkic tribes constituted the majority of the overall population.

Modern era

File:Шушинский Ханский Дворец Дочери Хана.jpg|thumb|Palace of the former ruler (khan) of ShushaShushaFile:Armenian boroughs of city of Shusha destroyed by Azerbaijani armed forces in 1920 with defiled cathedral of Holy Savior on background.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Aftermath of the Shusha massacre: Armenian half of Shusha destroyed by Azerbaijani armed forces in 1920, with the defiled Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Savior in the background.]]Karabakh (including modern-day Nagorno-Karabakh), became a protectorate of the Russian Empire by the Kurekchay Treaty, signed between Ibrahim Khalil Khan of Karabakh and general Pavel Tsitsianov on behalf of Tsar Alexander I in 1805, according to which the Russian monarch recognized Ibrahim Khalil Khan and his descendants as the sole hereditary rulers of the region.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20030613014623weblink">weblink dead, KM.RU – новости, экономика, автомобили, наука и техника, кино, музыка, спорт, игры, анекдоты, курсы валют | KM.RU, 13 June 2003, www.km.ru, Muriel Atkin. The Strange Death of Ibrahim Khalil Khan of Qarabagh. Iranian Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1/2 (Winter – Spring, 1979), pp. 79–107George A. Bournoutian. A History of Qarabagh: An Annotated Translation of Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi's Tarikh-e Qarabagh. Mazda Publishers, 1994. {{ISBN|1-56859-011-3}}, 978-1-568-59011-0 However, its new status was only confirmed following the outcome of the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813), when through the loss in the war, Persia formally ceded Karabakh to the Russian Empire per the Treaty of Gulistan (1813),Tim Potier. M1 Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia: A Legal Appraisal {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230909121408weblink |date=9 September 2023 }}. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2001, p. 2. {{ISBN|90-411-1477-7}}.Leonidas Themistocles Chrysanthopoulos. Caucasus Chronicles: Nation-building and Diplomacy in Armenia, 1993–1994 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230909121409weblink |date=9 September 2023 }}. Gomidas Institute, 2002, p. 8. {{ISBN|1-884630-05-7}}.The British and Foreign Review {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230909121408weblink |date=9 September 2023 }}. J. Ridgeway and sons, 1838, p. 422.Taru Bahl, M.H. Syed. Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Anmol Publications PVT, 2003 p. 34. {{ISBN|81-261-1419-3}}. before the rest of Transcaucasia was incorporated into the Empire in 1828 by the Treaty of Turkmenchay, which came as an outcome of the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828).In 1822, 9 years after it passed from Iranian to Russian control, the Karabakh Khanate was dissolved and the area became part of the Elizavetpol Governorate within the Russian Empire. In 1823 the five districts corresponding roughly to modern-day Nagorno-Karabakh were 90.8% Armenian-populated.Description of the Karabakh province prepared in 1823 according to the order of the governor in Georgia Yermolov by state advisor Mogilevsky and colonel Yermolov 2nd (), Tbilisi, 1866.Bournoutian, George A. A History of Qarabagh: An Annotated Translation of Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi's Tarikh-E Qarabagh. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 1994, page 18

Soviet era

(File:Nagorno Karabakh03.png|thumb|left|200px|Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in the Soviet era.)(File:Nagorno Karabakh Ethnic Map 1989.png|thumb|Ethnic make-up of Nagorno-Karabakh in the late Soviet era.)After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Karabakh became part of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, but this soon dissolved into separate Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian states. Over the next two years (1918–1920), there were a series of short wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan over several regions, including Nagorno-Karabakh. Between 1918 and 1920, Nagorno-Karabakh's de jure affiliation with Armenia or Azerbaijan was disputed and not adjudicated by the League of Nations.WEB, Krüger, Heiko, June 2014, Nagorno-Karabakh,weblink 2023-08-02, academic.oup.com, 214–232, 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702375.003.0011, 978-0-19-870237-5, 23 September 2023,weblink live, {{Citation |last=Gardner |first=Anne-Marie |title=Nagorno-Karabakh: Balancing Standards? |date=2011 |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1057/9780230117600_4 |work=Democratic Governance and Non-State Actors |pages=71–103 |access-date=2023-08-02 |place=New York |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |language=en |doi=10.1057/9780230117600_4 |isbn=978-1-349-29153-3 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923061933weblink |url-status=live }}In July 1918, the First Armenian Assembly of Nagorno-Karabakh declared the region self-governing and created a National Council and government.WEB,weblink The Nagorno-Karabagh Crisis: A Blueprint for Resolution, 16 February 2006, 30 March 2019,weblink live, , New England Center for International Law & Policy Later, Ottoman troops entered Karabakh, meeting armed resistance by Armenians.After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, British troops occupied Karabakh. The British command provisionally affirmed Khosrov bey Sultanov (appointed by the Azerbaijani government) as the governor-general of Karabakh and Zangezur, pending a final decision by the Paris Peace Conference.WEB,weblink Circular by colonel D. I. Shuttleworth of the British Command, 5 September 2006, 7 May 2006,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060507144914weblink">weblink dead, The decision was opposed by Karabakh Armenians. In February 1920, the Karabakh National Council preliminarily agreed to Azerbaijani jurisdiction, while Armenians elsewhere in Karabakh continued guerrilla fighting, never accepting the agreement. The agreement itself was soon annulled by the Ninth Karabagh Assembly, which declared union with Armenia in April.Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia: A Legal Appraisal by Tim Potier. {{ISBN|90-411-1477-7}}In April 1920, while the Azerbaijani army was locked in Karabakh fighting local Armenian forces, Azerbaijan was taken over by Bolsheviks. On 10 August 1920, Armenia signed a preliminary agreement with the Bolsheviks, agreeing to a temporary Bolshevik occupation of these areas until final settlement would be reached.Walker. The Survival of a Nation. pp. 285–90 In 1921, Armenia and Georgia were also taken over by the Bolsheviks. After the Sovietization of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Kavbiuro (Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)) decided that Karabakh would remain within Azerbaijan SSR with broad regional autonomy, with the administrative centre in the city of Shusha (the administrative center was later moved to Stepanakert).WEB,weblink Q&A with Arsène Saparov: No Evidence that Stalin "gave" Karabakh to Azerbaijan, 10 December 2018, armenian.usc.edu, Of all the documents I have seen, there is no direct evidence of Stalin doing or saying something in those 12 days in the summer of 1921 that [resulted in this decision on Karabakh]. A lot of people just assume that since Stalin was an evil person, it would be typical of someone evil to take a decision like that., 31 October 2020, 15 December 2020,weblink live, The oblast's borders were drawn to include Armenian villages and to exclude as much as possible Azerbaijani villages.BOOK, Potier, Tim, 2001, Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, A Legal Appraisal, The Hague, Netherlands, Kluwer Law International, 5, 9041114777, The resulting district ensured an Armenian majority.With the Soviet Union firmly in control of the region, the conflict over the region died down for several decades until the beginning of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the question of Nagorno-Karabakh re-emerged. Accusing the Azerbaijani SSR government of conducting forced Azerification of the region, the majority Armenian population, with ideological and material support from the Armenian SSR, started a movement to have the autonomous oblast transferred to the Armenian SSR.Audrey L. Altstadt. The Azerbaijani Turks: power and identity under Russian rule. Hoover Press, 1992. {{ISBN|0817991824}}, 9780817991821 In August 1987, Karabakh Armenians sent a petition for union with Armenia with tens of thousands of signatures to Moscow.Black Garden, Thomas de Waal, page 292

