Travellers of the Eternal: Part I
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ARTSAKH ISSUE
In the early morning of September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan launched an unprecedented, large-scale, planned attack against the Republic of Artsakh. On this occasion, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered message to the nation. The ceasefire regime established in 1994 was repeatedly violated by Azerbaijan, and this time it was coordinated by Turkey, which provided direct military support to Azerbaijan, including the recruitment and transfer of mercenaries and terrorists from Syria. As a result, according to official data, 3,825 dead, wounded, territorial losses… Late in the evening of November 9, 2020, RA Prime Minister N. Pashinyan, Russian President V. Putin, and Azerbaijani President I. Aliyev signed a joint statement, the first point of which was the cessation of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. The statement provided for the deployment of peacekeeping troops of the Russian Federation along the contact line in Nagorno Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor.
After the 44-day war, more than 2,000 Armenian historical and cultural monuments, including fortresses, churches, khachkars (cross-stones), bridges, graves, monastery complexes and museums, came under the control of Azerbaijan. Those monuments were either destroyed by Azerbaijan or their history was manipulated and falsified. They aimed to destroy traces of Armenianness in the occupied territory of most of the Republic of Artsakh.
However, on September 19, 2023, the armed forces of Azerbaijan launched a new war against the Republic of Artsakh, with manifestations of genocide. Ethnic cleansing against Armenians was carried out at the state level, preceded by a 9-month complete siege of the Republic of Artsakh. At the end of 2023, more than 120,000 people were forced to leave the territory of the Republic of Artsakh.
Eternal glory to the Armenian fighters who gave their lives for the Motherland, they gave us this life at the cost of their lives.
Eduard Zohrabyan
Head for the Chair ”the History of Armenia’s Neighboring Countries”,
Candidate of History, Associate Professor.
In Artsakh province of the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, Armenians have lived, created, built their native land, sanctified it with historical and architectural monuments and graves of their ancestors from the immemorial. Artsakh province has always been one of the symbols of not only the Armenian homeland, but also the continuity of statehood.
According to the information of Ancient Greek and Roman Historians, the northeastern border of historical Armenia was the Kura river[1]. Artsakh, mentioned in the same reference, was named Orchistene. Greek geographer, philosopher, historian Strabo /the 1st century BC/, highlighting the rebellious and fighting spirit of Artsakh Armenians, wrote: “TThere is also Phauenê,8 a province of Armenia, and Comisenê, and Orchistenê, which last furnishes the most cavalry.”[2]
According to the famous “Ashkharhatsuyts”, Artsakh with its 12 provinces was the tenth province of the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, where the representatives of the governing ministerial houses, according to M. Khorenatsi were descended from the generations of Hayk Nahapet.
Eduard Zohrabyan
Head for the Chair ”the History of Armenia’s Neighboring Countries”,
Candidate of History, Associate Professor.
In Artsakh province of the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, Armenians have lived, created, built their native land, sanctified it with historical and architectural monuments and graves of their ancestors from the immemorial. Artsakh province has always been one of the symbols of not only the Armenian homeland, but also the continuity of statehood.
According to the information of Ancient Greek and Roman Historians, the northeastern border of historical Armenia was the Kura river[1]. Artsakh, mentioned in the same reference, was named Orchistene. Greek geographer, philosopher, historian Strabo /the 1st century BC/, highlighting the rebellious and fighting spirit of Artsakh Armenians, wrote: “TThere is also Phauenê,8 a province of Armenia, and Comisenê, and Orchistenê, which last furnishes the most cavalry.”[2]
According to the famous “Ashkharhatsuyts”, Artsakh with its 12 provinces was the tenth province of the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, where the representatives of the governing ministerial houses, according to M. Khorenatsi were descended from the generations of Hayk Nahapet.
After the fall of the Arsacid dynasty, during the years 428-451, the two major eastern provinces of the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, Utik and Artsakh, were separated from Armenia by Sasanid Persia and joined the Kingdom of Aghvank. At the end of the 5th century, the first state union formed in the Armenian highlands was the kingdom established under the leadership of Vachagan the Pious, descended from the Aranshahiks dynasty, in Artsakh.[3] The reign of Vachagan the Pious was marked by instructive examples of state building, one of the first in the world, and for the first time among Armenians, a constitution was adopted in Artsakh, the “Canonical Constitution”.
