Capital: Stepanakert
Big cities: Martakert, Hadrut
Official language: Armenian
Currency unit: dram
Population: 152 000
Ethnic composition: Armenians, Russians, Greeks
Natural resources: gold, silver, lead, zinc, perlite, limestone
Territory: 11 thousand sq. km.
Average altitude above sea level: 1,900 meters
Neighboring countries: Armenia, Iran, Azerbaijan
ARTICLE 142 of the NKR Constitution:
“Until the restoration of the integrity of the state territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and clarification of the borders public authority carried out on the territory actually under the jurisdiction of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.”
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR):
history and modernity
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR)- a state formed during the collapse of the USSR on the basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAO) - a national-state formation in the state structure of the USSR, and the Armenian-populated Shahumyan region. The capital is the city of Stepanakert.
NKR was proclaimed September 2, 1991 in accordance with fundamental rules of international law.
Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenian self-name - Artsakh), located in the northeast of the Armenian Highlands, from ancient times was one of the provinces of historical Armenia, the northeastern border of which, according to all ancient sources, was the Kura. The natural and climatic conditions of the mountainous region are determined by its favorable geographical location. In the ancient Armenian state of Urartu (VIII-V BC), Artsakh is mentioned under the name Urtekhe-Urtekhini. In the writings of Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Claudius Ptolemy, Plutarch, Dio Cassius and other authors it was indicated that the Kura was the border of Armenia with neighboring Albania (Aluanq) - an ancient state that was a conglomerate of multilingual Caucasian mountain tribes.
After the division of Armenia between Byzantium and Persia (387), the territory of Eastern Transcaucasia (including Artsakh) passed to Persia, which, however, did not affect the ethnic borders in the region until the late Middle Ages: the right bank of the Kura River, together with Artsakh (Karabakh), remains Armenian-populated. And only in the middle of the 18th century northern regions Karabakh began the penetration of Turkic nomadic tribes, which marked the beginning of many years of wars with the Armenian principalities. The melicates (principalities) of Nagorno-Karabakh, governed by hereditary appanage princes - meliks, managed to maintain actual sovereignty, including their own squads, princely squads, etc. Having been forced for centuries to repel the invasions of the troops of the Ottoman Empire, the raids of nomadic tribes and detachments of numerous and often hostile neighboring khans, and even the troops of the shahs themselves, the melikdoms of Artsakh sought to free themselves from heterodox power. For this purpose, in the 17th-18th centuries, the Karabakh meliks corresponded with Russian tsars, including the emperors Peter I, Catherine II and Paul I.
In 1805, the territory of historical Artsakh, formally called the Karabakh Khanate, together with vast areas of Eastern Transcaucasia, “forever and ever” passed to Russian Empire, which was secured by the Gulistan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828) treaties between Russia and Persia.
The period has begun peaceful life, generally lasting until 1917. After the collapse of the Russian Empire, in the process of forming states in the Caucasus, Nagorno-Karabakh in 1918-1920. turned into the arena of a brutal war between the Republic of Armenia, which had restored its independence, and the newly created Azerbaijan Democratic Republic under the conditions of Turkish intervention, which, from the moment of its formation, made territorial claims to significant Armenian territories in Transcaucasia.
Regular Turkish troops and Azerbaijani armed forces, taking advantage of the turmoil caused by the World War and the collapse of the Russian Empire, in continuation of the Armenian genocide in Turkey in 1915, in 1918–1920. destroyed hundreds of Armenian villages, massacred Armenians in Baku and Ganja. And only in Nagorno-Karabakh did these formations encounter serious armed resistance organized by the National Council of NK, although Shusha, the capital of the region, was burned and looted on March 23, 1920, and the Armenian population of the city was destroyed.
It was then that the international community found it necessary to intervene in the conflict, which was becoming increasingly tragic. On December 1, 1920, based on the report of its third subcommittee, the Fifth Committee of the League of Nations, reacting to the territorial claims of Azerbaijan and mass anti-Armenian pogroms, unanimously opposed the admission of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic to the League of Nations. At the same time, the League of Nations, before the final settlement of the conflict, recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as a disputed territory, which was agreed upon by all parties involved in the conflict, including Azerbaijan. Thus, during the period of its emergence in 1918-20. Of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, its sovereignty did not extend to Nagorno-Karabakh (as well as to Nakhichevan).
The establishment of Soviet power in Transcaucasia was accompanied by the establishment of new political orders. After the proclamation in 1920. Soviet Azerbaijan Russian troops, until a peaceful resolution of the issue, according to the Treaty between Soviet Russia and the Republic of Armenia, temporarily occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.
However, immediately after the establishment of Soviet power in Armenia, the Revolutionary Committee (revolutionary committee - the main body of power of the Bolsheviks at that time) of Azerbaijan declared recognition of the “disputed territories” - Nagorno-Karabakh, Zangezur and Nakhichevan - as integral parts of Armenia. At the time of the declaration of renunciation of claims to Nagorno-Karabakh, Zangezur and Nakhichevan, these territories were not part of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Based on the refusal of Soviet Azerbaijan to claim the “disputed territories” and on the basis of an agreement between the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armenia in June 1921. declared Nagorno-Karabakh its integral part. The text of the decree of the Armenian government was published in the press both in Armenia and Azerbaijan (“Baku Worker” (organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan), June 22, 1921). Thus, an act of assignment took place, which turned out to be the last legal act on Nagorno-Karabakh in the international legal sense during the communist regime in Transcaucasia.
The act of cession was welcomed by both the international community and Russia, which is recorded in the resolution of the Assembly of the League of Nations (18.12.1920), in the Note-Note of the Secretary General of the League of Nations to the member states of the League of Nations (4.3.1921) and in Annual report of the People's Commissariat (Ministry) of Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR for 1920–1921. the highest authority - the XI Congress of Soviets.
Soon, however, the Bolshevik leadership of Russia, in the context of the policy of promoting the “world communist revolution”, in which Turkey was assigned the role of “the torch of revolution in the East,” changes its attitude towards ethnically related Azerbaijan and the problem of “disputed” territories, including Nagorny Karabakh.
The leadership of Azerbaijan, on instructions from Moscow, is renewing its claims to Nagorno-Karabakh. The Plenum of the Caucasian Bureau of the RCP(b), neglecting the decision of the League of Nations and rejecting the plebiscite as a democratic mechanism for establishing borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in 1921, under the direct pressure of Stalin and contrary to the cession act that took place, with procedural violations, decided to secede Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia with the condition the formation of national autonomy with broad rights in these Armenian territories as part of the Azerbaijan SSR.
Azerbaijan delayed in every possible way the fulfillment of the demand for autonomy for Nagorno-Karabakh. But after a two-year armed struggle of the Karabakh people and at the insistence of the RCP (b) in 1923. a small part was granted the status of an autonomous region - one of the constitutional forms of national-state formation in the government of the USSR. Moreover, Nagorno-Karabakh, apparently with a long view, was fragmented - autonomy was formed on one part, and the rest was dissolved in the administrative regions of Soviet Azerbaijan, and in such a way as to eliminate the physical and geographical connection between the Armenian autonomy and Armenia.
Thus, a significant part of the territory recognized by the League of Nations as disputed was directly annexed, and most of Nagorno-Karabakh (Gulistan, Kelbajar, Karakhat (Dashkesan), Lachin, Shamkhor, etc.) remained outside the autonomy. Thus, the Karabakh problem was not resolved, but frozen for almost 70 years, although the Armenian majority of Nagorno-Karabakh repeatedly sent letters and petitions to the central government in Moscow, demanding to annul the unconstitutional and illegal decision of 1921 and consider the possibility of transferring Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. Even during the years of Stalinist repression, under the threat of expulsion of the entire Armenian people from their historical homeland (following the example of other repressed nations), the struggle of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia did not stop for the region to secede from the Azerbaijan SSR.
1988 became a turning point in the history of Nagorno-Karabakh. The people of Artsakh raised their voices in defense of their own rights and freedoms. Complying with all existing legal norms and using exclusively democratic forms of expressing their will, the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh came forward with a demand for reunification with Armenia. These events became a turning point not only in the lives of Artsakh people; they, in fact, predetermined the subsequent fate of the entire Armenian people. February 20, 1988 an extraordinary session of the Council of People's Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug adopted a decision that contained a request to the Supreme Soviets of Azerbaijan to secede from its membership, of Armenia to accept it into its membership, of the USSR to satisfy this request and was based on legal norms and precedents for resolving such disputes in the USSR .
However, every act of democratic expression and desire to transfer the dispute into a civilized channel was followed by an escalation of violence, massive and widespread violation of the rights of the Armenian population, demographic expansion, economic blockade, etc. Pogroms and massacres of Armenians began in the cities of Azerbaijan, hundreds of kilometers away from the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug - Sumgait , Baku, Kirovabad, Shamkhor, then throughout Azerbaijan, as a result of which hundreds of people were killed and injured. About 450 thousand Armenians from cities and villages of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh became refugees.
