NagornoKarabakh Conflict in Azerbaijan

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Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in Azerbaijan
Phil Vandenberg
www.azerb.com
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Overview

• General Information
• Past conflict
• Ceasefire
• Current
• situation

www.azerb.com
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Nagorno-Karabakh (General Info)

• Mountainous Black Garden Azeri
• Artsakh Manly Sak - Armenian
• Rugged region
• Mountain ranges reaching an altitude of 3,700 m
  (12,000 ft.)
• Higher elevations have little or no vegetation
• Mild lower climates with dense vegetation

Nagorno-Karabakh region
www.azerb.com
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General Info Cont.

• Population of about 130,000
• 4,400 square kilometers
• Economy is based mostly on copper mining and
  agriculture
• Cattle
• Vineyards
• Orchards
• Wheat
• Veggies
• Cotton

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History of Nagorno-Karabakh

• Ethnic Armenian time bomb region created by
  Stalin
• Incorporated into Azerbaijan in 1921 by Stalin
• Problems began immediately
• Major conflicts in the late 1940s
• Armenia proposed annexing Karabakh but was denied
• Repatriated Armenians forced around 100,000
  Azeris out of Armenia

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Recent History

• February 1988 Armenia requested that Karabakh
  be transferred to Armenian control (REJECTED)
• Azerbaijan sends request to Moscow to repatriate
  ethnic Azeris and Armenians on both sides
• Over 200,000 Azeris living in Armenia are forced
  out of country
• End of February 1988 violence erupts between
  Azeris and Armenians in city of Sumgait (Soviet
  troops called in)

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More Recent History

• November 1988 more violence
• Tens of thousands expelled from both countries
• Massacres on both sides
• Break-up of Soviet Union in 1991
• Full-scale war breaks loose

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Khojaly

• About 7,000 citizens
• Early 1992 the city was attacked by Armenian
  troops for several weeks
• February 25, 1992- Armenian troops forced
  citizens to escape the city
• Troops positioned in hills shot at fleeing Azeris

www.azerb.com
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Khojaly continued

• Estimated 450 1,000 men, women and children
  slaughtered
• Over 1,200 taken hostage
• Town burned
• Date was 4-year anniversary of Armenian massacres
  in Sumgait

http//www.angelfire.com/fl/fialochka/karabakh.htm
l
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Ceasefire

• May 1994
• At time of ceasefire
• Over 20,000 dead
• Over 1,000,000 refugees
• Estimated 60 billion in damages
• Russia helping to mediate
• Both countries observing mostly
• Armenian troops occupy Karabakh and non-Armenian
  areas around it

Image from http//newhouse.syr.edu/alexia/archiv
es/1998/bradner/bradportnew18.html
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Images of Refugees
http//www.angelfire.com/fl/fialochka/karabakh.htm
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Current Situation

• Karabakh Armenians have declared independence
• Not actually recognized by any other countries
• Goal is to join Armenia
• Nagorno-Karabakh government controls about 14,000
  km², including a corridor to Armenia

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http//fismailzade.web.wesleyan.edu/Karabakh.html
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No Mans Land

• 1 Km wide expanse between Azeri and
  Karabakh-Armenian forces
• Networks of wire fencing and minefields
• Well-dug, concrete-reinforced bunkers and
  trenches
• Excavated tank ditches
• Regular exchange of sniper fire

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Solutions

• Honor Karabakhs claim to independence and leave
  them alone
• Continue fighting and hope to win all land back
  (or even just the land outside of Karabakh)
• Cut deal with Armenia giving them most or all of
  Karabakh and a gateway to it
• No matter what the solution, refugees need to be
  housed more suitably

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Works Cited

• Azerbaijan International Disputes. A to Z of
  Azerbaijan. Azerb.com. http//www.azerb.com
• Google Images. http//images.google.com
• Karabakh Heartland of Azerbaijan. Yusif
  Akhundov. http//www.angelfire.com/fl/fialochka/k
  arabakh.html
• Karabakh Tragedy of the 20th Century.
  Farizs Home Page. http//fismailzade.web.wesleya
  n.edu/index.html
• Nagorno Karabakh. A to Z of Azerbaijan.
  Azerb.com. http//www.azerb.com
• The United States and Nagorno-Karabakh. Fact
  Sheet. U.S. Department of State Bureau of
  European and Eurasian Affairs.
  http//www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/fs/13502.htm