Artsakh was part of the Armenian states both during the Armenian Kingdom of the Bagratids and during the rule of the Zakarids. One of the most notable state entities of northeastern Armenia of the 13th century was the rule of prince Hasan Jalal Dawla, the king of Artsakh-Khachen, which was the center of Armenian statehood, national culture and spiritual life.
During the 13th-15th centuries, Artsakh, under the leadership of the Hasan-Jalalyan royal dynasty, resisting the pressures of the newcomers and maintaining the viability of the state institutions of the region, sometimes had an absolutely independent, and sometimes a relatively independent status.[4]
With the same status, Artsakh continued to maintain its existence through the Melik system of governance. The Meliks had the right to maintain an army, administer justice, collect taxes, and interfere in spiritual affairs[5]։
In 1736, Nader Shah of Iran recognized and reconfirmed the autonomy of the Meliks of Artsakh, creating a new state entity called “Khamsa Melikdoms”.
The Russian-Persian war of 1804-1813 ended with the Treaty of Gulistan signed between the Russian Empire and Persia, by which some regions of Eastern Armenia, including the Karabakh Khanate, became part of the Russian Empire.
On December 9, 1867, according to the law on administrative territorial division signed by Emperor Alexander II, the Transcaucasia was divided into five provinces: Kutaisi, Tiflis, Elizavetpol, Baku and Yerevan. Artsakh was included in Elizavetpol province.[6]
Turkish tribes appeared in Artsakh in the last thirties of the 18th century and up until 1921, when Artsakh was included in Azerbaijan, they never exceeded 3-4% of the population.[7]։
After the February revolution of 1917, an executive committee and a national council were also established in Karabakh, and on December 24, 1917, the Interparty Bureau formed in Shushi became the highest body of the government, assuming the implementation of legislative and executive functions. These facts are unconditional proof of the fact that Karabakh was already an independent administrative territorial unit with its own political leadership, when the state of Azerbaijan was not yet established.
On May 28, 1918, a state called Azerbaijan appeared for the first time in history, presenting claims to all neighboring countries from the outset.
Before the invasion of Transcaucasia by the Turkish army in 1918 and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, the issue of Karabakh did not exist, no one doubted the fact that Karabakh was Armenian and belonged to Armenians. Even the Turkish government on the eve of the First World War, expecting help from the Armenians in the war against the Russians, promised “to create Armenian autonomy in Armenia, which would include the western provinces of Yerevan, Kars and Elizavetpol, that is, Nagorno Karabakh…”[8]։ It means that Turkey accepted the Armenian belonging of Nagorno Karabakh, according to its historical borders.
The capture of Baku by the Turks on September 15, 1918 and the fall of the Baku Council intensified pan-Turkish atmosphere. The Turkish regular army and Musavat military units headed towards Nagorno Karabakh. By the way, before that, the Turkish command presented an ultimatum to the People’s Government of Karabakh with the demand to be disarmed and subjugated to the democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, which meant “that the Turkish side actually recognizes the independence and rights of the People’s Government of Karabakh, as the executive power of the region”[9]. This fact also proves that Karabakh regained its state self-dependence before the creation of the state of Azerbaijan. Therefore, in the post-Soviet years, the ambitions of the Azerbaijani authorities regarding Karabakh have no legal basis in terms of territorial integrity.
Ten days after the capture of Baku, on September 25, 1918, joint Turkish and Musavat forces surrounded Shushi. Back in June 1918, by the decision of the 1st Congress of Artsakh Armenians held in Shushi, a People’s Government had been established, Karabakh had been declared a part of the Republic of Armenia, rejecting the demand to recognize the power of the democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. With the “Declaration of the People’s Government of Karabakh” the most important upcoming issues of the government were published. Defeated in the First World War by the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918, Turkey had to withdraw its troops from Transcaucasia, including Karabakh. West of Karabakh, Zangezur fought with the help of Andranik’s detachment, which encouraged the Armenians of Karabakh to continue their resistance. [10]
After the departure of the Turkic troops from Transcaucasia, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan sought to present itself as a state formation of all the Muslims of the region.