On September 2, 1991, a joint session of the Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Council and the Council of People's Deputies of the Shahumyan region proclaimed the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) within the borders of the former NKAO and the Shahumyan region. The Declaration of Independence of the NKR was adopted. In this way, the right reflected in the legislation in force at that time was implemented, in particular, in the USSR Law of April 3, 1990. “On the procedure for resolving issues related to the secession of a union republic from the USSR,” which provides for the right of national autonomies to independently resolve the issue of their state-legal status in the event of a union republic secession from the USSR. At the same time (November 1991), contrary to all legal norms, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a law on the abolition of the NKAO, which the Constitutional Court of the USSR qualified as contrary to the Constitution of the USSR.
On December 10, 1991, just a few days before the official collapse of the Soviet Union, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh in the presence of international observers, in which the vast majority of the population - 99.89% - voted for complete independence from Azerbaijan. In the subsequent parliamentary elections on December 28, the NKR parliament was elected, which formed the first government. The government of the independent NKR began to fulfill its duties under the conditions of an absolute blockade and the subsequent military aggression from Azerbaijan.
Using the weapons and ammunition of the 4th Army of the USSR Armed Forces concentrated on its territory, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale war against Nagorno-Karabakh. This war, as is known, lasted from the autumn of 1991 to May 1994 with varying success. There were periods when almost 60 percent of the territory of NK was under occupation, and the capital Stepanakert and other settlements were subjected to almost continuous massive air raids and artillery shelling.
By May 1992, the NKR self-defense forces managed to liberate the city of Shushi, “break through” a corridor in the Lachin area, reuniting the territories of the NKR and the Republic of Armenia, thereby partially eliminating the long-term blockade of the NKR.
In June-July 1992, as a result of the offensive, the Azerbaijani army occupied the entire Shahumyan, most of the Mardakert, part of the Martuni, Askeran and Hadrut regions of the NKR.
In August 1992, the US Congress adopted a resolution condemning the actions of Azerbaijan and prohibiting the US administration at the government level from providing economic assistance to this state.
In order to repel the aggression of Azerbaijan, the life of the NKR was completely transferred to a military footing; On August 14, 1992, the NKR State Defense Committee was created, and the scattered units of the self-defense forces were reformed and organized into the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army on the basis of strict discipline and unity of command.
The NKR Defense Army managed to liberate most of the NKR territories previously occupied by Azerbaijan, occupying a number of Azerbaijani regions adjacent to the republic during the fighting, which were turned into firing points. It was with the creation of this security zone that the possibility of an immediate threat to the civilian population was prevented.
On May 5, 1994, through the mediation of Russia, Kyrgyzstan and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia signed the Bishkek Protocol, on the basis of which on May 12 the same parties reached a ceasefire agreement that is in force to this day.
In 1992 To resolve the Karabakh conflict, the OSCE Minsk Group was created, within which the negotiation process is being carried out with the aim of preparing the OSCE Minsk Conference, designed to achieve a final resolution of the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), or Nagorno-Karabakh, in Armenian Artsakh, is the first of the self-proclaimed, but not officially recognized states in the post-Soviet space. It was the Karabakh conflict, which entered the active stage back in 1987-1988. served as a trigger for the aggravation of interethnic relations in the republics of the USSR.
Karabakh is the very first our a “hot spot”, not Afghanistan or Angola, not Beirut or Port Said, where, as a rule, people who were already mentally and physically prepared ended up.
In the mountains of the Lesser Caucasus, ordinary our (then) compatriots became victims of a terrible fratricidal war.
The declared and actual borders of the NKR do not coincide along their entire length. In 1991, the congress of people's deputies from the regions of Karabakh populated by Armenians proclaimed a republic in Stepanakert as part of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and the Shaumyan region of the Azerbaijan SSR. As a result of military operations in 1991-1994. 15% of the territory of the proclaimed NKR came under the control of Azerbaijan (the entire Shaumyan region, parts of the Mardakert and Martuni regions). At the same time, five regions of Azerbaijan (Kalbajar, Lachin, Kubatly, Zangelan, Jebrail) and parts of two more regions (Agdam and Fizuli), totaling 8% of the territory of Azerbaijan, are currently completely under the control of the NKR defense forces. The nominal (proclaimed) territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is 5 thousand km 2, the actual (under the control of Stepanakert) is more than twice as large - 11.3 thousand km 2.
Mountain Citadel
Karabakh is a cultural and historical region between the Kura and Araks rivers; its western border is formed by the Zangezur ridge. The eastern, low-lying parts of this region were called Plain Karabakh, and the elevated parts of the ridges and highlands of the Lesser Caucasus were named Nagorno-Karabakh. The rugged terrain, impassable river valleys, and passes inaccessible for all-season use allowed the population of this land to repel the raids of the surrounding lowland inhabitants.
NKR is located in the southeastern part of the Lesser Caucasus. In its north stretches the Murovdag ridge with a maximum height of 3724 m (Gamysh). It separates the Mardakert region from the former Shaumyan region, which was included in the NKR in 1991, but as a result of military actions came under the control of Azerbaijan. The western border of the NKR is formed by the Karabakh ridge, rising to a height of more than two kilometers. Almost the entire territory of the NKR is occupied by the spurs of these two ridges. Plain areas are found only on the easternmost outskirts of the territory of the republic, where the arid Karabakh plain begins, stretching to the riverbeds of the Kura and Araks. The folded territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is rich in a variety of minerals, both ores of various metals (copper, zinc, lead, etc.), and and nonmetallic minerals and rocks (marble, granite, asbestos, tuff). Springs are widespread in the mountainous part of Karabakh mineral waters of different composition and origin.
Most of the territory of the NKR is dominated by a moderately warm climate, with dry, relatively cool winters for Transcaucasia and hot summers. The rivers of Karabakh flow from the most elevated parts of the region (the Karabakh and Murovdag ridges) in a northeastern direction to the Kura valley or in a southeastern direction to the Araks valley. The largest rivers have Turkic names - Terter, Khachinchay, Karkarchay, Kendelanchay, Ishkhanchay (from Turkish and Azerbaijani tea- “river”). Rivers flow through deep gorges and are used for irrigation and as sources of electricity. A large Sarsang reservoir was built on the Terter River. On the Karabakh Plain, already outside the NKR, the rivers are almost completely diverted for irrigation and practically disappear among the fields of the right bank of the Kura and the left bank of the Araks. Natural vegetation in many places has been replaced by agricultural landscapes (fields, gardens, vineyards, melon fields). However, in mountainous areas forests and alpine meadows have managed to survive. Forests with a predominance of oak, beech, hornbeam, and wild fruit trees occupy about a third of the territory of the republic.
Historical mission - border
Armenian historians claim that Artsakh (the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh translates as “wooded mountains”) is a native Armenian territory that never belonged to Azerbaijan. They consider the geographical term “Azerbaijan” itself, which goes back to the name of the ancient kingdom of Atropatene, artificial for the space located north of the Araks River. For the first time the name “Azerbaijan” in relation to the territories located in the Transcaucasus was heard only at the beginning of the twentieth century. Since that time, the historical lands of Eastern Transcaucasia, formerly called Shirvan, Karabakh, Absheron, Mugan, Talysh, became Azerbaijan, taking the name of the regions of northeastern Iran.
According to the official and generally accepted history of Transcaucasia, Artsakh was part of the ancient Armenian state of Urartu (VIII-V centuries BC). After the division of ancient Armenia between Byzantium and Persia in 387, the territory of Eastern Transcaucasia (including Artsakh) passed to Persia. At the beginning of the 8th century. Artsakh was conquered by the Arabs, who brought Islam with them (before that, Christianity of the Gregorian rite became widespread among the population of the region). In the middle of the 11th century. the territory was invaded by the Seljuk Turks, liberation from which occurred a century later. In the 30s of the 13th century. Artsakh was conquered by the Mongols; most of its territory began to be called Karabakh (from the Turkic words punishment- “black” and bug- "garden") .
In the XVII - first half of the XVIII century. Karabakh has become the scene of continuous wars between Iran and Turkey. But the melikates (principalities) of Nagorno-Karabakh maintained relative independence for a long time. In the middle of the 18th century. The Karabakh Khanate was founded, the capital of which was Shusha. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. Karabakh meliks corresponded with Russian autocrats Peter I, Catherine II and Paul I. In 1805, the territory of the Karabakh Khanate, together with vast regions of Eastern Transcaucasia, “forever and ever” passed to the Russian Empire, which was secured by Gulistan (1813) and Turkmanchay (1828) treaties between Russia and Persia. The Gulistan Peace Treaty was concluded on the territory of Karabakh, in the Gulistan fortress, which still exists today (located in the neutral zone delimiting the armed formations of the NKR and Azerbaijan).
As a result of the collapse of the Russian Empire, in the process of forming national states in Transcaucasia, Nagorno-Karabakh in 1918-1920. turned into the arena of a brutal war between newly independent Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Turkish army and Azerbaijani armed forces, in continuation of the Turkish genocide of Armenians in 1915, burned hundreds of Armenian villages in Karabakh.
In March 1920, Shusha was plundered, after which this city remained without an Armenian community for many decades. The old quarters of Shushi remained in a desolate and ruined state until the 60s of the 20th century. In June 1921, after the establishment of Soviet power throughout the Transcaucasus, Armenia declared Nagorno-Karabakh its integral part.
At the same time, the newly formed Azerbaijan SSR refused to transfer this region to the neighboring republic. Armed clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Karabakh lasted until 1923, when, at the insistence of the Moscow authorities, the Azerbaijani authorities were forced to grant parts of the historical region of Karabakh - with the largest concentration of the Armenian population - autonomous status. At the same time, tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians remained outside the autonomy.