War and secession

File:Askeran_T-72.jpg|thumb|right|A restored Armenian T-72, knocked out of commission while attacking Azeri positions in Askeran District, serves as a war memorial on the outskirts of Stepanakert.]]On 13 February 1988, Karabakh Armenians began demonstrating in Stepanakert, in favour of unification with the Armenian republic. Six days later they were joined by mass marches in Yerevan. On 20 February, the Soviet of People's Deputies in Karabakh voted 110 to 17 to request the transfer of the region to Armenia. This unprecedented action by a regional Soviet brought out tens of thousands of demonstrations both in Stepanakert and Yerevan, but Moscow rejected the Armenians' demands. On 20 February 1988, 2 Azeri girls were raped in Stepanakert.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} This caused widespread outrage in the Azeri town of Aghdam. The first direct confrontation of the conflict occurred as a large group of Azeris marched from Agdam to the Armenian populated town of Askeran.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} The confrontation between the Azeris and the police near Askeran degenerated into the Askeran clash, which left two Azeris dead, one of them allegedly killed by an Azeri police officer. Fifty Armenian villagers and an unknown number of Azeris and police officers were injured.Black Garden Thomas de Waal, p.15Elizabeth Fuller, Nagorno-Karabakh: The Death and Casualty Toll to Date, RL 531/88, 14 December 1988, pp. 1–2BOOK, de Waal, Thomas, Thomas de Waal, Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, New York University Press, 2003, New York, 0-8147-1945-7, Large numbers of refugees left Armenia and Azerbaijan as violence began against the minority populations of the respective republics.BOOK, Lieberman, Benjamin, Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe, Ivan R. Dee, 2006, Chicago, 284–92, 1-5666-3646-9, On 7 July 1988, the European Parliament passed a resolution that condemned the violence employed against Armenian demonstrators in Azerbaijan, and supported the demand of the Armenians for reunification with the Soviet Republic of Armenia.RESOLUTION on the situation in Soviet Armenia {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608140305weblink |date=8 June 2022 }} page 21On 29 November 1989, direct rule in Nagorno-Karabakh was ended and the region was returned to Azerbaijani administration.BOOK, The Encyclopedia of World History, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001, 906, The Soviet policy backfired, however, when a joint session of the Armenian Supreme Soviet and the National Council, the legislative body of Nagorno-Karabakh, proclaimed the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} On 26 November 1991 Azerbaijan abolished the status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, rearranging the administrative division and bringing the territory under direct control of Azerbaijan.BOOK, Where nation-states come from: institutional change in the age of nationalism, Roeder, Philip G., 2007, Princeton University Press, 978-0-691-13467-3, 51,weblink 10 October 2011, 23 September 2023,weblink live, On 10 December 1991, in a referendum boycotted by local Azerbaijanis, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh approved the creation of an independent state. A Soviet proposal for enhanced autonomy for Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan satisfied neither side and a full-scale war subsequently erupted between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, with the latter receiving support from Armenia.Human Rights Watch. Playing the "Communal Card". Communal Violence and Human Rights {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011042435weblink |date=11 October 2012 }}: "By early 1992 full-scale fighting broke out between Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijani authorities." / "...Karabakh Armenian forces—often with the support of forces from the Republic of Armenia—conducted large-scale operations..." / "Because 1993 witnessed unrelenting Karabakh Armenian offensives against the Azerbaijani provinces surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh..." / "Since late 1993, the conflict has also clearly become internationalized: in addition to Azerbaijani and Karabakh Armenian forces, troops from the Republic of Armenia participate on the Karabakh side in fighting inside Azerbaijan and in Nagorno-Karabakh."Human Rights Watch. The former Soviet Union. Human Rights Developments {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218230025weblink |date=18 February 2015 }}: "In 1992 the conflict grew far more lethal as both sides—the Azerbaijani National Army and free-lance militias fighting along with it, and ethnic Armenians and mercenaries fighting in the Popular Liberation Army of Artsakh—began."United States Institute of Peace. Nagorno-Karabakh Searching for a Solution. Foreword {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202233445weblink |date=2 December 2008 }}: "Nagorno-Karabakh’s armed forces have not only fortified their region but have also occupied a large swath of surrounding Azeri territory in the hopes of linking the enclave to Armenia."United States Institute of Peace. Sovereignty after Empire. Self-Determination Movements in the Former Soviet Union. Hopes and Disappointments: Case Studies {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201052200weblink |date=1 December 2008 }} "Meanwhile, the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh was gradually transforming into a full-scale war between Azeri and Karabakh irregulars, the latter receiving support from Armenia." / "Azerbaijan's objective advantage in terms of human and economic potential has so far been offset by the superior fighting skills and discipline of Nagorno-Karabakh's forces. After a series of offensives, retreats, and counteroffensives, Nagorno-Karabakh now controls a sizable portion of Azerbaijan proper ... including the Lachin corridor." According to Armenia's former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, the Karabakh leadership approach was maximalist and "they thought they could get more."NEWS, By Giving Karabakh Lands to Azerbaijan, Conflict Would Have Ended in '97, Says Ter-Petrosian,weblink Asbarez, 19 April 2011, Asbarez, 21 May 2011, 1 October 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121001083625weblink">weblink dead, NEWS, Ter-Petrosyan on the BBC: Karabakh conflict could have been resolved by giving certain territories to Azerbaijan,weblink ArmeniaNow, 19 April 2011, ArmeniaNow, 21 May 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110519030034weblink">weblink 19 May 2011, dead, NEWS, Первый президент Армении о распаде СССР и Карабахе,weblink BBC, 18 April 2011, BBC, 21 May 2011, 3 September 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110903075448weblink">weblink live, The struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated after both Armenia and Azerbaijan attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. In the post-Soviet power vacuum, military action between Azerbaijan and Armenia was heavily influenced by the Russian military. Furthermore, both the Armenian and Azerbaijani military employed a large number of mercenaries from Ukraine and Russia.Human Rights Watch. Seven Years of Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. December 1994, p. xiii, {{ISBN|1-56432-142-8}}, citing: Natsional'nyi Sostav Naseleniya SSSR, po dannym Vsesoyuznyi Perepisi Naseleniya 1989 g., Moskva, "Finansy i Statistika" Between fifteen and twenty-five hundred Afghan mujahideen, along with fighters from Chechnya, participated in the fighting on Azerbaijan's side. Russia provided Armenia with heavy artillery and tanks. Many survivors from the Azerbaijani side found shelter in 12 emergency camps set up in other parts of Azerbaijan to cope with the growing number of internally displaced people due to the first Nagorno-Karabakh war.Azerbaijan closes last of emergency camps {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124113352weblink |date=24 November 2020 }}, UNHCRBy the end of 1993, the conflict had caused about 30,000 casualtiesWEB, 2020-10-12, Armenia, Azerbaijan clash as ceasefire fails to stick,weblink 2022-06-08, Dawn.com, Agence France-Presse, en, 8 June 2022,weblink live, and created hundreds of thousands of refugees on both sides.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}} By May 1994, the Armenians were in control of 14% of the territory of Azerbaijan.BOOK, Thomas, de Waal, 2003, Black Garden, 3, New York University Press,weblink 6 May 2020, 26 February 2019,weblink dead, At that stage, for the first time during the conflict, the Azerbaijani government recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as a third party in the war and started direct negotiations with the Karabakh authorities. As a result, a ceasefire was reached on 12 May 1994 through Russian mediation.

