2023-09-21 09:38:21
He Conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over control of the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh It lived its last chapter in the last hours, when Azerbaijan launched an offensive to gain control of the territory.
Finally, under Russian mediation, the Armenian occupiers of the enclave accepted a ceasefire after the forceful Azeri attack.
The Nagorno Karabakh conflict / Infographic: EA
Inheriting Azeri possession of the enclave from the times of the Soviet Union, control of Nagorno Karabakh has always been disputed between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Located within Azeri territory but with a majority Armenian population, both States have remained in continuous dispute for control of Nagorno Karabakh, known as Artsakh by the Armenians.
The latest clashes occurred this week when, after several casualties of the Azeri troops, the escalation of tension broke out with the harsh attack that Azerbaijan launched against the Armenian positions in the enclave. The Baku government unleashed artillery and drone bombardments and announced that the operation would not cease until the Armenian forces surrendered. Finally, the Nagorno Karabakh fighters surrendered and assumed the withdrawal of the units of the Armenian Armed Forces from the pacification zone protected by the Russians, as well as the dissolution and disarmament of the armed groups in the territory.
This confrontation is only the latest chapter in a long history of dispute over the enclave. The Caucasus area where Armenia and Azerbaijan sit today has been a continuous historical exchange of governments, ethnicities and religions. This complex interaction ended up leading at the beginning of the 20th century to the nations of Armenia, with a majority Orthodox Christian religion, and Azerbaijan, with a majority Muslim religion. After several conflicts between the two between 1918 and 1920, in this last year both ended up included in the USSR.
Despite having a majority Armenian population, In 1923, the Soviet authorities gave control of Nagorno-Karabakh to the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.declaring it as an autonomous region within its territory and generating a complex distribution of borders that will be repeated in other territories of the former USSR with future ethnic-religious conflicts such as Chechnya, Ossetia or Abkhazia.
This weak balance was maintained as long as the USSR maintained its power but, in the moments before its dismantling, War broke out between both forces in 1988 when the Nagorno Karabakh Regional Assembly requested its inclusion in Armenia. Azerbaijan tried to repress the separatist movement while the Armenian government began to support it, worsening the conflict after the breakup of the USSR.
Both sides reached a ceasefire in 1994 after a dramatic conflict in which about 30,000 people died. After the confrontation, Armenia took control of the region and some areas adjacent to it. Thus, although nominally the territory was part of Azerbaijan, control of the area was held by a government that proclaimed itself a republic, without recognition by the international community, but supported by the Armenian government.
After two decades of tense calm, of continuous skirmishes but without open war, In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan launched a massive attack to recover the territories lost around the enclave in the previous conflict.. After the peace of November 2020, reached with Russian mediation, Azerbaijan regained control of the territories around Nagorno Karabakh, but not the enclave.
To monitor this precarious truce, Russia deployed between 2,000 and 3,000 troops who would guard the agreement. In another step of the escalation of tension, Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin corridor, the only route that connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and key to the supply of the 120,000 people who live in a mountainous regionwith few resources for survival, and that after the last Azeri attack opens up to a new scenario of its historical and complex existence.
A group of experts from the United Nations Organization (UN) (1) in human rights This same August 2023, he expressed his deep concern over the persistent situation of the blockade by Azerbaijan in the Lachin corridora problem that triggers a serious humanitarian crisis in the region.
Azerbaijan, an important partner of the European Union in the supply of gas and oil through pipelines, finds itself in the middle of a worrying conflict again, this time unleashing a major military offensive. The region has seen historic tensions due to territorial disputes, with the most recent conflict breaking out in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2020, causing widespread concern internationally.
Azerbaijan’s strategic position as a supplier of key energy resources to the EU gives it a crucial role in European energy geopolitics. Any disruption to oil and gas supplies could have a significant impact on the European economy and the continent’s energy stability.
In a joint press conference with the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in the capital of the Caucasian country, Baku, in July 2022 Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the importance of Azerbaijan as a key energy partner for the European Union. The president of the European Commission stressed that over time, Azerbaijan has proven to be a “reliable partner” in terms of energy supply.
References (1) Experts urge Azerbaijan to lift blockade of vital corridor to stop humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. United Nations Organization (UN).
#crisis #Nagorno #Karabakh