In 1923-1936. The autonomy was called the Autonomous Region of Nagorno-Karabakh and shared a border with Soviet Armenia, then the autonomy was renamed the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. IN Soviet time The party and economic elite of Nagorno-Karabakh, consisting mainly of ethnic Armenians, repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with their position in the Azerbaijan SSR. The reason for the discontent is the policy of the Azerbaijani authorities to assimilate the Karabakh Armenians, which was achieved by encouraging the migration of Azerbaijanis to Nagorno-Karabakh, while the residents of Armenia were accepted extremely reluctantly. As a result, the ethnic structure of the population of the autonomous region has undergone changes: if in 1970 the share of Azerbaijanis in the population was 18%, then in 1989 it exceeded 21%. Particularly strong pressure on Armenians occurred in the 70s, when the party leadership of the Azerbaijan SSR was headed by Heydar Aliyev, future president of independent Azerbaijan.
The situation finally got out of control after the liberalization of the Soviet regime in the late 80s. Karabakh became the first sign in the “parade of sovereignties” that affected all the republics of the Union. In February 1988, an extraordinary session of the Council of People's Deputies of the Autonomous Region adopted an appeal to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia. This step escalated the situation and led to massive interethnic clashes, which culminated in the expulsion of Armenians from most cities and regions of Azerbaijan. About 450 thousand Azerbaijani and Karabakh Armenians became refugees, taking refuge from persecution, primarily in Armenia and Russia.
Already in a virtual state of war, on September 2, 1991, Armenian deputies of councils at various levels from Karabakh proclaimed the independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). In response, on November 26 of the same year, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a law abolishing the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomy.
The initial period of the Karabakh conflict took place in conditions strategic initiative Azerbaijan, which used weapons and ammunition of units Soviet army. During this period, the NKR was under the threat of complete destruction, communication with Armenia, which provided assistance to the Karabakh Armenians, was interrupted, about 60% of the territory of the republic came under the control of Azerbaijani forces. The capital of the NKR, Stepanakert, was subjected to regular air raids and artillery shelling from Aghdam and Shushi.
A turning point in military operations occurred at the beginning of 1992, which was associated both with the strengthening of Armenia and with internal strife in the leadership of Azerbaijan, which led to a change of regime in this country. On May 9, 1992, the NKR self-defense forces managed to take Shusha, the stronghold of the Karabakh Azerbaijanis. This day, which coincides with the Victory Day of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, is celebrated in modern Karabakh as a national holiday. The capture of Shusha, the ancient fortress city, the historical center of Karabakh, dominating Stepanakert and the Armenian villages located below, radically changed the entire subsequent course of hostilities. In mid-May, units of the Karabakh army entered Lachin, thus breaking the blockade ring around the NKR. In the early summer of 1993, the NKR Defense Army began to liberate Mardakert, which had been under Azerbaijani control for almost a year. On July 23, 1993, Karabakh troops, having broken the enemy’s resistance, fought into Agdam, which blocked the exit from Karabakh to the plain.
As a result of this operation, the threat of shelling of Stepanakert and the likelihood of a breakthrough into the Askeran region were removed.
After the defeat in the central sector of the front, Azerbaijani troops attempted to break through the Armenian defenses on the southern flank. This maneuver ended with a counter-offensive by the NKR army and the loss for Azerbaijan in the second half of 1993 of the Kubatly, Zangilan, Jebrail and part of the Fizuli regions. In 1994, the entire Kelbajar region came under the control of the NKR army. Thus, Nagorno-Karabakh managed to capture the territory of Azerbaijan, exceeding the size of the former autonomous region.
Military failures forced Azerbaijan to accept Russia's mediation services and the armistice agreement it prepared. Back in 1992, to resolve the Karabakh conflict, the OSCE Minsk Group was created, within the framework of which contacts were carried out between the parties involved in the hostilities: Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. The Minsk Group and Russia turned out to be co-authors of the Bishkek Protocol, signed on May 5, 1994 in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek. Based on this document, the parties to the conflict reached an agreement on a ceasefire that is in force to this day.
Currently, the NKR is de facto an independent state, having all the attributes of statehood: a constitution and laws, governing bodies, armed and police forces, state symbols, and representative offices in other countries of the world. In terms of its state structure, Nagorno-Karabakh is a highly centralized presidential republic. The President of the NKR is elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. The same person cannot be elected for more than two consecutive terms. According to current legislation, the president is the head of the executive branch. He appoints the prime minister and approves the structure and composition of the government. Robert Kocharyan, the current president of the Republic of Armenia, was elected the first president of the NKR. After his voluntary resignation from office and moving to Yerevan, Arkady Ghukasyan, who had already been elected by the people to this position twice (in 1997 and 2002), assumes presidential duties. The highest legislative power in the republic belongs to the unicameral parliament - the National Assembly.
According to the law on administrative-territorial division, the NKR is divided into 6 administrative districts, 5 of which were previously part of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (Askeran, Hadrut, Mardakert, Martuni, Shusha). The Shaumyan region, which became part of the NKR in 1991, was occupied by the government armed forces of Azerbaijan a year later and abolished (incorporated into the Goranboy region). Currently, the occupied Azerbaijani regions located outside the former autonomous region are called “security zones” and are governed by a special military administration. The exception is the Lachin district, on the territory of which the Kashatagh region of the NKR was formed in December 1993, its center became Lachin, renamed Berdzor.
Like all existing unrecognized states that defended their actual independence in armed struggle, the NKR is heavily militarized. The army leadership is the basis of the ruling elite of the republic. The defense army numbers about 15 thousand people, that is, every tenth resident of the country is under arms in the NKR. At the same time, it is especially emphasized that among the military there is not a single citizen of the Republic of Armenia (Azerbaijani media claim the opposite). All military observers who visited Karabakh testify to the high morale and training of the local armed forces. Karabakh people are distinguished by high moral and volitional qualities and discipline. Every young man here is obliged to serve in the army; no deferments from conscription are provided. This is understandable: the republic lives in conditions of a fragile truce, and the leadership of Azerbaijan never tires of repeating that it intends to return the lost territories by force. The Karabakh Armenians have rich military traditions: for many centuries they defended their right to freedom in wars with conquerors. It is no coincidence that two famous Soviet marshals came out of one of the North Karabakh villages (Chardakhlu, now located in the Shamkhor region of Azerbaijan) - Bagramyan and Babajanyan.
Highlanders of Transcaucasia
Crimean journalist Sergei Gradirovsky, who visited Karabakh several years ago, defines character this way: local residents: “Karabakh is a pan-Armenian forge of personnel. Not thanks to the system educational institutions, but only the character that almost all Karabakh residents are endowed with. The attitude towards the Karabakh people in Yerevan is reminiscent of the attitude of the Parisians towards the Gascons: ambitious and courageous, daring and stubborn, in a word - mountaineers.”
According to the data, as of April 1, 2004, the population of the NKR was 145.7 thousand people, which is significantly less than what lived in the region before the armed conflict. According to official data from the last Soviet census of 1989, the population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region was 189 thousand people, of which 76.9% were Armenians, 21.5% were Azerbaijanis, the rest were Russians, Ukrainians, Kurds, and Greeks. Outside of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenians constituted a majority (80%) in only one region of the Azerbaijan SSR - Shaumyanovsky, which was also part of the NKR. At the same time, in the Shusha region of the autonomous region, the predominant ethnic group was Azerbaijanis. Currently, the NKR, after many years of bloody war, has become an almost monoethnic entity. The vast majority of the population are Armenians. A small Russian community (300 people) continues to exist. Armenian is recognized as the official language in Nagorno-Karabakh, but Russian is still widely spoken. There are more Russian speakers here than in Armenia itself, and many can speak it with almost no accent. Widespread Russian-speaking - protest of Karabakh Armenians against the forced Turkization of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region in recent years Soviet years. The study of the Armenian language was declining at this time, but even the major party bosses from Baku were unable to limit the use of the Russian language. To this day, the name common in the Russian tradition can remind one of the Karabakh origin of an Armenian: Mikhail, Leonid, Arkady, Oleg, Elena.
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Monument “We and Our Mountains” (sculptor S. Bagdasaryan, 1967) at the entrance Photo by S. Novikov |
The population of the NKR is increasing due to natural and migration growth. According to the NKR statistical service, in 2002 alone, the number of people who entered Nagorno-Karabakh was 1,186, and those who left - 511. Those arriving are mainly Azerbaijani Armenians who left their places of residence due to ethnic cleansing and were for years as refugees in Armenia or Russia. The NKR migration service resettles them in empty Azerbaijani houses in the Shusha region or in “security zones” - occupied areas outside Nagorno-Karabakh, which still remain practically deserted. The Azerbaijani population that left the current NKR and the regions occupied by it ranges from half a million (according to Armenian and Karabakh data) to a million people (according to some Azerbaijani sources). The most likely estimate of the number of these refugees is 600-750 thousand. Most of them settled in temporary camps in Plain Karabakh, on the banks of the Araks and in the Mugan steppe. Azerbaijani refugees are among the most implacable opponents of Armenian-Karabakh statehood and call on their government to take tougher and decisive action against NKR.