Post-1994 ceasefire

{{Further|Madrid Principles|Prague Process (Armenian–Azerbaijani negotiations)|Nagorno-Karabakh Declaration|Astrakhan Declaration|Land mine situation in Nagorno-Karabakh|2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict|Second Nagorno-Karabakh War}}File:Location Nagorno-Karabakh en.png|thumb|left|200px|The final borders of the conflict after the Bishkek Protocol. Armenian forces of Nagorno-Karabakh controlled almost 9% of Azerbaijan's territory outside the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, while Azerbaijani forces control Shahumian and the eastern parts of Martakert and Martuni.]]File:Dmitry Medvedev 2 November 2008-3.jpg|thumb|Ilham Aliyev, Dmitry Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan in MoscowMoscowDespite the ceasefire, fatalities due to armed conflicts between Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers continued.No End in Sight to Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216073814weblink |date=16 December 2018 }} by Ivan Watson/National Public Radio. Weekend Edition Sunday, 23 April 2006. On 25 January 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted PACE Resolution 1416, which condemned ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis.WEB,weblink Проект заявления по Нагорному Карабаху ожидает одобрения парламентских сил Армении, 10 December 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160914021543weblink">weblink 14 September 2016, dead, Резолюция ПАСЕ по Карабаху: что дальше? {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325022435weblink |date=25 March 2012 }}. BBC Russian. On 15–17 May 2007 the 34th session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Conference adopted resolution No. 7/34-P, considering the occupation of Azerbaijani territory as the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and recognizing the actions against Azerbaijani civilians as a crime against humanity, and condemning the destruction of archaeological, cultural and religious monuments in the occupied territories.Resolutions on Political Affairs {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012122448weblink |date=12 October 2007 }}. The Thirty-Fourth Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers. The 11th session of the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference held on 13–14 March 2008 in Dakar adopted resolution No. 10/11-P (IS). In the resolution, OIC member states condemned the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenian forces and Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, ethnic cleansing against the Azeri population, and charged Armenia with the "destruction of cultural monuments in the occupied Azerbaijani territories".Resolutions on Political Affairs {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012122448weblink |date=12 October 2007 }}. Islamic Summit Conference. 13–14 May 2008 On 14 March of the same year the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution No. 62/243 which "demands the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan".WEB,weblink A/RES/62/243 – E – A/RES/62/243 -Desktop, undocs.org, 3 January 2021, 1 November 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20201101140443weblink">weblink live, On 18–20 May 2010, the 37th session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Dushanbe adopted another resolution condemning the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, recognizing the actions against Azerbaijani civilians as a crime against humanity and condemning the destruction of archaeological, cultural, and religious monuments in occupied territories.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160303202414weblink">weblink dead, Resolutions on Political Issues Adopted by the Council of Foreign Ministers (Session of Shared Vision of a More Secure and Prosperous Islamic World) Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan 4–6 Jamadul Thani 1431H (18–20 May 2010), 3 March 2016, On 20 May of the same year, the European Parliament in Strasbourg adopted the resolution on "The need for an EU Strategy for the South Caucasus" on the basis of the report by Evgeni Kirilov, the Bulgarian member of the Parliament."FM: Azerbaijan welcomes resolution 'Need for EU Strategy for South Caucasus' adopted by European Parliament {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719181653weblink |date=19 July 2011 }}." Trend.az. 21 May 2010."EU's Ashton Says Nagorno-Karabakh Elections Illegal {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507194752weblink |date=7 May 2016 }}." RFE/RL. 21 May 2010. The resolution states in particular that "the occupied Azerbaijani regions around Nagorno-Karabakh must be cleared as soon as possible".Bulgarian MEPs Urge EU to Be Proactive in South Caucasus {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210232405weblink |date=10 December 2017 }}. On 26 January 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted Resolution 2085, which deplored the fact that the occupation by Armenia of Nagorno-Karabakh and other adjacent areas of Azerbaijan creates humanitarian and environmental problems for the citizens of Azerbaijan, condemned ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis and Assembly requested immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the region concerned.NEWS,weblink Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water, Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, 14 March 2017, 18 September 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160918205203weblink">weblink live, NEWS,weblink PACE Adopts Anti-Armenian Measure, Rejects Another, Armenian Weekly, 14 March 2017, 31 August 2019,weblink live, WEB,weblink Resolution: Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water, sarsang.org,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170315002423weblink">weblink 15 March 2017, dead, Several{{quantify|date=May 2016}} world leaders have met with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the years, but efforts to maintain the ceasefire have failed."Azerbaijan military threat to Armenia {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625062958weblink |date=25 June 2018 }}." The Daily Telegraph. 22 November 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2009.On 2 April 2016 Azerbaijani and Armenian forces again clashed in the region.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} The Armenian Defense Ministry alleged that Azerbaijan launched an offensive to seize territory in the region. At least 30 soldiers were killed during the fighting and a Mil Mi-24 helicopter and tank were also destroyed, with 12 of the fallen soldiers belonging to the Azerbaijani forces and the other 18 belonging to the Armenian forces, as well as an additional 35 Armenian soldiers reportedly wounded.NEWS, Hodge, Nathan, A Dozen Dead in Heavy Fighting Reported in Nagorno-Karabakh,weblink 2 April 2016, Wall Street Journal, 2 April 2016, 2 April 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160402123801weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink Dozens killed in Nagorno-Karabakh clashes, www.aljazeera.com, 3 April 2016, 2 April 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160402213013weblink">weblink live,

2020 war and ceasefire agreement

On 27 September 2020, a new war erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories. The United Nations strongly condemned the conflict and called on both sides to deescalate tensions and resume meaningful negotiations without delay.WEB, 30 September 2020, UN Security Council calls for immediate end to fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh,weblink 30 September 2020, France 24, en, 9 October 2020,weblink live, The war ended on 10 November 2020, when a trilateral ceasefire agreement was signed among Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia.WEB, Russia Steps In To End War Between 2 Former Soviet Republics,weblink 10 November 2020, NPR.org, en, 10 November 2020,weblink live, According to the ceasefire agreement, Azerbaijan regained all of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and capturing one-third of Nagorno-Karabakh proper, including Shusha and Hadrut.NEWS, 9 November 2020, Ethnic Armenian forces confirm loss of Karabakh's second city, say enemy nearing capital, Reuters,weblink 9 November 2020, 29 November 2020,weblink live,

Blockade (2022–2023)

