ARMENIA - AZERBAIJAN CLASHES - INTERNATIONAL  

News: Four Armenian troops killed in clash with Azerbaijan

 

What's in the news?

       Tensions between Baku and Yerevan have escalated sharply in recent months, as both sides accuse the other of cross-border attacks

 

What is Nagorno-Karabakh?

       Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh by Armenians, is a landlocked mountainous area in the South Caucasus.

       It was claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917 and has remained a point of tension ever since.

 

Legal Status:

       The territory is internationally recognised as part of oil-rich Azerbaijan, but its inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians and have their own government which has enjoyed close links to the government in neighbouring Armenia but has not been officially recognised by it or other U.N. member states.

 

Religious Connotation:

       Armenians, who are Christians, claim a long historical dominance in the area, dating back to several centuries before Christ.

       Azerbaijan, whose inhabitants are mostly Muslim, links its historical identity to the territory too.

       Azerbaijan accuses the Armenians of driving out Azeris who lived nearby in the 1990s. It wants to gain full control over the enclave, suggesting ethnic Armenians take Azeri passports or leave.

 

Other Important Takeaways:

First Karabakh War:

       As the Soviet Union crumbled, what is known as the First Karabakh War erupted (1988-1994) between Armenians and their Azeri neighbours. About 30,000 people were killed and more than a million people displaced.

       Azerbaijan lost a chunk of its territory with Armenians left in control of most of Karabakh, alongside extra territory around Karabakh’s perimeter. Azerbaijan vowed to take back control over the territory.

 

44-Day War In 2020:

       In 2020, after decades of skirmishes, Azerbaijan began a military operation which became the Second Karabakh War swiftly breaking through Armenian defences.

       Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, won a resounding victory in the 44-day war, taking back parts of Karabakh.

       The use of drones bought from Turkey and Israel was cited by military analysts as one of the main reasons for Azerbaijan’s victory. Several thousand people were killed.

 

Russia's Entry and the Ceasefire Deal:

       Russia, a treaty ally of Armenia which also has good relations with Azerbaijan, stepped in to negotiate a ceasefire.

       Under the deal, Azerbaijan was handed all of the territories surrounding Karabakh.

       This left ethnic Armenians in Karabakh with a much smaller territory. Armenia cast the war’s outcome as a disaster and unrest broke out in Yerevan.

       The deal provided for Russian peacekeepers to deploy to Karabakh to guard the only road left linking the enclave with Armenia – the so-called Lachin corridor and construction of a new route along the corridor.

       Azerbaijan pledged to guarantee the safety of traffic along the corridor in both directions.

 

What is happening now in Nagorno-Karabakh?

       Azerbaijani troops set up a new checkpoint, near the Armenian border at the beginning of the Lachin corridor, in what Armenia has said is an explicit violation of the November 2020 truce.

       Azerbaijan said the move, which threatens to cut Karabakh off entirely, was aimed at ending Armenian arms supplies to what it calls a separatist administration.

       The United States said it was deeply concerned by the move and called for free and open movement along the corridor.