The state religion of the NKR is Armenian-Gregorian. Its adherents include the vast majority of the population. Within the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh operates the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, headed by an archbishop whose residence is in Shusha.
The most ancient monuments of the artistic culture of Karabakh Armenians date back to the mid-3rd - mid-2nd centuries. BC. (bronze items, painted ceramics, etc.). The most famous types of decorative and applied arts of the local population are carpet weaving (most developed in Shusha), silk weaving, and gold embroidery. The famous Karabakh carpets are distinguished by a densely saturated pattern, the basis of which is a floral pattern. NKR has preserved architectural monuments of amazing beauty and picturesque location - the Amaras monastery (5th century), the temple of the Gandzasar monastery (13th century), stone fortresses, churches and chapels, individual ancient residential buildings, bridges, as well as ancient Armenian stone slabs with crosses (khachkars). Many ancient monuments have been preserved in the oldest city of the region - Shusha. Here you can see the remains of the walls and towers of the fortress, Ibrahim Khan’s castle (XVIII century), residential buildings of the XVIII-XIX centuries, two ancient mosques late XIX V. Shusha suffered greatly as a result of military operations in 1991-1994. Only 3 thousand inhabitants now live here instead of 12 thousand before the war. In recent years, the NKR government has been trying to restore the historical appearance of Shushi and attract foreign tourists. It has already been possible to restore the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral (Cathedral of Christ the Savior, 1868-1887), renovation of one of the mosques has begun, and soon a museum and an art gallery will be located there.
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Traditional carving
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The population of NKR is distributed approximately equally between urban and rural areas. Many of the settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh have two names. Both Azerbaijanis and Armenians resort to renaming as a method of eradicating the memory of an unfriendly ethnic group. Today's Russian atlases name the Armenian settlements of Karabakh in the Turkic manner: Stepanakert became Khankendi, Mardakert - Agdere, Martuni - Khojavend, etc. This entire list of renamings - with the exception of a number of settlements held by Azerbaijan in the former (from the point of view of Baku) Shaumyan and Mardakert regions - is fictitious, because in reality these territories are controlled by Armenians, who call their settlement centers the same as before. In the territories of Azerbaijan occupied by the NKR Defense Army, in turn, the “Armenianization” of toponyms took place: in place of Lachin there is now Berdzor (“fortress in the gorge” in Armenian), Kelbajar became Karvachar, Fizuli - Vardana, Shusha is pronounced by Armenians as Shushi, the rivers got rid of Turkic endings - tea, mountains - from - Doug, village - from - lu, -ly, -lar. At present, a decade after the actual departure of the Azerbaijanis from these lands, throughout the NKR and the spaces controlled by it you can hardly see road signs or even just inscriptions in the Azerbaijani language. They have been replaced by Armenian-, Russian-, and in some places English-language ones. All toponyms in this article are brought to the norms legalized during the existence of the USSR and thereby strengthened in the Russian tradition.
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New hotel,
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The largest city in Nagorno-Karabakh is its capital Stepanakert. Now it is home to about 50 thousand inhabitants, which is only 5-6 thousand less than the pre-war population. Stepanakert arose in 1923 on the site of the Armenian village of Khankendy, 12 km from the then only city of Karabakh - Shushi, devastated by anti-Armenian pogroms. The city was originally created and built as administrative center Armenian autonomy in Azerbaijan and therefore was named after one of the Baku commissars - the Armenian Stepan Shaumyan (1878-1918). Stepanakert is the only city in Karabakh that was completely restored after the war. It was by no means easy for Karabakh builders to carry out this task, because a significant part of the city was destroyed as a result of artillery shelling and bombing. The city is the largest economic, transport and cultural center in the republic. Artsakh State University operates here, created on the basis of the regional pedagogical institute, there is a drama theater named after Vahram Papazyan (occupies one of the oldest buildings in the city). According to the few Russians who have visited modern Karabakh, Stepanakert is quiet and neat provincial town, rising in tiers along the spurs of the Karabakh ridge, the course of life here is unhurried, the color of the south is rich and flashy.
In addition to Stepanakert, there are 8 more urban settlements on the territory of the NKR: 3 cities (Mardakert, Martuni and Shusha) and 5 urban-type settlements (Askeran, Hadrut, Red Bazaar, Leninavan and Shaumyanovsk, the last two are controlled by Azerbaijan). These are very small settlements, even compared to their own capital, the population of each of them does not exceed 5 thousand inhabitants, the economy is in a neglected state. This is how the regional center of Mardakert seemed to the Russian traveler Sergei Novikov (“Academy of Free Travel”): “A ruined, poor city without any special attractions, which to this day has not recovered from the war. There are only a few operating enterprises. 10 km to the east is the line of confrontation between the Armenian-Karabakh and Azerbaijani armies.”
Features of an unrecognized economy
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This is how the famous weave
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The NKR economy suffered greatly from the war and the disruption of traditional economic ties. Only in the last two and a half years has there been economic growth here, mostly associated with the development of the private sector, which already accounts for more than 75% of industrial production.
A liberal tax regime for foreigners. Many industrial and service facilities are now in the hands of foreign owners, who often represent the Armenian diaspora of the CIS countries, Western Europe, Middle East and North America. Examples include the Stepanakert carpet weaving factory, owned by a US citizen of Armenian origin, the Vank woodworking plant, built by an American company, and the Karabakh-Telecom cellular communication company registered in Lebanon. Over the past couple of years, $20-25 million has been invested in various sectors of the Artsakh economy.
GDP in 2003 was 33.6 billion drams ($58.1 million), and GDP per capita was $400. The NKR leadership has ambitious plans for economic revival. In the coming years, it is planned to invest $15-20 million in industry alone.
The NKR is in a customs and currency union with the neighboring Republic of Armenia. The economy of Nagorno-Karabakh is closely integrated with the Armenian one into a single complex with common owners and legal framework. The monetary unit of the NKR is the Armenian dram, but the government of the republic plans to introduce a national currency in the near future.
Sectoral structure of industry
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,
beginning 2000s, %
| All industry | 100 |
|---|---|
| Electric power industry | 58,6 |
| Food industry | 23,0 |
| Forestry and wood processing industry | 5,7 |
| Construction materials industry | 5,4 |
| Light industry | 1,5 |
| Electrical industry | 1,5 |
| Printing industry | 1,4 |
| Radioelectronics industry | 0,4 |
| Other industries | 2,5 |
Electric power industry- a leading sector of the economy. In 2003, 130.6 million kWh of electricity was generated in the NKR. Nagorno-Karabakh generally meets its electricity needs. The largest source of electricity in the republic is the Sarsang hydroelectric power station on the Terter River with a capacity of 50 MW, producing 90-100 million kWh per year. The features of the republic’s river network make it possible to create mini-hydroelectric power stations in almost all regions of the NKR; in the coming years, it is planned to build 18 such hydroelectric power stations with possible with a total capacity of about 140 MW. Since 1994, work has begun in the republic to restore power lines destroyed by the war. As a result, it was built a large number of new lines, which made it possible to completely electrify the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Industry The NKR is represented mainly by small and medium-sized enterprises, mostly in private hands. Stepanakert produces more than half of the republic's total industrial output.
IN Soviet period Light and food industries were considered the dominant industries. The largest light industry enterprises were the Karabakh silk factory, the Stepanakert shoe factory, and the carpet factories of Stepanakert and Shushi. Currently, these enterprises are not operating at full capacity due to the severe narrowing of the sales market. The food industry is based on enterprises producing alcoholic drinks(wine, vodka, cognac), bread and flour products, canned fruits and vegetables.
The largest enterprise industry for the production of building materials remains the Stepanakert Construction Materials Plant, which owns several quarries on the territory of the republic for the extraction of building stone and facing materials from granite, felsite, marble, tuff, etc.
The presence of rich resources of valuable timber species in the NKR promises a great future for the forestry and wood processing industries. In the pre-war period, enterprises in the industry worked primarily on imported raw materials. Local timber reserves are currently being exploited. The Stepanakert furniture factory and the Vank woodworking plant are oriented towards them.
The high-tech electrical industry is represented by the Stepanakert Electrotechnical Plant - the former pride of Soviet Karabakh, where the current President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan began his career. The plant has several branches and subsidiaries in the regions of Nagorno-Karabakh. Today the enterprise operates at only 20% of its existing production capacity. The plant continues to produce household electrical and lighting fixtures(electric stoves, heaters, lamps, chandeliers, fluorescent lamps), but to please the market, furniture production (beds, hangers, tables, chairs, cabinets, garden benches, slate) and consumer goods. Previously, the plant supplied the bulk of its products to the regions of the USSR. Today the consumer market is limited mainly to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Nevertheless, the electrical engineering plant continues to retain highly qualified personnel, which allows it to master the production of new types of products; the plant began to produce highly sensitive medical phonendoscopes.
Among the enterprises of the radio-electronic industry of NKR there is the Stepanakert Capacitor Plant. This enterprise at the moment (for the production of the main type of product) is also not operating at full capacity.
The mining industry was not previously considered Nagorno-Karabakh's specialty. In Soviet times, deposits of building materials were developed here, but ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, unlike the immediate surroundings, were not mined. In 2002, Base Metals LLC was created in NKR with the involvement of foreign capital (including Armenian). An agreement was concluded with this company to begin developing a gold and copper deposit in the village of Drmbon, Mardakert region. Currently, up to 12 thousand tons of ore are mined at the mines annually, all of it is processed at the local mining and processing plant. The resulting concentrate is exported to Armenia, where it undergoes metallurgical processing at a large copper smelter in Alaverdi.