In December 2022, Azerbaijanis claiming to be environmental activists blocked the Lachin corridor, the sole road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world.NEWS, Азербайджанские "активисты" блокируют дорогу из Карабаха в Армению. Одновременно в Карабахе пропал газ, ru, Azerbaijani "activists" are blocking the road from Karabakh to Armenia. At the same time, gas disappeared in Karabakh, BBC News Русская Служба,weblink 13 September 2023, 12 April 2023,weblink live, On 23 April 2023, Azerbaijani forces installed a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor.WEB, Loe, Catherine, 2023-04-27, Azerbaijan sets up checkpoints on the Lachin corridor,weblink 2023-05-03, Economist Intelligence Unit, en-GB, The move [installation of a checkpoint] has increased the blockade of Nagorny Karabakh...A checkpoint on the border would give Azerbaijan the ability to stop any cars travelling between Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh., 2 August 2023,weblink live, The blockade led to a humanitarian crisis for the population in Artsakh and imports of essential goods were blocked, as well as humanitarian convoys of the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeepers, trapping the 120,000 residents of the region.WEB, Hauer, Neil, 2023-07-31, Karabakh blockade reaches critical point as food supplies run low,weblink 2023-08-01, www.intellinews.com, en, Occasional ICRC and Russian traffic continued to pass until June 15, at which point Azerbaijan halted all humanitarian deliveries. No food, medicine or fuel has entered Nagorno-Karabakh since., 14 August 2023,weblink live, WEB, Gavin, Gabriel, Dec 19, 2022, Supplies begin to run low as Nagorno-Karabakh blockade continues,weblink 2022-12-22, eurasianet.org, en, 1 February 2023,weblink live, WEB, Kitachayev, Bashir, 16 December 2022, Azerbaijani roadblock cuts tens of thousands off from food, fuel and medicine,weblink 21 December 2022, openDemocracy, 26 February 2023,weblink live, WEB, 2023-05-22, New Troubles in Nagorno-Karabakh: Understanding the Lachin Corridor Crisis,weblink 2023-05-23, www.crisisgroup.org, en, While travellers were already few due to the blockade, the ICRC reports that its ability to get people across has been curtailed [since the installation of the checkpoint], leaving only the Russian peacekeepers to facilitate trips to Armenia for medical care., 16 August 2023,weblink live, WEB, 2023-05-31, June Alerts and May Trends 2023,weblink 2023-06-19, www.crisisgroup.org, en, Checkpoint on Lachin corridor faced fierce opposition amid humanitarian crisis....Azerbaijani military consolidated [the] blockade, however, leading to even fewer crossings and reduced transportation of goods., 22 June 2023,weblink live, Limited traffic had been conducted by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross to transport patients in need of medical care and provide humanitarian supplies.NEWS, Shahverdyan, Lilit, 12 January 2023, Blackouts and food rationing as Karabakh blockade enters second month, en, Eurasianet,weblink 17 January 2023, But the supplies are meager compared to the pre-blockade delivery of 12,000 tons of goods monthly, and barely meet the needs of the local population, which Armenian sources estimate at around 120,000., 23 April 2023,weblink live, NEWS, 17 January 2023, Nagorno-Karabakh reports gas cut for second time since start of blockade, OC Media,weblink 18 January 2023, 16 March 2023,weblink live, However, starting on 15 June 2023, Azerbaijan intensified the blockade, blocking all passage of food, fuel, and medicine from the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeepers through the Lachin corridor.WEB, 2023-06-20, Nagorno-Karabakh again faces shortages as Azerbaijan closes Lachin Corridor,weblink 2023-07-14, OC Media, en-US, 19 July 2023,weblink live, WEB, Food shortages and fear as peacekeepers refused entry to Nagorno-Karabakh,weblink 2023-07-14, OC Media, en-US, 22 July 2023,weblink live, WEB, 2023-07-31, Karabakh blockade reaches critical point as food supplies run low,weblink 2023-08-01, www.intellinews.com, en, 14 August 2023,weblink live, On 19 September, Azerbaijan launched a military operation.