On January 15, 1919, the British military command in Transcaucasia informed the population of Zangezur and Karabakh that “by order of the Azerbaijani government, Khosrov bey Sultanov is appointed the temporary governor general of those regions and has the support of the British command.” [11]
Since Zangezur was subject to Andranik, the Armenian government expressed displeasure on January 26, 1919, regarding the appointment of the Governor General in Karabakh to Azerbaijan. In March 1919, the RA government appointed Arsen Shahmazyan as the general commissar of Zangezur and Karabakh in order to strengthen its power and oppose the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. [12]
During May-June 1919, the Musavats invaded Karabakh. On February 19, 1920, Khosrov bey Sultanov proposed to the Armenian National Council of Karabakh to discuss the issue of final inclusion of Karabakh into the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. The 8th Congress of Karabakh Armenians, observing that demand as a violation of the agreement of August 22, 1919, rejected it. On the night of March 22-23, 1920, the Armenians of Karabakh resorted to rebellion. It became a pretence for the massacre of 20 thousand Armenians of Shushi by the Turkish-Azerbaijani forces and the destruction of the city. Azerbaijan’s new attempt to conquer Karabakh in April 1920 also failed. Zangezur supported the Karabakh Armenians to repel the Azerbaijani invaders.
Thus, in 1918-1920, they didn’t manage to include the Armenian territories of Karabakh and Zangezur into the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan.
The borders of Azerbaijan in 1918-1920 are not mentioned in the constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Based on the existence of territorial disputes with neighboring countries, in particular with Armenia, the 4th session of the 5th Committee of the League of Nations on December 1, 1920 made a decision to refuse Azerbaijan’s membership in the League of Nations. [13]
The League of Nations, as a matter of fact, did not recognize the Democratic Rrepublic of Azerbaijan and, consequently, its borders. Artsakh was not part of the internationally unrecognized Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan in 1918-1920, it was governed by the Nagorno-Karabakh National Council, therefore, it was not part of its territorial integrity.
On April 28, 1920, Azerbaijan was Sovietized, which was fatal for Artsakh.
In Baku on September 1-8, 1920, at the Congress of the Peoples of the East, Soviet Azerbaijan was preparing the ground for establishing a land connection between Soviet Russia and Kemal Turkey by occupying the territories of Armenia and Sovietizing it. On the night of September 27-28, 1920, the Republic of Armenia fell as a result of the Turkish invasion. On November 29, 1920, Armenia was declared a Soviet Socialist Republic.
In connection with the Sovietization of Armenia, the government of Soviet Azerbaijan, without any external pressure, on November 30, 1920, hastened to adopt a decision to eliminate the border disputes with Armenia. On December 1, at the solemn session of the Baku Council dedicated to the establishment of the Soviet order in Armenia, the Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Azerbaijan, N. Narimanov, presented the Declaration of the Revolutionary Committee, declaring Zangezur and Nakhijevan to be inseparable parts of Soviet Armenia, and Nagorno Karabakh was given the right to self-determination.[14] However, shortly after this decision, the authorities of Soviet Azerbaijan abandoned their own decision. Kemal Turkey and Bolshevik Russia became the guarantors of the illegal expansion of the territories of Soviet Azerbaijan at the expense of the neighboring countries.
On March 16, 1921, Soviet Russia recognized the Turkish “National Oath” with the “Russian-Turkish friendship and brotherhood” agreement signed in Moscow. According to the agreement, apart from Kars Marz and Surmalu, against the will of the Armenian people, Nakhijevan with an area of 5.5 thousand square kilometers was separated from Armenia. Nakhijevan marz was becoming an autonomous territory under the patronage of Azerbaijan.
After solving the Nakhijevan issue in its favor, the leadership of Azerbaijan turned its attention to Artsakh. On June 3, 1921, at the plenary session of the Caucasian Bureau, in which the head of Soviet Azerbaijan N. Narimanov participated, in parallel with the discussion of the issue of quickly eliminating the Zangezur rebellion in the south of Armenia, it was unanimously decided that Nagorno Karabakh belongs to Armenia and that “the belonging of Nagorno Karabakh to Soviet Armenia should be noted by the special declaration of the Government of Armenia”[15].։ Based on the decision of the plenum of Kavbiuro, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia published a declaration on June 12 about the unity of Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia, which stated: “On the basis of the declaration of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijan Socialist Soviet Republic and the agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republics, it is declared that Nagorno Karabakh is henceforth an integral part of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.”[16]
Soviet Armenia appointed Askanaz Mravyan as Temporary Extraordinary Commissioner in Nagorno-Karabakh. A Mravyan left for Karabakh. However, the authorities of Azerbaijan again abjured their consent.
