Across the globe, international tensions have seemingly relaxed in the past week. As such, I have decided to yet again explain a conflict that has been going on for many decades. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one that is deeply personal for me, as I have familial ties to one of the nations involved. However, I have decided that it may be beneficial to reexamine the conflict from an impartial standpoint. Nagorno-Karabakh is a territory between the nations of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Both nations lay claim to it, and even though there is a cease-fire in place, there are constantly violent skirmishes along the border.

Source: Wikipedia

The two nations have long had trouble with one another, particularly following the Armenian Genocide in 1915. The genocide, led by the Young Turk government, resulted in the murder of 1.5 million Armenians, and the displacement of thousands more. The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic people and have consistently sided with the modern-day Turkish government claim that the Armenian Genocide was in fact, not a genocide. As such, the two nations have highly volatile relations.

Image of Armenians During the Genocide

Source: France24

Both Azerbaijan and Armenia were part of the Soviet Union, and in 1921, the Soviet authorities declared Nagorno-Karabakh to be part of Azerbaijan. However, the area is predominantly inhabited by ethnically Armenian people, around 95% of the population. When the USSR collapsed, there was no one to monitor the situation anymore, and immediately conflicts began to arise. The Council on Foreign Relations reports that “In 1988, Nagorno-Karabakh legislature passed a resolution to join Armenia despite the region’s legal location within Azerbaijan’s borders.”

Source: Council on Foreign Relations

Accordingly, war broke out between the two nations, in which BBC reports that 30,000 people were killed and “hundreds of thousands” were forced to flee the region. In 1993, Armenia gained control over Nagorno-Karabakh and some of the surrounding Azerbaijani territory. By 1994, Russia helped negotiate a cease-fire between the two nations.

Source: Al Jazeera

Ever since, both sides have accused one another of breaking the cease-fire, with constant skirmishes along the border. In 2019, however, Armenia had a governmental change following citizens protests, and officially became a democratic nation. Many political scientists were hopeful that a democratic Armenia would be more open to negotiations, as typically democratic nations are more peaceful. Unfortunately, that did not appear to be the case and both nations continue to come to an agreement over the territory.

Source: Caucasus Watch

Personally, I believe that both sides have been unwilling to negotiate as neither wants to cede the territory. I do not foresee a change in this any time soon, despite my belief that peace needs to be reached. Given that nearly all of the people in Nagorno-Karabakh are of Armenian ethnicity, and it is their will to be part of Armenia or at the very least independent, the territory should be recognized as part of Armenia. Additionally, with Russia supporting Armenia and Turkey supporting Azerbaijan, there is a high potential for a proxy war to break out between the two in that region. The conflict has a grand potential to escalate in the near future, and as such, I believe it is imperative that the Azerbaijani and Armenian governments come together to reach a deal.