Azerbaijani offensive (2023)

On 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh. One day after the offensive started, on 20 September, an agreement on establishing a complete cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh was reached at the mediation of the Russian peacekeeping command in Nagorno-Karabakh.WEB, 2023-09-20, Russian-mediated ceasefire announced in Nagorno-Karabakh,weblink 2023-09-24, Armenpress, NEWS, Tim Lister, Anna Chernova, Christian Edwards, Radina Gigova, 21 September 2023, Azerbaijan says it has retaken breakaway Armenian enclave after separatists surrender, CNN.com,weblink live, 21 September 2023,weblink 21 September 2023, Azerbaijan held a meeting with representatives of the Artsakh Armenian community on 21 September in Yevlakh to start the process of re-integrating the region into Azerbaijan.NEWS, 20 September 2023, Ethnic Armenians accept Russia ceasefire plan after Azerbaijan offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, en, CNN,weblink live, 20 September 2023,weblink 20 September 2023, NEWS, 20 September 2023, BREAKING: Stepanakert to disband army in ceasefire deal, CIVILNET,weblink live, 20 September 2023,weblink 20 September 2023, Ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan were nonetheless reported by both Artsakh and local residents in Stepanakert on 21 September.WEB, МВД Нагорного Карабаха обвинило Азербайджан в нарушении договора о прекращении огня,weblink live,weblink 21 September 2023, 21 September 2023, Meduza, WEB, 21 September 2023, Aserbaidschan soll Waffenruhe gebrochen haben,weblink live,weblink 21 September 2023, 21 September 2023, Rheinische Post, In the aftermath of the offensive, an exodus of Armenians from the region started. On 28 September 2023, the Republic of Artsakh agreed to dissolve itself by 1 January 2024.

Geography

File:Sarsang reservoir P1090881.JPG|thumb|left|The Sarsang ReservoirSarsang Reservoir(File:«Լևի» կիրճ02.JPG|thumb|A view of the forested mountains of Nagorno-Karabakh)Nagorno-Karabakh has a total area of {{convert|4400|km2|0|abbr=out}}.WEB,weblink Nagorno Karabakh Republic – Country Overview, www.nkrusa.org, 21 June 2006, 19 April 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120419102410weblink">weblink live, Approximately half of Nagorno-Karabakh terrain is over {{convert|950|m}} above sea level.BOOK, Zürcher, Christoph, The post-Soviet wars: rebellion, ethnic conflict, and nationhood in the Caucasus, NYU Press, 2007, 184, 978-0814797099, The borders of Nagorno-Karabakh resemble a kidney bean with the indentation on the east side. It has tall mountain ridges along the northern edge and along the west and mountainous south. The part near the indentation of the kidney bean itself is a relatively flat valley, with the two edges of the bean, the districts of Martakert and Martuni, having flatlands as well. Other flatter valleys exist around the Sarsang reservoir, Hadrut, and the south. The entire region lies, on average, {{convert|1,100|m}} above sea level. Notable peaks include the border mountain Murovdag and the Great Kirs mountain chain in the junction of Shusha and Hadrut districts. The territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh forms a portion of the historic region of Karabakh, which lies between the rivers Kura and Araxes, and the modern Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Nagorno-Karabakh in its modern borders is part of the larger region of Upper Karabakh.Nagorno-Karabakh does not directly border Armenia but is connected to the latter through the Lachin corridor, a mountain pass under the control of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.The major cities of the region are Stepanakert, which serves as the capital of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and Shusha, which lies partially in ruins. Vineyards, orchards, and mulberry groves for silkworms are developed in the valleys.ENCYCLOPEDIA,weblink Nagorno-Karabakh, Britannica, 30 November 2010, 29 June 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110629083551weblink">weblink live,