On June 25-27, 1921, a session of the commission studying border issues was held in Tiflis, created by the decision of the plenum of Kavbiuro on May 2. Al Bekzadian, People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, proposed to the commission “for the sake of general solidarity, for the sake of the most sincere friendship once and for all, to make some territorial concessions in regions with a dense Armenian population.” The province of Akhalkalaki, where Armenians made up 72% of the population,Lori neutral zone and Nagorno-Karabakh, where Armenians made up 94%, were taken into account. This proposal was opposed by the representatives of Georgia and Azerbaijan, who considered the economic factor to be the most important in the issue of the ownership of the Armenian territories. Realizing the vulnerability and illogical nature of that argument, N. Narimanov resorted to a tried and tested measure, blackmail, threatening the resignation of the government. Nevertheless, at the session of July 4, in which, in addition to the members of the Caucasian Bureau, I. Stalin, a member of the Central Committee of Kavbiuro, participated, a fair decision was made by voting to include Karabakh in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. Resisting that decision, N. Narimanov demands that the final solution of the issue be transferred to Moscow the Central Committee of Kavbiuro. But the next day, on July 5, at the extraordinary session of the Caucasian Bureau plenum, the issue was resolved in favor of Azerbaijan with an illegal decision that violates the right of nations to self-determination and was made without a vote. According to that decision, Karabakh was left within the borders of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, giving it wide regional autonomy, with the administrative center of Shushi. Nagorno Karabakh was handed over to Azerbaijan based on economic expediency. There is no mention of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in that decision.
The Nagorno-Karabakh issue has had an illegal and unfair solution from a legal and historical point of view. On July 5, 1921, Nagorno Karabakh was annexed to Soviet Azerbaijan by an unjustified decision of the plenum of Kavbiuro. That decision was immediately criticized by the authorities of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. On July 16, the Armenia Committee (Armenkom) of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) considered the decision of the Caucasian Bureau completely wrong and insufficient.[17] At the congress of the Communist Party of Armenia held in Yerevan from January 26 to January 29, 1922, heavy accusations were made against the Central Committee regarding that decision, for not manifesting determination and firmness in the Karabakh issue.[18]
After the persistent and unyielding struggle of Artsakh Armenians, on July 7, 1923, Nagorno Karabakh Autonomy was formed in a part of the territory of the region within Azerbaijan, and the rest of the territory of Nagorno Karabakh was included in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
The creation of NKAO took place after persistent resistance of the Azerbaijani authorities, because as an independent Armenian administrative unit that could raise the issue of self-determination, it posed a threat to the preservation of the territory called Soviet Azerbaijan. At the session of the Central Executive Committee of the the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, simultaneously with the adoption of the decision on the formation of NKAO, on the same day, on July 7, 1923, a decision was made on the creation of the Kurdistan province, which was formally approved by the decree of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic on July 16, 1923 (chairman: S. M. Kirov).[19]
The province of Kurdistan was located between Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia and included the regions of Kelbajar, Lachin and Kubatli. One of the important goals was the creation of an administrative zone separating Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The province of Kurdistan survived for a short time and was dissolved on April 8, 1929 by the decision of the VI All-Azerbaijani Congress of Councils. On May 25, 1930, the decision of the Central Executive Committee of the the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic on the formation of the Kurdistan Okrug was published. It was larger in area than its predecessor, the province of Kurdistan.
Besides the territory of the former province, Zangelan region as a whole and a part of Jabrayil region were also included in its formation. [20]։
It is important to note that according to the Soviet maps of the early 1920s, NKAO had a common border with the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, but after the mentioned administrative changes, that territorial connection was severed.
After the illegal annexation of Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijan on July 5, 1921, the Armenians of Artsakh continuously have been opposing that unfair decision for seven decades, demanding the unification of the motherland. However, the authorities of Moscow and Baku have been rejecting this just demand.
Throughout the Soviet years, the Azerbaijani authorities implemented an anti-Armenian discriminatory national policy, the goal of which was to depopulate Nagorno Karabakh on the example of the Nakhijevan Autonomous Republic and resettle it with the Azerbaijani population [21] and achieve ethnic homogeneity in the republic through assimilation or emigration.
85 Armenian villages disappeared in Nagorno Karabakh between 1926 and 1980. During that time, not a single Azerbaijani village disappeared. During the 40 years (1939-1978), the number of Azerbaijanis in NKAO increased by 2.6 times, while the number of Armenians decreased by 7.3%, while the population growth in NKAO was the highest in the USSR.[22]
The discriminatory policy against Armenians, other local ethnic communities and national minorities was so obvious in Azerbaijan that on July 1, 1959, it was discussed at a special session of the chairmanship of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, where the first Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, N. Khrushchev made several speeches. Strictly condemning the national discriminatory policy of the nationalist leaders of Azerbaijan, he rightly notes that “Even the bourgeois do not behave like you… You are not communists, but Nazis, Hitlerites…” ․[23]
Azerbaijan was deliberately hindering the socio-economic, scientific and cultural development of NKAO, inhibiting the connection with the motherland and gradually expelling the local Armenian population, artificially increasing the number of Azerbaijanis in an attempt to change the demographic composition of the region.
