The Nagarno-Karabakh Conflict Explained
- 82newsbulletin
- Nov 6, 2020
- 2 min read
Written by Karrie Lam
Fears of a regional war grew once again following heavy fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nargorno-Karabakh. The fighting that broke out on September 27 resulted in more than 360 deaths, of which 320 were military personnel, 19 civilians in Nargorno-Karabakh and 28 Azeri civilians.
France, the US and Russia are getting involved by holding talks in Geneva in hopes of ceasing hostilities and representatives from these countries will meet in Moscow on Monday to discuss how to persuade the unrelenting warring parties to negotiate a ceasefire. Yet, it is unclear whether any Armenian and Arezi representatives would attend the meetings.
Azerbaijan’s ceasefires conditions are for Armenia to end its acute phase of military conflict, setting a timetable for withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding Azeri territories and for Turkey to be involved in mediation.
Armenia’s ceasefire conditions are that Turkey “discontinues its engagements and “the withdrawal of mercenaries and terrorists or their elimination”, according to the Armenian Prime Minister.
Nargorno-Karabakh region has long been a source of tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The region, formed in 1924 by the Soviet Union, is legally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but is populated by 95% Armenains. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, so did its control over the region and it officially declared its independence. Thus began the long-standing tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
How does this territorial dispute in Europe and Eurasia relate to the international community? Seeing that Azerbaijan is one of Caspian Sea region’s main export routes to the west and a significant oil and gas exporter to Central Asia and Europe, the growing conflicts could disrupt the export of oil and gas.
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