Environment

Nagorno-Karabakh's environment vary from steppe on the Kura lowland through dense forests of oak, hornbeam, and beech on the lower mountain slopes to birchwood and alpine meadows higher up. The region possesses numerous mineral springs and deposits of zinc, coal, lead, gold, marble, and limestone.BOOK, DeRouen, Karl R., Civil wars of the world: major conflicts since World War II, Volume 2, ABC-CLIO, 2007, 150, 978-1851099191,

Demographics

(File:Karabakh ethnic map.png|right|thumb|250px|Ethnic groups of the region in 1995, after the deportations of Armenians and Azerbaijanis. (See entire map))

Antiquity – 1918

Historically, the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh—then part of the province of Artsakh—were confirmed by Ancient Greek and Roman sources "long before our era" to be Armenian.WEB, Beglaryan, Ashot, The population of Nagorno-Karabakh for a year. Union of Armenians of Russia - Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Excursion into history,weblink live,weblink 31 October 2022, 31 October 2022, losevskaya.ru, Stepanakert, {{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ().|date=January 2023}} In the early 15th century, German traveller Johann Schiltberger after visiting the region stated that "although the Muslims had taken possession of Karabagh, there were still Armenian villages in the region".BOOK, Javanshir, Mirza Jamal,weblink Two Chronicles On The History of Karabagh, Adigözal Beg, Mirza, Mazda Publishers, Introduction and annotated translation by George A. Bournoutian, 2004, 1-56859-179-9, Costa Mesa, California, 6, 21 & 24, Mirza Jamal Javanshir, Mirza Adigozal bey, Historian Victor Schnirelmann writes that "In the mid-18th century, … Turkic tribes … gained access to the highland territories [of Karabakh] and began to settle in Shusha … by the end of the 18th century, a substantial number of its former Armenian inhabitants had left Nagorny Karabagh. Just at the turn of the 19th century, the Turkic population significantly outnumbered the local Armenians, but this only lasted … [until the] end of the 1820s, [when] the Armenians began to come back to Karabagh, and they accounted for the majority of its population by the mid-19th century".JOURNAL, Shnirelman, Victor A., Victor Schnirelmann, 2001, The Value of the Past: Myths, Identity and Politics in Transcaucasia,weblink live, Senri Ethnological Studies, Osaka, National Museum of Ethnology (Japan), National Museum of Ethnology, 57, 153,weblink 25 March 2022, Edmund Herzig and Marina Kurkchiyan present an alternative view that "Armenians had already been a majority in some areas such as mountainous Karabagh", compared to the Yerevan province which had "regained an Armenian majority for the first time in several hundred years."According to an 1823 Russian survey published in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi) in 1866, Armenians made up 97 percent of the population in the five districts ((wiktionary:محل#Persian|mahals)) of Nagorno-Karabakh,JOURNAL, Bournoutian, George, George Bournoutian, 2017, The Population of the South Caucasus according to the 1897 General Census of the Russian Empire,weblink Iran & the Caucasus, 21, 3, 330, 10.1163/1573384X-20170307, 1609-8498, 26548902, 21 June 2022, 21 June 2022,weblink live, thus proving, contrary to claims in Azerbaijani historiography, that Armenians formed an overwhelming majority of Nagorno-Karabakh prior to 1828. Historian George Bournoutian writes that Russian statistics from 1810 show that Armenians made up 21 percent of the Karabakh region's population; In 1823, the Armenian population of Karabakh had increased by 30 percent "after the return of those who had fled the region", and by 1832, the Armenian population had increased to one-third of Karabakh. Moreover, the "one-third" of the population of Karabakh composed of Armenians resided in one-third of the territory of Karabakh, the mountainous territory (i.e. Nagorno-Karabakh), where they "constituted an overwhelming majority of the population."

1918–1920

According to Armenian sources, the "historical Nagorno-Karabakh" region had a population of 300,000–330,000 in 1918–1920, rising to 700,000–800,000 by 1988. As a result of "Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression", the region's population declined by 20 percent in 1918–1920.BOOK,weblink The Pursuit of International Criminal Justice A World Study on Conflicts, Victimization, and Post-conflict Justice, 2010, Intersentia, 978-94-000-0017-9, Bassiouni, M. Cherif, 2, Antwerp, 839, 497573622, 22 November 2022, 13 January 2023,weblink live, In this period, Azerbaijani forces carried out massacres against Armenians in Ghaibalishen, Jamilli, Karkijahan, and Pahlul (600–700 deadBOOK, Wright, John F. R.,weblink Transcaucasian Boundaries, Psychology Press, 1996, 9780203214473, 99, 22 November 2022, 15 November 2022,weblink live, ), Stepanakert (several hundred deadBOOK,weblink The Karabagh File, Cambridge, 1988, 0-916431-26-6, Libaridian, Gerard J., Gerard Libaridian, 1st, Toronto, 29,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20220220200213weblink">weblink 20 February 2022, live, ), and Shusha (several hundredBOOK, Cory D., Welt,weblink Explaining ethnic conflict in the South Caucasus: Mountainous Karabagh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004, 77, 59823134, Out of a population of approximately 20,000, at least several hundred were killed; the rest were forced to flee. In the fighting that followed, several nearby villages were also razed.,weblink 11 September 2022, live, to 12,000 deadWEB, 13 March 2020, Шушинская резня 1920 года, Shusha massacre of 1920,weblink live,weblink 14 November 2022, 15 November 2022, lazarevsky.club, ). As a result of the Shusha massacre, 5,000–6,000 Armenians were displaced to the regions of Varanda and Dizak.WEB, Bagdasaryan, Gegam, March 2015, Три нераскрытых обстоятельства резни армян в Шуши, Three unsolved circumstances of the massacre of Armenians in Shushi,weblink live,weblink 14 November 2022, 15 November 2022, theanalyticon.com, Stepanakert, ru, By 11 April 1920, some thirty villages in Nagorno-Karabakh had been "devastated" by Azerbaijani forces as a result of the uprising, leaving 25,000 homeless (including nearly 6,000 refugees from Shusha).BOOK, Hovannisian, Richard G., Richard G. Hovannisian, The Republic of Armenia, University of California Press, 1996, 0-520-01805-2, 3, Berkeley, 157–158,