This is confirmed by the confession of Heydar Aliyev, the long-time leader of Azerbaijan, in an interview given to “Zerkalo” newspaper on July 23, 2003. He emphasized that “We were monitoring the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. … At the same time, I sought to change the demographics there. I wanted the number of Azerbaijanis to be more in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the number of Armenians to be less.”[24]։
The issue of the reunification of Karabakh with Armenia was repeatedly raised before the union bodies by representatives of different circles of society of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and NKAO in 1945, 1947, 1949, 1966, 1967, 1977, but it was never resolved.
Therefore, it was no coincidence that Gorbachev’s “Perestroika” (Reconstruction) policy, uplifting again eternal Karabakh issue, since the 1920s, would cause great excitement in the framework of Artsakh Armenians.[25] In 1987, collective meetings were held in almost all enterprises, institutions, collective farms and state farms of the region, which unanimously accepted the necessity of reuniting MKAO to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.[26] More than 80 thousand Artsakh Armenians signed the petition containing such a demand.
The decision of February 20, 1988 was a turning point in the life of Artsakh Armenians.[27] Going forward to the wishes of the Armenian population of the region, on February 20, 1988, the session of the Regional Council of People’s Deputies of the NKAO adopted a historic decision:
“Meeting the wishes of the NKAO population, request the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and the Armenia Soviet Socialist Republic to show a deep understanding of the aspirations of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and resolve the issue of withdrawing NKAO from Soviet Azerbaijan and transferring it to Soviet Armenia. At the same time, submit a petition to the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union in order to positively resolve this issue.”[28]։ At the same time, submit a petition to the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union in order to positively resolve this issue.” However, from the beginning, the center took an intolerant position towards the Karabakh movement.
In response to the decision made by the NKAO Regional Council on February 20, 1988, pogroms and murders began in Armenian-populated areas of Azerbaijan.[29]
On February 26-29, 1988, with the actual support of the Azerbaijani authorities and the permission of the leadership of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, mass massacres of Armenians took place in the city of Sumgait of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, which shocked the world community with their savagery and cruelty.[30] At the end of 1988, Armenian massacres spread throughout Azerbaijan. Mass massacres took place in Baku, Kirovabad, Shamakhi, Shamkhor, Mingechaur, Nakhijevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic;
The processes of depopulation began on November 21, 1988. As of 1990, except for NKAO, Shahumyan region and 4 villages of Khanlar region, only a small part of the Armenian population remained in Azerbaijan.
The 1988 Karabakh movement was already an irreversible reality. On July 18, 1988, the Presidency of the Supreme Council of the USSR, for the first time in 70 years, addressed the issue of NKAO at the state level and adopted a decree in this regard. In the following situation, the Presidency of the Supreme Council of the USSR, by the decree of January 12, 1989, temporarily introduced a special form of government in the NKAO[31]: The Committee of Special Administration of the NKAO was directly subordinated to the highest bodies of state power and government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.[32] As a result of the pressure exerted by Azerbaijan on the central government, Committee of Special Administration was dissolved and instead of it, by the decision of the Supreme Council of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, on November 28, 1989, the NKAO Organizing Committee of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic was established. On December 1, 1989, the National Council of NKAO and the Supreme Council of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic adopted a decision on the reunification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.
On January 13, 1990, after the anti-Armenian speech of Abdurrakhman Vezirov, the first Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, at a rally of 70,000 people in Baku, when he met with the representatives of the Popular Front and agreed to the program of massacres and repressions[33], the furious crowd began to carry out the massacre. The city had turned into a place of mass unrestrained massacres of the Armenian population.
Thus, in 1989-1990, there was a state of semi-war in NKAO and the border regions of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.
The Artsakh movement took place within the framework of international legal and Soviet laws of the given period. It created an opportunity for the centuries-old Armenian dream of statehood to become a reality.
The Artsakh struggle somehow failed the implementation of the pan-Turkish programs cherished by the political elite of Turkey and Azerbaijan for decades.
