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.