1921–1987

1923 statistics indicate that the NKAO was 94.8 percent Armenian, numbering 149,600, whilst the Azerbaijani population numbered 7,700. Historian Cory Welt writes of a "discrepancy" of the Armenian population jumping by over 25,000 individuals between the 1921 and 1923 censuses, also pointing out that the Armenian population declined to 111,700 in 1926, thus indicating an "unexplained drop" of 38,000 individuals.BOOK, Cory D., Welt,weblink Explaining ethnic conflict in the South Caucasus: Mountainous Karabagh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004, 116, 59823134,weblink 11 September 2022, live, In the 1920s, the NKAO had a population of 131,500 people, 94.4 percent (124,136) of whom were ethnic Armenians and only 5.6 percent (7,364) of whom were ethnic Azerbaijanis.BOOK,weblink The Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity, 2005, RoutledgeCurzon, Edmund, Herzig, Marina, Kurkchiyan, 0-203-00493-0, London, 66 & 121, 229988654, In 1933, Nagorno-Karabakh had a population of 147,308, 10,751 (7.3 percent) of whom were urban dwellers, and 136,557 (92.7 percent) of whom were rural residents.BOOK,weblink Административное деление АССР... 1. Районы, сельсоветы, списки, населенных мест с указанием численности населения, национального состава числа хозяйств по состоянию на 1/1-1933 г. 2. Список колхозов, совхозов, МТС и МТФ. 3. Карты, районов на тюрк. и рус. яз. (отдельно) - Азербайджанская ССР Управление народно-хозяйственного учета, 1933, ru, 22 November 2022, 28 December 2021,weblink live, On 1 January 1973, the oblast had a population of 153,000.BOOK,weblink Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Macmillan Publishers, Macmillan, 1973, 17, New York, 301,

Discrimination and stagnation

Whilst the region was a part of the Azerbaijan SSR, the Armenian share of the population dropped from 94.7 to 76.9 percent, whilst the Azerbaijani share of the population quadrupled from 5.1 to 21.5 percent as a result of "migratory influx"—indicative of the socio-economic difficulties local Armenians experienced under Soviet Azerbaijani leadership which led them to emigrate from Karabakh. Emeritus professor of law M. Cherif Bassiouni writes of the stagnation of the Armenian population "due to the discriminatory policies of Azerbaijani authorities that compelled Armenians to emigrate"; also adding that 600,000 Armenians from Karabakh reside in Armenia and the countries of the CIS. Stuart J. Kaufman, a professor of political science and international relations,WEB, Stuart Kaufman,weblink live,weblink 20 October 2022, 22 November 2022, University of Delaware, writes of the difficulties of Karabakh Armenians:In Mountainous Karabagh, Armenian-language education was not easily available, Armenian history was not taught at all, and those who went to Armenia for training were discriminated against in competing for jobs in the province, since even routine hiring had to be cleared with Baku. Underinvestment in the region—also blamed on Baku—meant less economic development and poor infrastructure even by Soviet standards, and therefore fewer jobs overall, especially for Armenians. Cultural ties with Armenia were strangled in red tape in Baku, and a decision to make Armenian-language television available in the region was left unimplemented. One result of these policies was a continuing exodus of Armenians from Karabagh in search of greener pastures.BOOK, Kaufman, Stuart J.,weblink Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War, 2001, 978-1-5017-0199-3, Ithaca, New York, 58–59, 1160511946,