According to the decision of the Supreme Council of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, on March 17, 1991, the referendum on the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was held. The population of NKAO did not participate in that referendum. The population of Azerbaijan voted in favor of preserving the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. On August 30, 1991, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a declaration on the restoration of state independence, by which the independent Republic of Azerbaijan declared itself the successor of the Republic of Azerbaijan of 1918-1920 and annulled all Soviet laws, decisions and legal norms regarding Azerbaijan. In other words, the decision to annex Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijan was declared void.
Based on the Law of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics “On the Resolution of Issues Related to the Withdrawal of the Union Republic from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics” adopted on April 3, 1990, on September 2, 1991, the joint session of the Nagorno Karabakh Marz and Shahumyan District Councils adopted a declaration of the independence of Nagorno Karabakh. In accordance with the aforementioned law of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a decision was made to hold a referendum on NKR state independence.
After adopting the constitutional act on state independence on October 18, 1991 in violation of the current Soviet legislation, on November 26, 1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted a law on the dissolution of the NKAO. The Constitutional Control Committee of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics rightfully annulled the latter.
On December 10, 1991, a referendum on independence was held in the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh in the presence of international observers. 99.89% of the participants voted in favor of the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. NKR left both the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Azerbaijan.
The war against Nagorno-Karabakh started by Azerbaijan in May 1991 ended with the ceasefire signed in 1994 with the mediation of the Russian Federation. However, Azerbaijan repeatedly violated the ceasefire. In 2016, Azerbaijan unleashed a four-day war against the Republic of Artsakh, and on September 27, 2020, violating the directions of the peaceful settlement of the conflict which he had repeatedly confirmed, unleashed a new aggressive terrorist war against the Republic of Artsakh, which went down in history under the name of the 44-day war.
From the very beginning of the war and during the whole period, Azerbaijani-Turkish forces practically deliberately targeted all settlements and civil structures of Artsakh, including Stepanakert. The 44-day war was an asymmetric war, not only from the point of view that Azerbaijan’s material, human resources, armed forces and equipment were several times greater than the Republic of Artsakh, but also in that war several countries fought against Artsakh together with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan was armed with modern weapons by Turkey and Israel, under the leadership of Turkish instructors, the armed forces of Azerbaijan were supplemented by mercenary terrorist groups brought from Syria and Pakistan. Azerbaijan, ignoring the calls of the international community to stop the war, with the support of Turkey, conducted targeted military operations, hitting the strategically important objects of Artsakh.
Despite all this, the Artsakh Defense Army managed to stop the enemy’s attacks in several directions of the contact line in the first days of the war. Thus, the front line in Artsakh turned into a clash of civilizations.
After the 44-day war, more than 2,000 Armenian historical and cultural monuments, including 52 fortresses, 12 museums, 13 monastery complexes, 122 churches, 536 khachkars, bridges, and graves, came under the control of Azerbaijan. Those monuments are either destroyed by Azerbaijan, or their history is manipulated and falsified. The goal was to destroy the traces of Armenianness in the occupied territory of most of the Republic of Artsakh. The anti-Armenian propaganda carried out at the state level for 30 years by the Azerbaijani socio-political circles and their media, during the days of the war and especially after its end, took on even greater volumes and became fierce and uncontrollable. Azerbaijan was preparing grounds for ethnic cleansing of Artsakh Armenians. For this purpose, the Azerbaijani armed forces repeatedly violated the agreements reached by the trilateral declaration of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian Federation on the termination of the war on November 9, carried out aggressive actions not only against the peaceful settlements of the Republic of Artsakh, but also invaded the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and still occupied today.
Taking advantage of the atmosphere of impunity formed as a result of geopolitical realignments, Azerbaijan, from the beginning of 2023 disregarding the terms of the tripartite declaration of November 9, blocked the Lachin Corridor connecting Artsakh to Armenia, putting the 120 thousand population of Artsakh in front of a humanitarian disaster. Artsakh was under complete blockade.
On September 19, 2023, under the guise of “anti-terrorism”, Azerbaijan launched a new military aggression against the civilian population of the Republic of Artsakh, carried out ethnic cleansing of Artsakh Armenians from their thousand-year-old homeland through forced deportation.