The jewelry industry has experienced unexpected development and dynamic growth in recent years in Nagorno-Karabakh. There are several enterprises for processing precious stones and manufacturing jewelry in the republic. Active negotiations are underway with well-known foreign companies that are ready to locate their production facilities in the NKR. Jewelry making is a traditional craft of Armenians in many parts of the world since the Middle Ages. Foreign companies, locating their branches on the territory of the NKR and providing their materials (raw gold, silver, precious stones, diamonds), save on low salaries for workers (at one of them - Andranik-Dashk CJSC, opened in 1998, the foreman -a jeweler is paid only about $110 per month) and a preferential tax regime.
Comfortable natural conditions NKR is favorable for development Agriculture. In recent years, the NKR has been undergoing a process of reforming the agricultural sector. The gratuitous transfer of land into the ownership of peasants has been completely completed, so the farming type of agriculture now predominates in the republic.
Agriculture of Nagorno-Karabakh specializes in the production of durum wheat, garden crops, grapes, vegetables. To this end, for several years in a row, the state has been lending to peasant farms on preferential terms, trying to restore primarily intensive agricultural sectors, such as viticulture and horticulture. The government has developed and is implementing the “Grapes” program, its goal is to increase the area of vineyards from 1300 to 4000 hectares.
In recent years, NKR peasants have reached the pre-war level of wheat harvest (75-85 thousand tons), however, this volume was collected from an area twice the size of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug. Productivity varies greatly from year to year: in 2003, 25 thousand tons were collected per hectare. centners of wheat (level of Stavropol and Rostov regions), in 2004 only 14.2 centners (this is the average yield in the Russian Non-Black Earth Region). In conditions when only 5% of land in the republic is irrigated, grain production cannot be stable, since it depends too much on weather conditions. Great expectations are associated with the revival of the irrigation system in the republic, which will allow agricultural productivity to increase several times compared to the pre-war level. The projects of the first three large hydraulic systems are already ready: construction on the Ishkhanchay (Ishkhanaget) River and in the Askeran region, as well as the reconstruction of the Madagiz hydroelectric complex.
The development of livestock farming in the NKR is associated with the support of small farms. The livestock is dominated by cattle, sheep, and pigs (there were more pigs in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region than in all other regions of Azerbaijan).
Nagorno-Karabakh is traditionally considered one of the centers of sericulture in Transcaucasia. Much attention is paid to the development of beekeeping; local honey was of high quality and usefulness in previous times. With relatively low costs in this industry, you can count on large profits.
Transport complex The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic includes road and air transport. Until 1988, railway transport also operated in Karabakh, but it was blocked during the armed conflict, and now the tracks have already been dismantled over a considerable distance. In the building of the former railway station of Stepanakert (located 3 km from the city border in the Agdam direction) there is an army barracks. The section of the Baku-Nakhichevan railway running along the border with Iran, which is under the control of the NKR, is also not operational.
In the conditions of the semi-siege of the NKR special meaning purchased a vehicle. The length of all internal roads in NKR is 1248 km, but most of them can be difficult to navigate. The only highway of European quality connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, and in fact with everything outside world, we can name the Goris (Armenia)-Lachin-Stepanakert road reconstructed in the second half of the 90s with a length of 65 km. It is through this transport artery that almost all of NKR’s external relations pass, imported products are imported, exports are delivered, migrants arrive, and military assistance is provided. Armenia has opportunities for external communication through Georgian seaports and international airports in Yerevan and Gyumri. In recent years, a second exit from Karabakh to Armenia has been established - through the Zod Pass (height 2366 m) on the border of the Kelbajar region. The mountain road, where previously only shepherds and tourists could be found, is now used for regular transport links. Concentrates from the Drmbon Mining and Processing Plant are transported to Armenia through the mountain serpentine, military trucks are moving, and so far infrequent Gazelles with passengers are plying. This path is difficult and dangerous: the width of the roadway in some sections does not allow oncoming traffic, the natural features of the pass limit its use only to the warm period of the year and daylight hours. However, there are plans to transform the route through the Zod Pass into a more stable and convenient transport channel.
There are no transport connections on the northern, eastern and southern sections of the NKR border. On the line of contact between the armed formations of Karabakh Armenians and the Azerbaijani armed forces, an “Iron Curtain of the 21st century” arose - 250 km of impenetrable concrete fortifications, minefields and barbed wire barriers. Existing transport routes have been cut and their use in the near future is doubtful. The line running along the Araks, delimiting the NKR-controlled regions of Azerbaijan and Iran, does not have cross-border connections due to the undeveloped border crossings and the lack of legal regulation of relations between the NKR and Iran. Armenian-Iranian contacts pass through the Meghri region of the Republic of Armenia.
In 2000, construction began on the main intra-republican highway “North-South”, 170 km long, which is designed to connect all regional centers of the NKR with Stepanakert. The road is being built in areas with difficult terrain with money from the international Armenian fund “Hayastan”. This transport route has an important military-strategic significance, because the existing roads between Stepanakert, Mardakert, Martuni and Hadrut pass through Agdam and Fuzuli in the “security zones”, that is, through the plain Azerbaijani regions, currently controlled by the NKR Defense Army, but the future fate these territories is unclear. Currently, the main part of the North-South highway is already open to traffic; it is expected that it will be fully operational by 2006.
The only airport in NKR is located in Stepanakert. Previously, only small aircraft could land here. After the reconstruction, which is already being completed, the airport will not only increase its throughput, but will also be able to accommodate wide-body aircraft. In the meantime, the capital’s airport schedule includes irregular helicopter flights to Yerevan, available only to foreign tourists and business travelers from peacekeeping organizations.
Pipeline transport is represented in Karabakh by the Yevlakh-Stepanakert-Goris-Nakhichevan gas pipeline, built in the 80s and in Soviet times providing “blue fuel” from the Caspian fields not only to Nagorno-Karabakh, but also to southern Armenia and the Nakhichevan autonomy of Azerbaijan. Since January 1992, after the deterioration of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, gas flows were stopped and have not been resumed to this day.
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NKR has a developed service sector. The basis banking system constitute the private Artsakhbank, as well as the Stepanakert branches of Armenian banks.” Through their accounts, foreign currency flows into Nagorno-Karabakh from the Armenian diaspora and Karabakh natives working outside their homeland.
Foreign tourism is becoming increasingly important for the NKR economy. Not only ethnic Armenians come here from different parts of the world, but also those who want to visit an “extreme” point on the planet, a “non-existent state”, see magnificent cultural and historical monuments, enjoy mountain landscapes and clean air and pay mere pennies by the standards of enlightened Europe. In different regions of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Swiss company Sirkap Armenia has already built several modern hotels on total amount investments 1.5 million dollars
The range of NKR foreign economic relations is narrowly focused and focused mainly on Armenia, the main sponsor of Karabakh statehood. In this country, Karabakh goods become Armenian and can enter the world market without restrictions. Food industry products (wine and wine products, juices, tobacco, fruits), art objects (carpets, jewelry), and copper ore from the Drmbon deposit are exported from the NKR. The main import items for NKR are energy resources (gasoline traveling through Lachin in Armenian fuel tankers), machinery and equipment, consumer goods, weapons and ammunition.
What's next?
Today, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, although not recognized by anyone except Armenia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the Transnistrian Moldavian Republic, is in fact an independent state that is in close, essentially confederal, relations with the Republic of Armenia. Foreign representative offices of the NKR currently operate, in addition to Yerevan, in Moscow, Washington, Paris, Sydney and Beirut, where they closely coordinate their work with the Armenian embassies.
Nagorno-Karabakh managed to become a specific political entity in the post-Soviet space, even in comparison with other unrecognized states. Firstly, the length of statehood of the Karabakh Armenians is the longest; it is more reasonable to count it not from 1991, but from 1988, the time of the real secession from Azerbaijan. Secondly, the level of Armenia’s involvement in Karabakh affairs is much higher than the degree of interference of external forces in other problematic regions of the former USSR. It is impossible to imagine a Russian policy similar to the Armenian one in Karabakh regarding Abkhazia, South Ossetia or Transnistria. Armenia is deprived of false shame for “incorrect behavior” in the international arena. Feeling the real and tangible support of an ally, in fact the mother country, NKR feels more confident in the international arena. Thirdly, in the space of the NKR and in the territories controlled by it in the post-war period, a monoethnic composition of the population developed (this is not the case either in Abkhazia, or in South Ossetia, and especially in the PMR), which objectively facilitates the consolidation of the “unrecognized” society. Fourthly, NKR has the support of the worldwide Armenian diaspora - the Syurk, which lobbies the interests of Armenians in the international arena, helps with finances and experience, and provides information channels for expressing the Armenian position on Karabakh.