1988–present

Following the Sumgait pogrom and the exodus of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, Azerbaijanis in Stepanakert and Armenians in Shusha were expelled in September 1988. As local Armenian forces gained possession of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts (amounting to 14 percent of the internationally recognised territory of Azerbaijan) during the First Nagorno-Karabakh war, hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were expelled from their lands. During the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijan regained control over the surrounding districts and southern parts of the former NKAO, thus displacing approximately 70,000 Armenians.NEWS, 2020-10-10, Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia and Azerbaijan shaky ceasefire in force, BBC News,weblink live, 2020-10-10,weblink 10 October 2020, {| class="wikitable"|+Historical ethnic composition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in 1921–1989! rowspan="2" |Ethnic group! colspan="2" |1921WEB, Перепись населения АзССР в 1921 г., Census of the population of the AzSSR in 1921,weblink live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110526195503weblink">weblink 26 May 2011, 26 June 2022, karabagh.am, ! colspan="2" |1923! colspan="2" |1925! colspan="2" |1926Всесоюзная перепись населения 1926 года. Национальный состав населения по регионам республик СССР {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605115531weblink |date=5 June 2016 }} Демоскоп! colspan="2" |1939Всесоюзная перепись населения 1939 года. Распределение городского и сельского населения областей союзных республик по национальности и полу {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605115645weblink |date=5 June 2016 }} Демоскоп! colspan="2" |1959Всесоюзная перепись населения 1959 года. Городское и сельское население областей республик СССР (кроме РСФСР) по полу и национальности {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605120901weblink |date=5 June 2016 }} Демоскоп! colspan="2" |1970Всесоюзная перепись населения 1970 года. Городское и сельское население областей республик СССР (кроме РСФСР) по полу и национальности {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605122710weblink |date=5 June 2016 }} Демоскоп! colspan="2" |1979Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 года. Городское и сельское население областей республик СССР (кроме РСФСР) по полу и национальности {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605120319weblink |date=5 June 2016 }} Демоскоп! colspan="2" |1989Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года.Распределение городского и сельского населения областей республик СССР по полу и национальности {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605113511weblink |date=5 June 2016 }} Демоскоп!Number!%!Number!%!Number!%!Number!%!Number!%!Number!%!Number!%!Number!%!Number!%|Armenians122,42694.73149,60094.8142,47090.28111,69489.24132,80088.04110,05384.39121,06880.54123,07675.89145,45076.92Azerbaijanis{{efn>Until 1936, Azerbaijanis were known as "Tatars" or "Turkish-Tatars".}}6,5505.077,7004.915,2619.6712,59210.0614,0539.3217,99513.8027,17918.0837,26422.9840,68821.52|Russians2670.215000.3460.035960.483,1742.101,7901.371,3100.871,2650.781,9221.02|Ukrainians300.02350.034360.292380.181930.131400.094160.22|Belarusians120.01110.01320.02350.02370.02790.04|Greeks680.05740.05670.05330.02560.03720.04|Tatars60.00290.02360.03250.02410.03640.03|Georgians50.00250.02160.01220.01170.01570.03|Others1510.122350.161790.144480.302850.183370.18!Total!129,243{{Efn|With the city of Shusha included, the NKAO's total population was 138,466, the adjusted ethnic composition is as follows:{{bulleted list|Armenians – 122,715 (88.62%)|Azerbaijanis – 15,444 (11.15%)|Others – 307 (0.22%)}}}}!100.00!157,800!100.0!157,807!100.00!125,159!100.00!150,837!100.00!130,406!100.00!150,313!100.00!162,181!100.00!189,085!100.00 style"font-weight:bold; background:#ddd;"Location">

Transport {| class"wikitable sortable" style"font-weight:bold; background:#ddd;"List of cities in Nagorno-Karabakh>Location

ICAO airport code>ICAO| DAFIFIATA airport code>IATA| Airport name| Coordinates valign=top| Stepanakert| UBBS| UB13|Stepanakert AirportHTTP://WWW.WORLDAERODATA.COM/COUNTRIES/AZERBAIJAN.PHP PUBLISHER=WORLDAERODATA.COM ARCHIVE-DATE=4 AUGUST 2013 URL-STATUS=USURPED, 39054613type:airport|name=Stepanakert Air Base}}During the rule of the Soviet Union, the Yevlakh–Aghdam–Stepanakert line connected the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region with the main part of Azerbaijan. After the Nagorno-Karabakh war and the abandonment of AÄŸdam, the line's service was cut back to service only between Yevlax and KÉ™tÉ™lparaq, without any present section at the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The former railway line between KÉ™tÉ™lparaq and Stepanakert has been almost completely destroyed.The (Tbilisi–Gyumri–)Yerevan–Nakhchivan–Horadiz–Shirvan(–Baku) main railway was also dismantled from the NKR between Ordubad and Horadiz, as well as a by-line from Mincivan to the Armenian city of Kapan. Currently, the Azerbaijani trains only travel to Horadiz. The Ordubad–Horadiz section has been demolished, leaving the NKR with no intact, active railway line in their territory. The railway at the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic still operates, but it is separated from the main Azerbaijani lines, and only has a connection to Iran.

See also

• Timeline of Artsakh history
• Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations
• List of active separatist movements in Europe
• Janapar – the hiking trail across Nagorno-Karabakh
• Outline of Nagorno-Karabakh
• Post-Soviet states
• Yekbûn

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, Ali, Ekinciel, Karabakh Diary, 1 August 2015, Sage, Russia, 9786059932196, 1,weblink 3 August 2015, 2 March 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210302103309weblink">weblink dead,

Further reading

• {{EI3|last=Tsibenko|first=Veronika|title=Karabakh, Nagorno|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/karabakh-nagorno-COM_32994?s.num=1&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=azerbaijan|year=2018}}
• JOURNAL, Torres, Ricardo Juan, The role of Nagorno-Karabakh in the shaping of Armenian and Azeri identity, 2022,weblink Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (CARI),

External links

{{Sister project links}}

• Articles and Photography on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) from UK Photojournalist Russell Pollard
• All UN Security Council resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh, courtesy U.S. State department
• Nagorno-Karabakh Agreement of 2 November 2008 and country profile from BBC News Online
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080516114757weblink">Article on the 10 December Referendum from Russia Profile
• weblink" title="archive.today/20121205094903weblink">The conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference — Report by rapporteur David Atkinson presented to Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120319152630weblink">Conciliation Resources – Accord issue: The limits of leadership – Elites and societies in the Nagorny Karabakh peace process also key texts & agreements and chronology (in English & Russian)
• Independence of Kosovo and the Nagorno-Karabakh Issue {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202450weblink |date=3 March 2016 }}
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110707162518weblink">Interview with Thomas De Waal
• Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Nagorno-Karabakh: Timeline Of The Long Road To Peace
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130308110715weblink">Resolution 1416 from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081015182856weblink">USIP — Nagorno-Karabakh Searching for a Solution: Key points, by Patricia Carley, Publication of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081201052200weblink">USIP — Sovereignty after Empire Self-Determination Movements in the Former Soviet Union. Case Studies: Nagorno-Karabakh. by Galina Starovoitova, Publication of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)
• Photo Series Nagorno-Karabakh 2008–2011 – daily life, front line, mine clearance, culture, religion.

{{Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict}}{{Territorial disputes in Western Asia}}{{Authority control}}