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10․Կիրակոս Գանձակեցի, Հայոց պատմություն, թարգմանությունը, առաջաբանը և ծանոթագրությունները Վ․ Առաքելյանի, Երևան, «Սովետական գրող», 1982։
11․Կնյազյան Դ., ԱԴՀ կովկասյան քաղաքականությունը, Երևան, 2006:
12․Հասան-Ջալալյան Ս․, Արցախի մելիքների հաստատման կարգն ու նրանց իրավունքները, «Էջմիածին»,N ԺԲ «Ս․ Էջմիածին», 2011։
13․Հասան-Ջալալյան Ս․, Ադրբեջանաարցախյան հակամարտության գենեզիսը և կարգավորման ուղիները, Երևան, 2021։
14․Հարությունյան Հ․, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղը 1918-1921 թթ, Երևան1996։
15․Ղահրամանյան Կ․, Ղազիյան Ա․, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Հանրապետություն․ Պետականության ակունքները, Եր․, 2008։
16․Մովսես Կաղանկատվացի, Պատմություն Աղվանից աշխարհի, թարգմանությունը, առաջաբանը և ծանոթագրությունները Վ․ Առաքելյանւ, Երևան, «Հայաստան», 1969։
17․Սարգսյան Ա., Ղարաբաղյան շարժման պատմությունը 1988-1989թթ, Անտարես, 2018։
18․Ուլուբաբյան Բ․, Արցախի պատմությունը սկզբից մինչև մեր օրերը, Երևան․ 1994։
19․«Ազգ», 09.03.1991 հ. 7
20․«Խորհրդային Հայաստան», 19 հունիսի, 1921թ։
21․ «Կոմունիստ» /Բաքու/, 2 դեկտեմբերի, 1920 թ.:
22․Галоян Г.,. Худавердян К., НАГОРНЫЙ КАРАБАХ. Историческая справка Ереван, 1988․
23․Заргарян Р., Доктрина геополитики современной восто1но-средиземноморской цивилизации, Санкт-Петербург, 2004.
24․История Азербайджана, под. редакцией Сумбадзаде А. С.., Гулиева А. И., Токаржевского Е. А., том 1, “С древнейших времен до присоединения Азербайджана к России”, Издательство Академии наук Азербайджанской ССР, Баку, 1958.
25․Казанджян Р., К предыстории самоопредиления Нагорного Карабаха, Москва, 1997:
26․Миклухо-Маклай Н., Географические сочинение XIII в. На персидском языке “Уеные записки Института востоковедения АН СССР”, т. IX, Ленинград, “Изд. Академии наук СССР”, 1954.
27․Нагорный Карабах в международном праве и мировой политике. Документыыи комментарий, т.1, док. N719.
28․Никитин В., Курды, Москва, 1964․
29․Хармандарян С. Ж., Ленин и становление Закавказской федерации 1921-1923 гг. Ер., 1969.
30․Полное собрание законов Российской империи, собрание второе, т.15, Санктпетербург, 1841.
31․Тунян В., Карабахский конфликт: историко-геополитический аспект, Ереван, 1999:
32․Улубабян.Г, Золян С., Аршакян Г., Сумгаит..геноцид…гласность. Ереван, 1989:
33․‘Зеркало’, 23.07.2003:
34․Demoyan H., The Western Media Coverage of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflikt in 1988-1990, Yerevan, 2005․
35․Dio’s, Roman history, with an English translation by Earnest Cary, in nine volumes, vol. III , London, “The Macmillan Co.”, 1914;
36․Pliny, Natural history, with an English translation, in ten volumes, vol. II, by H. Rackham, London, “Harvard University Press”, 1961;
37․Plutarch’s lives with an English translation by Bernadotte Perrin, in eleven volumes, vol. V, London, “Harvard University Press”, 1955;
38․The geography of Strabo, with an English translation by Horace Leonard Jones, in eight volumes, vol. V, London, “Harvard University Press”, 1961.
39․The geography of Strabo, p․ 323․
[1] See Dio’s, Roman history, with an English translation by Earnest Cary, in nine volumes, vol. III , London, “The Macmillan Co.”, 1914, pp. 93, 95; Pliny, Natural history, with an English translation, in ten volumes, vol. II, by H. Rackham, London, “Harvard University Press”, 1961, pp.355-357; Plutarch’s lives with an English translation by Bernadotte Perrin, in eleven volumes, vol. V, London, “Harvard University Press”, 1955, pp. 205,207; The geography of Strabo, with an English translation by Horace Leonard Jones, in eight volumes, vol. V, London, “Harvard University Press”, 1961, p. 187.
