Historical Background: Nagorno-Karabakh Before 2023

Geography, population, and historical identity

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region in the South Caucasus, situated within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan. Historically, much of its highland population was Armenian, while the surrounding districts included substantial Azerbaijani populations.

Armenians have maintained a documented religious, cultural, and political presence in the region for centuries. Armenian churches, monasteries, inscriptions, manuscripts, cemeteries, and medieval architectural monuments provide extensive evidence of this historical presence.

Among the most significant religious sites are Gandzasar Monastery, Dadivank Monastery, and Amaras Monastery. These institutions formed part of the Armenian Christian cultural landscape and became important symbols of Armenian identity.

The region's history, however, cannot be reduced to the heritage of one population. Azerbaijani communities also lived in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, and the twentieth-century conflicts displaced hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis as well as Armenians.

The Soviet period

Following the establishment of Soviet authority in the South Caucasus, Nagorno-Karabakh became an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic in 1923.

Its Armenian majority retained a distinct cultural identity, but political authority remained within Soviet Azerbaijan's administrative structure.

Armenian dissatisfaction with this arrangement persisted throughout the Soviet period. Disputes involved administrative status, cultural rights, economic development, and competing historical claims.

In February 1988, the regional Soviet of Nagorno-Karabakh requested transfer from Soviet Azerbaijan to Soviet Armenia. The demand emerged during Mikhail Gorbachev's reform period and quickly developed into a major political confrontation.

Mass demonstrations occurred in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Violence followed, including anti-Armenian pogroms in Sumgait in 1988 and Baku in January 1990, as well as attacks and displacement affecting Azerbaijani communities.

The Soviet Union's collapse transformed the territorial dispute into a full-scale war.

The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, 1988–1994

The First Nagorno-Karabakh War involved Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, with extensive military involvement by Armenia and the emerging Armenian authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In September 1991, Armenian representatives proclaimed the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, later commonly called the Republic of Artsakh. The entity was not internationally recognized as an independent state, including by Armenia.

By the 1994 ceasefire, Armenian forces controlled most of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and seven surrounding Azerbaijani districts, in whole or substantial part.

The war caused tens of thousands of deaths and widespread displacement. Large numbers of Azerbaijanis were expelled or fled from Armenian-controlled territories, while Armenians fled Azerbaijan and areas brought under Azerbaijani control.

The ceasefire ended large-scale combat but did not produce a permanent political settlement.

The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, 2020

On September 27, 2020, full-scale war resumed.

Azerbaijan, supported militarily and politically by Turkey, used drones, artillery, missiles, and ground forces to recapture significant territory.

After 44 days, Azerbaijan regained control of much of the territory previously held by Armenian forces, including Shusha, known to Armenians as Shushi.

The November 9–10, 2020, trilateral statement signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia halted the war.

Under the arrangement, Russian peacekeepers deployed to the remaining Armenian-populated parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin Corridor.

The statement provided for a Russian peacekeeping contingent of approximately 1,960 personnel, supported by armored vehicles and other equipment.

The Lachin Corridor was to remain under Russian peacekeeper control, and Azerbaijan undertook to guarantee the security of people, vehicles, and goods traveling along it in both directions.

For the Armenian population, this corridor became a lifeline. Its continued operation was essential for access to food, medical treatment, family connections, humanitarian assistance, and economic survival.

The ceasefire did not resolve Nagorno-Karabakh's final political status. Azerbaijan insisted that the territory was an inseparable part of its sovereign state. Armenian authorities and the local Armenian population sought security guarantees and protections against persecution and displacement.

These unresolved questions created the conditions for the crisis of 2022–2023.