What will happen to Karabakh in the future? It is absolutely obvious that the Karabakh Armenians will not come to Azerbaijan of their own free will. It is also obvious that Azerbaijan will not give up Karabakh, fully understanding the difficulties that will have to be faced in the event of a forceful solution to the territorial problem. The stalemate cannot be resolved without international intervention. The first plan for the territorial resolution of the Karabakh conflict was proposed by American political scientist Paul Gobble back in 1992. According to it, Armenia and Azerbaijan will be able to achieve peace only by exchanging disputed territories. Azerbaijan transfers to Armenia the territory of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (naturally, without the Shaumyan region) and the Lachin region, connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. Armenia transfers its southernmost Meghri region to Azerbaijan, for which it receives the opportunity to use Turkish ports and communications for transit. By giving up this territory, Armenia will lose access to the Araks and will lose its border with Iran. Azerbaijan, on the contrary, will receive a connection between the main territory of the country and the enclave Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Azerbaijan benefits from such an exchange, restoring the compactness of its territory and releasing Nagorno-Karabakh, which did not belong to it. Türkiye wins, receiving a corridor to the Turkic-speaking regions of the former USSR and updating the ideas of a pan-Turkic state. The United States wins by increasing pressure on Iran, its old enemy, and gaining the status of a peacemaker in the geopolitically promising Transcaucasian region. Armenia is losing, finding itself surrounded by a dense blockade of unfriendly countries. Iran is losing by allowing Americans into its borders. Russia loses, deprived of the opportunity to carry out independent foreign policy in the Caucasus. Gobble's plan was greeted with enthusiasm in Turkey and Azerbaijan. However, after the occupation of the Lachin corridor and a number of border regions of Azerbaijan by the NKR Defense Army, it lost its relevance.
The Karabakh issue may be in limbo for several decades, just as the twin conflict in Kashmir has not been resolved for half a century. There, as in Transcaucasia, spears are being broken over the fate of part of the disputed territory, which has not even been part of the state to which it was assigned by decision of the world community, and the problem itself arose after the collapse and territorial delimitation of the once unified political space into national ones ( confessional) fragments. The analogy will be more complete if we remember that Pakistan participating in that conflict, just like today’s Azerbaijan, at the time of the outbreak of the conflict consisted of two spatially separate parts - West and East Pakistan (since 1971 - the independent state of Bangladesh).
EAT. Pospelov believes that the Turkic punishment here it should be translated as “many”, in this case Karabakh is “abundance of gardens”.
Read about the Kashmir conflict S.A. Gorokhov. Kashmir//Geography No. 12,13/2003.
Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) - history, conflict, results. Find out what Karabakh is like today.
Nagorno-Karabakh. Background to the conflict.
By the will of fate and territorial position, Nagorno-Karabakh was located precisely between two independent republics - Azerbaijan and Armenia. Studying Nagorno-Karabakh, the map of which represented a clear middle ground between the two states. During the prosperity of Greater Armenia (the reign of King Artashes, 2nd century BC), Nagorno-Karabakh was annexed to the republic and became part of Artsakh, an Armenian area. At that time, Artsakh was a province and, of course, the indigenous population of Karabakh were Armenians. Over time, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh ceased to be perceived as a single whole, and after the conquest of Nagorno-Karabakh by Albania, Karabakh ceased to be the property of Armenia altogether. But, despite the conquests and the endless transfer from hand to hand, Armenians lived in Karabakh, who were determined to return the historical area to the possession of Armenia. But even then, the Armenians did not suspect that, due to their heightened sense of justice, they would again be subjected to monstrous torments.
In 1921, 3 years after the official completion of the genocide against the Armenian people, a document was signed stating that Karabakh now belongs to Azerbaijan. Again, when signing the document, no one could have thought that the integrity of the Armenian people would not give peace to anyone. It is worth emphasizing once again that this principle was not hostile; the Armenians did not want bloodshed, skirmishes, wars and deaths. From the outside it looked like an ordinary principle and an attempt to achieve justice, but everything was much more complicated and confusing.
The Armenian population of Karabakh has repeatedly complained that the Azerbaijani authorities do not give freedom to the residents, oppress them in every possible way and are not objective in their actions and actions. Before the statement by Aliyev (the head of Azerbaijan, at that time the first secretary of the republic) that the government of Azerbaijan in the 80s tried to overpopulate the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, resettling more Azerbaijanis there, and 94% of the Armenian population was simply automatically squeezed out of Karabakh.
Analyzing the events of that time, many historians come to the conclusion that the Azerbaijani government deliberately pushed its people towards hostility and pitted their heads against the civilians of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh, the conflict in which could not pass unnoticed, was gaining significant momentum. Another group of historians and political scientists argue that the lack of diplomatic commitment to ending the conflict prevented the Azerbaijani government from reaching a peaceful agreement with the Armenians of Karabakh.
The beginning of the conflict.
At the end of the 80s of the 20th century, the Azerbaijani authorities again began to confront the Armenians. A decision was made to artificially “squeeze out” the Armenians, and a whole strategy was developed for this:
- Ban of the Armenian language in schools, institutions, schools. The Azerbaijani language is becoming mandatory everywhere, in every corner of Karabakh. Of course, the Armenians do not understand this and unrest begins. It was after this step that news appeared in the press that several Azerbaijanis were stabbed to death on the streets. The main suspects are a group of Armenians. Everyone understands that the Armenians had nothing to do with it. It was just necessary to provoke the people, to show that the Armenians want war.
- Paradoxical injustice. In the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, all communications were cut off in Armenian villages. People sat for months without water, gas, or electricity. Next to such villages, as a mockery, new settlements grew up - beautiful, with smooth roads and communications, and they were inhabited only by Azerbaijanis. It is at this stage that many men decide to leave Karabakh, because they understand that after this, nothing good will come of it. Back then, no one could have imagined that Nagorno-Karabakh and the war would become synonymous.
- The Armenian population began to riot. Rallies, demonstrations - they asked to be treated humanely and fought for their rights. But the Azerbaijani government presented it in such a way that the Armenians were again dissatisfied with something. And people from the outside didn’t really understand why the Armenians were so dissatisfied. There was a striking difference in the actions of the two sides: Azerbaijan fueled the conflict quietly, unnoticed by outsiders, the Armenians asked for help publicly.
This strategy led to irreversible consequences. Political scientists will characterize this stage as an imitation of genocide. All the same similar actions: the Armenians did not touch anyone, did not interfere with anyone and did not threaten anyone. The enemy decided to act cruelly, inhumanly and without any apparent reason. Until now, many Armenians remember with a shudder what happened later. The whole world was horrified and sympathized with the Armenian people.
The first casualties and the main military actions.
It should be noted that the Azerbaijani authorities reasonably denied their command in the mass riots that occurred later. This is not surprising: the Azerbaijani side did not give commands to the military. There were no military personnel on either side in this conflict. Now we can safely say that what happened in the city of Sumgayit is a clearly planned agitation of the population, “zombifying” the local population and inciting them against each other. The authorities told the crowd that Armenians were killing Azerbaijanis, and then everything could be predicted in a fraction of minutes.
The first massacres of innocent citizens took place in Sumgayit. The authorities gave out the addresses of the Armenians to the bloodthirsty crowd. Ordinary people who at that time were doing household chores and did not suspect anything. Those who were somehow able to predict these events fled the city. According to preliminary data, 18 thousand Armenians left the city at that time. They again left their homes, their relatives, their homes in search of ordinary safety. People left with documents and what they were wearing at the time of departure. No one took out things, jewelry, or honestly acquired property. People wanted to live and fled at the first opportunity.
Unrest took place throughout the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Enraged Azerbaijanis killed everyone who was in their way - women, children, old people. They purposefully walked to the addresses given to them and, like executioners, burst in and took people’s lives.
The incident, which was later covered by all journalists in the world, remains in people’s minds to this day. A pregnant woman was killed in Stepanakert, the capital of the NKR. And without details, this fact is terrible. But the correspondents clarified the method of murder: the unfortunate woman’s stomach was cut, and the child was taken out of the mother’s body. The whole world shuddered from this horror, but not Mikhail Gorbachev. For unknown reasons, general secretary, did not give orders to Soviet military personnel. Many people were of the opinion that the Soviet military simply watched the massacre.
Those who did not have time to escape and whose telephones were not turned off tried to call the police. People believed that the police would help them and protect them. However, everyone was answered and advised not to leave the house. Law enforcement officers, who must be objective under any circumstances, indirectly sent to death those who were able to get through. Those who called unquestioningly listened to the police, stayed at home and were killed within 3 hours. After this conflict, the Armenians of the world will shed tears at famous phrase Gorbachev: “We just missed it by 3 hours.” And this “only” cost many people their lives.
The Armenians who remained in the city defended themselves as best they could. Men went out into the streets with stones and knives, leaving their older sons, brothers and fathers at home so that they could somehow protect women and children. The survivors of that struggle do not like to talk about their heroism, but their exploits should not go unnoticed.
One of the participants in that conflict, Artashes, recalls: “When the Azerbaijanis began to break into our houses, it was already too late to escape, we had to try to stay alive. I left my father at home with my wife and small child, and I fought back as best I could with a brick and a knife. Dad shielded my family with himself when they burst into the house. Since then, I rarely tell anyone this story, and we named our second child after my father. If it weren’t for him, it’s scary to think...”
Hasmik : “I was little, I remember how dad was desperately trying to get through to somewhere. Now I understand that I called the police. When I got through, I will forever remember his face... He turned pale, and a tear rolled down his cheek... his mother ran around him in panic and asked what the police said. And he said dryly: “They told me to wait. Probably them." A few minutes later several people burst into the house, without knives - it was a miracle. We were beaten badly, but we survived.”
These comments from people who were direct participants in the conflict will help all those who doubt it to see what really happened in the cities of the republic back then. No one wants to slander and bring misfortune upon themselves and their family. Those who were then at the epicenter of events honestly spoke about all the horrors that were happening around them.
Ani, housewife: “My husband’s relatives fled to Karabakh after the genocide. After the wedding, we moved in with them, and imagine the horror of our relatives. I was young and could not believe such cruelty, because nothing terrible happened at all. I will forever remember the horror of mothers whose children were killed. I and, probably, everyone who saw this horror dreamed about little children for a very long time afterwards.”
Artak, businessman: “I remember very poorly the events of those days. When I heard about the abolition of the Armenian language in schools, I grabbed my wife and children and left quietly. We left with our things and what we had managed to acquire. I somehow intuitively felt that something terrible would happen. My wife didn’t believe me for a long time, didn’t agree, but when she saw our neighbors in bloody clothes on the doorstep, she believed me.”
Blatant injustice or “free hands.”
After the collapse of the USSR, many troops, weapons and equipment remained on the territory of Azerbaijan. It was peacefully decided that Azerbaijan would simply keep all the terrible weapons. Terrible, because Azerbaijan was in such agony after Karabakh that the possession of such “power” not only freed its hands, but also gave an invisible impetus for the resumption of hostilities, but at a completely different level. In 1991, Azerbaijan became an independent republic, which made it possible to completely freely continue what had been started and reconquer lands. The UN makes a “terrible” decision, supports Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani authorities decide to continue military operations with the goal of completely conquering Karabakh.
It would seem that this was terrible news for the Armenians. Nobody says that all this time there was a lull and the Armenians began to get used to the role of victims. The recognition of Azerbaijan as an independent republic became a stab wound in the heart of the entire Armenian people. The Armenians began to give up, and this was not surprising. They observed the following picture: they were deceptively detained in the city, their families were slaughtered, they were killed, their wives were raped, and their children were beaten to death. And the offenders are not only not punished, but also encouraged by independence. The Armenians knew that only a few people were responsible for all the horrors they experienced in the NKR.
Garik, at that time worked as a teacher at school: “My neighbor and colleague, an Azerbaijani, was not one of those barbarians. He hid my children in the basement, and he was accused of killing people in another part of the city. This couldn’t have happened, but they did it to my friend. I know that several other people were accused, who had no way of finding out our addresses without the help of the authorities.” This is an isolated case of help, but it did happen. Of course, not all Azerbaijanis blindly followed the authorities’ lead. Some people understood at the very beginning that people were simply being pitted against each other, but there were only a few who understood. The bulk chose to mindlessly follow their authorities and get their hands dirty with blood. Famous historians will note that the Azerbaijani government had the strongest power over the common people. They had enough superficial beliefs for the people to follow them.
The situation was heating up. The Azerbaijanis celebrated and rubbed their hands, the Armenians were afraid of a repeat massacre. Azerbaijani troops invaded the territory of Karabakh completely unprepared. They felt like winners, they had weapons, tanks and self-confidence. They could not even imagine that the Armenians, having learned about the recognition of independence, foresaw all the desires of Azerbaijan. The Armenians organized military detachments and armed themselves with rifles and pistols. This is what is considered the first confrontation and attempt of the Armenians to defend their honor and dignity. While on the territory of Karabakh, detachments of civilians were preparing for the meeting as best they could, the final preparations for war were taking place on the territory of Armenia. Thinking through strategies, plans and full combat readiness. Only one thing was needed from the Armenian detachments of Karabakh: to open a corridor connecting Karabakh and Armenia.
The Armenians greeted the “guests” prepared. Planned tactics and special operations made the Azerbaijani authorities nervous. However, only Operation “Wedding in the Mountains” brought the necessary damage to the Azerbaijanis. After this operation, the corridor to Armenia was opened and full-fledged Armenian troops were able to break through to Karabakh. This Lachin-Kelbajar corridor was created by Serzh Sargsyan. At that time, Serzh Sargsyan was one of the founders of the “Artsakh Movement”, which was called upon to return Karabakh to Armenia.
For clarity, it should be noted that Karabakh owned 8 tanks, the Azerbaijanis had several hundred of them. The Armenians repaired damaged tanks, appropriated them and used them against their owners.
Armenia has achieved everything that was planned: the Armenians have achieved historical and territorial justice. The Azerbaijanis now had no rights to Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic became independent. Armenians celebrated and cried at the graves of those who did not live and those who became victims of human cruelty.
The present of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh today is a prosperous republic that is rising from the ashes and fire slowly but surely. The flourishing of infrastructures, the prosperity of tourism, all this gives hope for a peaceful future. Of course, those who lived through what happened in the 90s fear every day for their future and the future of their children.
Hrach, taxi driver. “I wake up every morning and am afraid that there will be a knock on my door. Not for a friendly visit, but to kill me and my family. I survived that time and something tells me that I won’t be so lucky the second time.”
The year 2015 was quite productive and eventful for Karabakh. A population census was conducted in Karabakh. The first since the declaration of independence and this caused a rather mixed reaction in Baku. Baku has a rather harsh attitude towards everything that is happening in Karabakh today. To this day, Azerbaijan and NKR have strained relations. At the same time, the Armenians note that it is the Azerbaijani government that still cannot calm down, despite the fact that they were not the victims. Sociologists conducted a study, during which it was revealed that Azerbaijanis and Armenians are not warring parties today. Their relationship with each other can be called neutral, devoid of cruelty. Children of that time are now adults who have the right to choose their own environment, friends and acquaintances. Armenians and Azerbaijanis of the new generation do not conflict, do not hold grudges, but at the same time, their relations can hardly be called friendly. The older generation prefers to remain neutral.
Since during the hostilities the Armenians lost literally all their cultural heritage in Karabakh, all this time was spent on the construction of churches, memorials, and the erection of monuments to heroes and famous and significant people.
Economic directions: Agriculture, the mining industry, and tourism have finally begun to work for the republic. It took the authorities more than 20 years to raise the republic and bring it to the proper level.
Undoubtedly, the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh was striking in its cruelty and inhumanity. Many sociologists, political scientists and historians note that after the Armenian genocide and the Great Patriotic War, what happened in Karabakh is a brutal crime against an entire people. It is paradoxical that, unlike genocide, the Karabakh conflict is gradually being forgotten and erased from memory. Perhaps because the number of victims is still smaller, or maybe simply because the Armenians have become accustomed to their fate. Everything that happened in Nagorno-Karabakh once again proves that the Armenian people are strong in spirit, unshakable and nothing can break them. Those who fled Nagorno-Karabakh in those days are in no hurry to return. They come to visit friends, family, their land, and also the graves of those they have lost. This is precisely what prevents us from completely letting go and accepting this conflict as a given and a historical event.
Nagorno-Karabakh - region majestic mountains, picturesque valleys, clean rivers and lakes. But, besides everything else, this is a wonderful place, full of ancient cities, powerful strongholds, Orthodox churches and monasteries, many of which have stood here for more than a millennium. And this is not at all surprising, because Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as the province of Artsakh, was part of Greater Armenia, which was formed even before the birth of Jesus Christ. It is not difficult to imagine what cultural value this amazing and beautiful region contains.
How to get there
Getting to Nagorno-Karabakh is not so easy, primarily due to the difficult political situation associated with the uncertainty of the region’s status. It is most convenient for tourists from Russia to fly to Yerevan (several flights a day depart from Moscow to Zvarntots International Airport). And then either rent a car, or use the services of guides or excursion bureaus, since this region is quite large, attractions are scattered throughout the region, and public transport does not run as often as we would like.
By car: from Yerevan you need to follow a very beautiful highway running through southern Armenia to Stepanakert. The distance is about 360 km, travel time is from 4 to 6 hours. There is another option, about the same time and mileage. It passes by Lake Sevan through the city of Zodk, the Karabakh ridge, and Martakert. The third route for thrill-seekers lies through Kafan and flat Karabakh.
You can get to Stepanakert using public transport. Buses run there regularly from the main bus station in Yerevan. The fare is about 10-15 USD. By taxi the cost will be no less than 30 USD.
Search for air tickets to Yerevan (the closest airport to Nagorno-Karabakh)
A little history
Nagorno-Karabakh, located in the Eastern part of the Armenian Highlands, is an extremely interesting region, distinguished by its ancient and complicated story. It is not known for certain who lived on these lands before Karabakh became part of Armenia. For example, according to the information of Herodotus and Xenophon, Armenians appeared on the banks of the Kura River, which flows through these picturesque regions, back in the 7th century BC. e. In the 2nd century, these territories became part of the state of Greater Armenia under the name of the province of Artsakh, where they existed until the fall of the empire, that is, until 390. From this period, the lands of Karabakh were annexed to Caucasian Albania.
It goes without saying that such historical vicissitudes could not but affect the formation of the special culture of these places. For example, while under the rule of Caucasian Albania, the population of Karabakh retained the Armenian language, or rather even its special dialect form. In the Middle Ages, the Principality of Khachen appeared here. In the 9th–11th centuries, the territories went to the Bagratid states, and after the Seljuk expansion, Armenian rule reigned again in Khachen.
Since the 18th century, that is, since the beginning of the reign of Peter the Great, representatives of the political elite and church hierarchs have been in active correspondence with St. Petersburg. And in 1805, during the war against Persia, Russian troops entered the territory of the Karabakh province and accepted the region into Russian citizenship. Formally, this act was enshrined in the Gulistan Peace Treaty of 1813.
After the fall of the Russian Empire, the Assembly of Armenians of Karabakh assumed actual power, but Azerbaijan, which also laid claim to this territory, resorted to the help of the Bolsheviks and foreign powers. This made it possible to include Nagorno-Karabakh into its composition, and soon Azerbaijan itself was annexed to the USSR. The short-sighted political decision of the Bolsheviks to separate Karabakh into an autonomous region within Azerbaijan led to an inevitable conflict, which, in fact, has not yet been completed.
Excursions and sights of Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh, formerly old times the center of culture of Armenia, retained this status throughout its history. And it is no coincidence that one of the most ancient and striking attractions of the region is the Aramas Monastery, the center of religious and cultural life Artsakh province. According to historical information, the monastery was founded in the 5th century by Gregory the Illuminator. It was repeatedly destroyed and looted, but despite this, it again rose from the ashes. The last blows of fate befell him in the late 80s - early 90s, when the Azerbaijani military captured and plundered the monastery.
Another holy place located in the lands of Nagorno-Karbakh is Gandzasar, which also boasts a very ancient history. The first mentions of the main temple of the monastery date back to ancient times, to the 10th century AD. However, a later version of the temple, built in 1240 on exactly the same spot as the old church, has survived to this day. The founder of Gandzasar was Prince Hasan-Jalal Dola. According to legend, a relic sacred to all Christians is kept here - the head of John the Baptist.
They say that during one of the crusades the head of a saint was brought to the church, who was beheaded by order of King Herod. Hence the name of the Gandzasar temple - Surb Hovhannes Mkrtich, which in Armenian means “St. John the Baptist.”
Gandzasar houses many very important relics for Christians. Unique bas-reliefs and inscriptions in ancient Armenian have also been preserved, one of which was inscribed by the founder of the monastery himself.
There are also monuments in the Gandzasar Monastery that remind of recent tragic events. Namely: a shell stuck and unexploded in the wall, fired during the shelling of the monastery by the Azerbaijanis.
Khudaferin bridges
It is not known for certain when exactly these structures were erected, but most likely it happened at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. Connecting the two banks of the Araks River, these complex for those times engineering structures masterfully built on natural rock ledges, which saved the builders from the need to erect supports. In total, two bridges were built - Big and Small, but to our time, unfortunately, the smaller crossing has not survived. But the Big Bridge, on the contrary, functions well for its intended purpose to this day.
Shusha
This small town in Nagorno-Karabakh attracts with two important attractions at once - firstly, the temple in honor of Christ the Savior, and secondly, the stronghold of the same name as the city. The temple worked until the terrible Shusha massacre of 1920, during which the Azerbaijanis brutally dealt with the local population, expelling them from the city, and practically destroying the temple. However, in modern times the church has been restored and today still welcomes believers. Another interesting attraction of Shushi is a powerful fortress built in the 18th century by the Karabakh khan Panah-Ali bek. The fortress was of great strategic importance for local khans. It is not surprising that the construction of fortifications was approached with due responsibility. The construction of the stronghold began with an incredibly long wall, reaching a height of 8 m, which grew on steep cliffs. On the other side, the fortress was protected by spurs of rock, which made an attack on Shushi almost impossible. However, if by some miracle the besiegers managed to take the stronghold, then in this case an underground passage was provided through which one could easily exit into the Karin-tak gorge.
Nagorno-Karabakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, another name is the Republic of Artsakh) is an unrecognized state in Transcaucasia.
According to the Constitution of Azerbaijan, the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and is part of Azerbaijan.
The population of Nagorno-Karabakh is 146 thousand people.
The capital of the state is the city of Stepanakert.
There are no other large cities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh shares land borders with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran.
The country is landlocked.
Almost the entire territory of the state is occupied by mountains, only in the south of the country is the Artsakh Plain located.
A third of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is covered with forest. There are both coniferous and deciduous forests.
Nagorno-Karabakh is divided administratively into 7 districts and the capital.
City: Stepanakert.
Districts: Askeran, Hadrut, Martakert, Martuni, Shaumyanov, Shusha, Kashatagh.
The country has one time zone. The difference with Greenwich is +4 hours.
home mountain system country - the Armenian Highlands, part of the Caucasus Mountains. Other mountain ranges are Karabakh and Murovdag.
The highest point of the country is Mount Gamish. Its height is 3724 meters.
Nagorno-Karabakh has its own rivers. The largest river is Terter. Other large Karabakh rivers are Araks, Vorotan, Khachen.
There are few lakes in Nagorno-Karabakh. The largest lake is Sev Lich. Other famous lakes are Sev and Gorgatarak.
In Karabakh there is railways. Today, only one line operates (Julfa - Horadiz). Other lines have been closed or dismantled since the outbreak of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. The line to Iran is currently being designed.
Most of the country's roads are in poor condition. Only the highway connecting Stepanakert with Yerevan is in good condition.
Nagorno-Karabakh has a complicated history:
a) Nagorno-Karabakh in ancient times– the spread of cattle breeding (VI-V millennium BC), Kura-Araks culture, Khojaly-Kedabek culture (XIII-VII centuries BC);
b) Ancient Karabakh (before the 2nd century BC) – mass settlement of Armenians in the territory of modern Karabakh;
c) Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Great Armenia (from the 2nd century BC to 387 AD) - the conquest of the territory of Karabakh by Great Armenia from the pre-Persian state of Media (II century BC), inclusion in Greater Armenia (2nd century BC ), division of Greater Armenia (387) and the entry of Nagorno-Karabakh into Caucasian Albania (387);
d) Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Caucasian Albania (387 - 705) - entry into Caucasian Albania, liquidation of Caucasian Albania by the Persians (461), restoration of Caucasian Albania (490), repeated liquidation of Caucasian Albania by the Persians (510), third restoration Caucasian Albania (630), the final destruction of Caucasian Albania by the Arab Caliphate (705);
e) Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the Arab Caliphate (since 705) - forced Islamization of the Armenian population;
f) Nagorno-Karabakh in the Middle Ages (from the end of the 10th century) - the collapse of the Arab Caliphate, the Khachen Principality (10th century), entry into the restored Armenian state, the collapse of the Armenian kingdom and the seizure of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh
Seljuk Turks, liberation of Khachen from the Seljuk Turks (late 12th century), entry into two Turkic states Kara-Koyunlu and Ak-Koyunlu (15th century),
entry into Persia (XVI century), resettlement of Kurdish tribes, Persian campaign of Peter the Great (1720-1722) and an attempt to free himself from Persian oppression, attack of the Ottoman Empire, conclusion of the Treaty of Constantinople, entry of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh into the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman occupation ( 1723 – 1733), the war between Persia and the Ottoman Empire and the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh by the Turks, return to Persia (1735), creation of the Karabakh Khanate (1748)
g) Nagorno-Karabakh during the Karabakh Khanate (since 1748) - internecine strife between Armenian princes, the rise to power of the Turkic Khan, mass emigration of Armenians from the territory of Karabakh, the war with Persia (1795);
h) Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the Russian Empire (since 1804) and before the establishment of Soviet power - the entry of the Karabakh Khanate into the Russian Empire, an increase in the Armenian population, the Armenian-Tatar conflict in Shusha (1905), the October Revolution and proclamation (1918 ) independent Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (ZFDR), the collapse of the ZFDR into Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan (1918), Azerbaijan’s attempts to subjugate Nagorno-Karabakh with the help of troops of the Ottoman Empire (1919), the beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict (1918), growing conflict with Azerbaijan, Armenian pogroms in Baku, Armenian-Azerbaijani war (1918-1920);
i) Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the USSR (since 1920) – entry of Nagorno-Karabakh into the Azerbaijan SSR, formation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (1937);
j) Nagorno-Karabakh during the armed Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict (since 1988) and after it - the emergence of a tendency to join Armenia (1987), the first local conflicts on ethnic grounds between Armenians and Azerbaijanis (1987), the adoption by the Council of Nagorno-Karabakh Karabakh Autonomous Region, the decision to secede from the Azerbaijan SSR (1988), armed clashes, the introduction of a state of emergency (1990), the proclamation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (September 1991), the referendum on independence (December 10, 1991), the beginning of the war, military operations on the territory of Karabakh, signing of the Bishkek ceasefire agreement (1994).
Nagorno-Karabakh has various types mineral. Of the strategic hydrocarbons in the country, coal deposits have been explored.
Other minerals include gold, copper, lead, chromium, zinc, cobalt, aluminum raw materials, iron ore, marble, limestone, granite, tuff, and basalt.
There are many mineral springs in Nagorno-Karabakh that have healing properties.
On the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh there are two climatic zones: a temperate climate zone (in the mountainous part of the country) and a subtropical climate zone (in the flat part). In areas where the climate is temperate, the seasons change clearly. The winter here is cold and snowy. Sometimes frost can reach 25 degrees below zero. Summer is warm, but not hot.
In the flat part of Nagorno-Karabakh the climate is subtropical. Winters are warm and rainy, summers are hot and dry.