[2]See The geography of Strabo, p․ 323․
[3] See Մովսես Կաղանկատվացի, Պատմություն Աղվանից աշխարհի, թարգմանությունը, առաջաբանը և ծանոթագրությունները Վ․ Առաքելյանւ, Երևան, «Հայաստան», 1969, էջ 36։
[4] See Կիրակոս Գանձակեցի, Հայոց պատմություն, թարգմանությունը, առաջաբանը և ծանոթագրությունները Վ․ Առաքելյանի, Երևան, «Սովետական գրող», 1982, էջ 193-194։
[5] See Հասան-Ջալալյան Ս․, Արցախի մելիքների հաստատման կարգն ու նրանց իրավունքները, «Էջմիածին»,N ԺԲ «Ս․ Էջմիածին», 2011, էջ 47։
[6] See Полное собрание законов Российской империи, собрание второе, т.15, Санктпетербург, 1841, с. 237.
[7] See История Азербайджана, под. редакцией Сумбадзаде А. С.., Гулиева А. И., Токаржевского Е. А., том 1, “С древнейших времен до присоединения Азербайджана к России”, Издательство Академии наук Азербайджанской ССР, Баку, 1958, с. 337.
[8] See Заргарян Р., Доктрина геополитики современной восто1но-средиземноморской цивилизации, Санкт-Петербург, 2004, с.42 .
[9] See Ղահրամանյան Կ․, Ղազիյան Ա․, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Հանրապետություն․ Պետականության ակունքները, Եր․, 2008, էջ, 55։
[10] See Կնյազյան Դ., ԱԴՀ կովկասյան քաղաքականությունը, Երևան, 2006, էջ 42:
[11] See Казанджян Р., К предыстории самоопредиления Нагорного Карабаха, Москва, 1997, с. 10:
[12] See Կնայզյան Դ., նշված աշխատություն, էջ 83:
[13] See at the same place էջ 28։
[14] Տե’ս «Կոմունիստ» /Բաքու/, 2 դեկտեմբերի, 1920 թ.:
[15] See Хармандарян С. Ж., Ленин и становление Закавказской федерации 1921-1923 гг. Ер., 1969, с. 102.
[16] See Ուլուբաբյան Բ․, Արցախի պատմությունը սկզբից մինչև մեր օրերը, Երևան․ 1994, էջ 242, «Խորհրդային Հայաստան», 19 հունիսի, 1921թ։
[17] See ՀԱԱ, Ֆ1, ց․ 1, գ․ 39, թ 18։
[18] See at the same place, ց․ 2, գ․ 2, թ 13-23։
[19] See Բաբայան Դ․, Կարմիր Քրդստան, «21-րդ ԴԱՐ, թիվ 4, 2005, էջ 83։
[20] See Никитин В., Курды, Москва, 1964, с. 34․
[21] See Գրիգորյան Գ., Ղարաբաղյան օրագիր 1988-1992, Երևան, 2005, էջ 20:
[22] See Բաբայան Դ․, Ղարաբաղյան հակամարտություն․ պատմական, իրավական և այլ ասպեկտներ, «21-րդ ԴԱՐ» թիվ 1(7), 2005, էջ 25։
[23] See Ընդդեմ Ադրբեջանի հայատյաց քաղաքականության, Երևան 2007, էջ 11-12։
[24] See ‘Зеркало’, 23.07.2003:
[25] See Галоян Г.,. Худавердян К., НАГОРНЫЙ КАРАБАХ. Историческая справка Ереван, 1988, с. 56․
[26] See Demoyan H., The Western Media Coverage of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflikt in 1988-1990, Yerevan, 2005, p. 27․
[27]See Սարգսյան Ա., Ղարաբաղյան շարժման պատմությունը 1988-1989թթ, Անտարես, 2018, էջ 340։
[28] See Нагорный Карабах в международном праве и мировой политике. Документыыи комментарий, т.1, док. N719, с. 665.
[29] See Demoyan H., The Western Media Coverage of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflikt in 1988-1990, Yerevan, 2005, p. 30
[30] See Սարգսյան Ա., Ղարաբաղյան շարժման պատմությունը 1988-1989թթ, Անտարես, 2018թ, էջ 20-23։
[31] See Սարգսյան Ա, նշվ․ աշխատ․, էջ 287
[32] See Աբրահամյան Հ., Ճակատագրին ընդառաջ, Երևան, 2001, էջ 60
[33] See Улубабян.Г, Золян С., Аршакян Г., Сумгаит..геноцид…гласность. Ереван, 1989. с. 40: