Nagorno-Karabakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh, is a country in the Caucasus. It is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is closely linked in every way to Armenia and accessible only through Armenia.
WARNING: There is a very high risk of armed conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the surrounding military-occupied area in Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, the situation is relatively stable. Several ceasefire violations along the Line of Contact separating the opposing forces and elsewhere on the border took place in 2017, resulting in deaths and casualties. Several Foreign Offices advise against all travel to Nagorno-Karabakh and the military occupied area surrounding it, within 5 km of the Line of Contact, and within 5 km of the border with Armenia.
CITIES
Stepanakert (Khankendi) — the capital is a small city and your likely base for exploring the region
Berdzor (Lachin) — the first town you pass through upon entering Karabakh. Shops, church and a clinic. There is also a small geological museum and art gallery worth visiting. Admission is free.
Hadrut — a small southern town with several nearby 13th- and 14th-century monasteries, and the terminus of the Janapar Trail.
Karvachar — administrative center of the Karvachar/Shahumyan region. Nicely sited very small town.
Martakert (Aghdara) — administrative center of Martakert Province with the Sarsang Reservoir
Martuni (Khojavend) — a small town near the small historically important Amaras Monastery
Shushi (Shusha) — the historic capital of Karabakh and formerly one of the cultural capitals of the Caucasus; has lots to see, although the town is largely in ruins from the war and is a shell of its former self
OTHER DESTINATIONS
Agdam — a huge modern-day ghost town
Vank – small town close to the monastery of Gandzasar, one of Karabakh’s top attractions. Also known for a hotel in the shape of a boat with a zoo, and the wall of license plates.
POLITICAL STATUS
Nagorno-Karabakh has been in an indefinite state of political limbo since the 1994 ceasefire of a war in which it became independent. Under the ceasefire agreement, Azerbaijan’s government has no control of the region. It remains recognized as part of Azerbaijan by all UN member states, and has been recognized only by three other self-proclaimed and unrecognized states, Transnistria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. Although Armenia supports Nagorno-Karabakh economically and militarily, they have not recognized the region’s independence.
Background. This region has long been populated by Armenians and it has historically and culturally been part of Armenia. The Soviets, insensitive to such cultural distinctions, included it as an autonomous region of their Azerbaijan republic and so sowed the seeds of the current unrest. As Soviet dominion withered, the Armenians sought to incorporate the region into their newly independent country. This led to a war of independence, similar to those in Transnistria and in other ethnically mixed areas on the former Soviet empire’s fringe.
The fighting stopped with the 1994 ceasefire and the dispute moved from the theatre of war to diplomatic circles (the OSCE Minsk Group), where the region is still squabbled over by Armenia and its Russian backers, and Azerbaijan and its Turkish allies.
Culture
During the conflict, the Azeri population fled. The region is culturally a part of Armenia. However there is a distinct border complete with immigration formalities on the road from Armenia. Investment and development in the region has invariably come from Armenians, further entrenching Armenian cultural ties.
The region is largely rural with a few small towns. Its charms lie in its historic Armenian ruins & medieval monasteries and its natural features. There’s also the frisson of visiting a disputed republic (and even getting permits to visit destroyed towns near the front line).
GEOGRAPHY
Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. It is mostly mountainous and forested and has an area of 8,223 km2 (3,175 mi2).
GET IN
Visa Restrictions. Traveling in Nagorno-Karabakh will cause problems if you have a stamped visa from Karabakh in your passport and later want to visit Azerbaijan. Therefore get the visa on a separate sheet of paper instead of a stamp in your passport. If you have a stamp, Azeri authorities will deny you a visa, cancel any Azeri visa you may have obtained, and ban you from the country. Upon trying to enter Azerbaijan you will be turned away, deported, or possibly arrested. Depending on current politics, you might even have problems in Azerbaijan from having visited Armenia.
Entry requirements. Nagorno-Karabakh entry permit, issued in Yerevan.
Nagorno-Karabakh can be entered only from Armenia. Doing so is considered an illegal entry into Azerbaijani territory by Azerbaijan.
Visas for Nagorno-Karabakh can be obtained (M-F 09:00 to 17:00, lunch hour from 13:00) from: the Permanent Mission to the Republic of Armenia, 17A Nairi Zaryan St, Yerevan, Armenia (+37410 24 97 05, nkr@arminco.com)—it can take up to 7 hr for the visa to be issued (So. go there in the morning and come back in the afternoon. If you do not have a photo, it’s not that big of a deal.).
Visa on arrival is possible at the border after filling out a form make sure you have an address where you will be staying to list although you need not actually stay there (June 2019).
Tourist visas are free and are usually valid for 21 days after issue. Visas with longer validity and multiple entries are also available but at high prices. An English-language version of the Foreign Office visa application is available online (in Yerevan a slightly different form is used). Visa applications in Yerevan require a 3×4 cm photograph, those in Stepanakert do not (but still accept it, of course). However, people have also received visas in Yerevan without having had photographs. Registration papers (showing the regions permitted) are issued with the visa. These papers need to be kept with you all the time and returned when leaving the region. As a tourist ask to go to all allowed areas and you will get this without any problems – it is best to mention the Janapar Trail, which crosses the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh and the most important sites, like Hadrut, Shushi, Stepanakert, Gandzasar, Dadivank and Kalbajar.
Not every local car or bus is controlled at the border. In case your bus doesn’t stop at the border, don’t worry and just go to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Azatamartikneri Street 28, Stepanakert +37447 94 14 18, cons@mfa.nk.am) when you arrive Stepanakert.
Because the visa will not automatically be pasted into your passport, you can use it to conceal unwanted stamps. For instance, if you have visited Kosovo and now want to visit Serbia, simply cover the Kosovo stamps with the Karabakh visa, and voilà, you’ve never violated Serbian border integrity, and will be allowed into the country.
There are no checkpoints administrated by Armenia when entering or leaving Nagorno-Karabakh. Your original Armenian visa remains valid and is needed to continue travelling in Armenia. However, you cannot obtain a new visa when entering Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, so make sure your Armenian visa is valid long enough that it will not expire before you leave Armenia after re-entering the country from N-K.
By bus. There exists daily bus connections between Yerevan and Stepanakert, as well as Goris and Stepanakert, see Stepanakert#Get in for more details. Buses and marshrutkas taking the southern route into Nagorno-Karabakh also pass by Shushi on their way.
By car. The main road into the region runs from Yerevan in Armenia to the region’s capital Stepanakert via the Lachin Corridor, a mountain pass near the town of Lachin (Berdzor in Armenian). Another usable road crosses the Karvajar (Kelbajar) pass further north but is only open in summer. However, that means as early as April—ask at the embassy in Yerevan.
By taxi. Taxi drivers in Yerevan may be willing to drive you to Stepanakert and vice versa. Expect to pay US$80–100, and be wary.
The embassy in Yerevan and also tour companies there (Artsakh in Armenian) can arrange drivers to take you to Stepanakert and to show you the region’s biggest attractions. This costs about US$100–150 per person.
By plane. Stepanakert has the only airport in the region, and one airline, Artsakh Air. Political wrangling has prevented any planes from taking off, though. The Azeris announced to shoot down any flights that they don’t control. There was some progress in 2012 towards the establishment of flights from the Armenian capital, but by September 2017 there were still no flights. Helicopter trips, however, are available.
By train. There is no working train line between Yerevan and Stepanakert.
GET AROUND
Janapar trail near the village of Karintak. The yellow-on-blue symbol marks the trail.
The reconstructed Hadrut-Stepanakert-Askeran-Martakert motorway runs north-south through the region and has drastically reduced travel times to just a couple hours from just about any place in the country (excluding small villages & monasteries secluded in hilly terrain).
Stepanakert and Shushi have hotels. Shushi has a lot more specific sites of interest to see, more history, and is more interesting, while Stepanakert is right on the main highway and a lot more developed. If you’re going to be heading in and out of the countryside a fair bit, you should consider that staying in Stepanakert will shave 20 minutes off of your drive in each direction.
By bus. You can reach almost every destination from the central bus station in Stepanakert. Ask there when your bus or marshrutka starts. If you start from the central bus station your visa could be controlled. From all other bus stations there is no visa control.
By car. If you plan to travel to Karabakh from Yerevan, there are several car rental agencies in Yerevan that provide cars that can also be driven into Nagorno-Karabakh.
If your Armenian or Russian is good, you may be able to hitch a ride for less than a taxi (although don’t pay too much less, as these are certainly not affluent people), and you could very easily be invited for dinner with them (in which you should have some gift, especially wine, coffee, or chocolates, and do not offer money) as the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are doing this out of hospitality.
By taxi. Taxis are available in most cities, with a new north-south road across the Nagorno-Karabakh making for a smooth and quicker (than you’d expect) ride across the region. These cost about 120 dram/km within a town, or 150 dram/km if you take the cab out of town.
By thumb. Like the rest of Armenia, hitchhiking is extremely easy. Most cars that pass will stop, and you will be offered free food and alcohol during your ride. Wait times can be long because of the lack of traffic, but once you have gotten a ride you will likely be driven for a long distance. Hitchhiking in the north of Karabakh is more difficult because of the lack of vehicles and poor road conditions, but the friendliness of the locals will help to counteract this.
On foot. All cities are small and fairly safe, so it is best to walk around the few cities in Nagorno-Karabakh. Not only will you save a little money, but you will get a good sense of the region and its people.
Language
Armenian and Russian are widely used. Karabakh Armenians speak a dialect of Eastern Armenian that differs substantially from the Armenian spoken in Yerevan – though most Karabakh Armenians can speak the Yerevan dialect if necessary, and all can understand it. Most older Karabakhtsis can speak Azeri but it is no longer used and is becoming forgotten. Relatively few locals speaks English (though those working in tourist-related areas, i.e. hotels and restaurants, often do speak a reasonable bit of English or at least can find someone around who speaks the language).
SEE
Stepanakert, the capital city
Shuka (Farmers market)
Tatik Papik aka We Are Our Mountains (famous monument on northern outskirts)
Shushi
Ghazanchetsots Cathedral of the Holy Savior
City walls
Govharagha Mosque
Jtrtuz overlook of Karkar Canyon
Zontik Waterfall (1½-hour hike on Janapar Trail)
Gandzasar monastery. The monastery at Gandzasar was commissioned by the House of Khachen and completed in 1238. A main tourist attraction, literally meaning “treasure mountain”. Several bust motifs (possibly the donors of the monasteries) can be found at the monastery.
Dadivank monastery. Built between the 9th & 13th centuries CE. Like at Gandzasar, bust motifs (possibly the donors of the monasteries) can be found here.
Gtichavank monastery.
Amaras monastery. The Amaras Monastery, founded in the 4th century by St Gregory the Illuminator. In the 5th century, Mesrop Mashtots, inventor of the Armenian alphabet, established at Amaras the first school to use his script.
Tzitzernavank monastery. Interior of the Tsitsernavank Monastery, which dates to the 5th-6th centuries CE with little restoration since. It is believed to contain relics of St.George the Dragon Slayer and annual festivals here celebrate him.|
St. Yeghish Arakyal monastery.
Yeritsmankants monastery (Yerits Mankants).
Tigranakert of Artsakh. The ancient city of Tigranakert, one of four cities that were founded in the 1st century BCE in opposite corners of Armenia and named after King Tigran II the Great, ruler of the short-lived Armenian Empire. Tigranakert, which has been undegoing archaeological excavations since 2005, is located in Mardakert District.
Askeran fortress (Mayraberd). 10th–18th centuries. Served as the primary bulwark against Turko-nomadic incursions from the eastern steppe. The fort is found to the northeast of the region’s capital city of Stepanakert in Askeran.
DO
Janapar Trail. One way to see much of Karabakh is simply to walk from one end to the other on the Janapar. There is a marked trail that is broken up into day hikes which extend for 2 weeks of hiking. There are side trails and alternative routes as well. Trails take you to ancient monasteries and fortresses, through forests and valleys, to hot springs and villages. Each night you can either stay with a village family or camp out.
Qamışlı Gorge. A beautiful and impressively deep and steep gorge created by the river and possibly work for the road leading up north to Qamışlı village. No Azeri sniper will ever be able to aim at cars on this road.
MONEY
Nagorno-Karabakh uses the Armenian dram (֏ or AMD) for most transactions. The state bank has also issued limited amounts of another currency, Nagorno-Karabakh drams (no symbol or ISO code). The NK dram is available in 2 & 10 dram banknotes and 50 luma (0.5 dram), 1 dram, & 5 dram coins. All banknotes & coins are dated 2004. NK drams are increasingly less common, since they were printed in limited quantities, aren’t worth much, and many note & coins have been taken out of the region as souvenirs or to sell to collectors. U.S. dollars & Russian rubles are accepted by some merchants, hotels and others.
The ATMs of the Karabakh’s own bank named Artsakhbank do not accept Visa or Mastercards. All other banks accept them.
Shopping. There are several tourist/souvenir shops in Stepanakert. The area is known for rugs, which make good souvenirs, and it is said that many people in the region and bordering countries learned rug making from the ancient Armenians of Karabakh.
The Tumi village is famous for two elder men who make custom traditional leather shoes. You won’t find any other place that makes them. The oldest style of shoes you can find in Armenia.
CUISINE
Jingalov Hats — a bread that has greens baked into it, a local specialty.
Tutti Chamich — mulberry raisins, available at the market (shuka)
Many Mulberry trees are to be found, but make sure to eat only ripe fruit – a dark black/red or a pure white. They should not have any green, and should be plump and sweet.
Drink
Tutti Oghi — Mulberry Vodka, which Karabakh is famous for, often reaching 80% alcohol, and with a distinct taste.
The Shekher Winery produces a good quality wine.
ACCOMMODATION
See the city articles for the individual options.
Also, the Janapar Trail article has an extensive range of homestays in towns and villages along the trail through Nagorno-Karabakh.
WORK
Limitless volunteer work for the willing. Incredibly low cost of living. The government will gladly give most people land as long as they are willing to farm and tend to it.
STAY SAFE
Western governments advise their citizens to avoid the region but in spite of that, hundreds of westerners visit Nagorno-Karabakh every year.
Don’t venture east of the Mardakert-Martuni highway, where the ceasefire line is located. Otherwise, it is very safe to travel around and interact with people. When you first arrive in Karabakh, you must go to what is called the “MIT”, the Stepanakert foreign affairs office, to get your travel papers. This will prevent any confusion if one gets pulled over or stopped by local authorities.
If you are planning to hike, be in rural areas, or stay on the outskirts of cities note that the area is inhabited by bears and wolves. While they will not attack if unprovoked, practice bear safety and walk away slowly if unexpectedly approached. If you are planning to hike, the Janapar Trail has been broken into day-long hikes and it is best to take advantage of the homestays offered rather than to camp alongside the trails. If you do camp, make sure to keep your food high in a tree and a few dozen meters (a hundred feet or so) from your tent and do not simply sleep on the ground or in a sleeping bag. Sleep inside a tent.
While the region is fairly safe in terms of crime, you must not lose your passport. There are no foreign embassies in the Nagorno-Karabakh, and you may have a hard time leaving Nagorno-Karabakh without a passport or visa. The US embassy in Baku says that “because of the existing state of hostilities, consular services are not available to Americans in Nagorno-Karabakh.” It would be safe to assume that this applies to all other nationalities and their embassies in Baku.
Health
Drink bottled water if you are not accustomed to the local water. However if you are hiking, drinking water in mountain streams and ponds in reasonably safe, as long as you are sure it is not downstream from a large town (in which case it is likely contaminated with chemicals, street runoff, and/or waste.
This is a rural region: in the event of a medical emergency the hospitals in Nagorno-Karabakh are no more than a modest clinic. The nearest major hospital is in Yerevan, a long distance in the event of a heart attack or complications with any medical problems you may have. It is best to have with you a small first aid kit with bandaids, bandages, antibiotic cream, ibuprofen, and any other medicine you may need.
RESPECT
The people of Nagorno-Karabakh are very friendly and inviting, and if your Armenian or Russian is good enough, you will easily meet people who will invite you to their house for dinner (and some will even harass you until you accept). Unlike many parts of the world, you should not worry about your safety, no matter how much they harass you, and accept their invitation. Even though these people do not have much and, like many persons in developing countries, view westerners as rich, they will vehemently refuse any type of money given to them (although you may find luck saying it is “for the children”). However, do not show up empty-handed! You will be expected to bring some sort of gift, with food (wine, chocolates, coffee, etc.) being best. You should also bring something to show/give them from your home country (postcard, book, photos, etc.) to have a conversation or at least get their interest. You never know, they may likely have family in another place and what you thought was just dinner could turn into inviting you to other family’s businesses (discounts), homes (to stay the night), or another meal.
The wiki on the Janapar trail recommends no trace camping and if you bathe, make sure no locals are around (it may be offensive). Just as stated above, you will receive offers of food and rest. Have gifts for such people, but do not offer money.
CONNECT
It is recommended to have a SIM card of the company Vivacell. All other phone operators that are active in this region refuse for political reasons roaming inside Karabakh.
Alternatively get a SIM card from Karabakh’s own phone company Karabakh Telecom when you are in Stepanakert. All you need is your passport and 1,200 dram. This includes the cost for the SIM card and 600 dram as initial money in your account. Using mobile Internet is also possible. The Karabakh Telecom’s main office in the Vardan Mamikonyan St. 23 in Stepanakert has personnel speaking English. They can also help you if you have technical problems with your phone.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
Nagorno-Karabakh (lit. ‘mountainous Karabakh’), also known as Artsakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur, and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is mostly mountainous and forested.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but most of the region is governed by the Republic of Artsakh (formerly named Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), a de facto independent state with Armenian ethnic majority established on the basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Azerbaijan has not exercised political authority over the region since the advent of the Karabakh movement in 1988. Since the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994, representatives of the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group on the region’s disputed status.
The region is usually equated with the administrative borders of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast comprising an area of 4,400 square kilometres (1,700 sq mi). The historical area of the region, however, encompasses approximately 8,223kms2
Etymology
The prefix Nagorno- derives from the Russian attributive adjective nagorny which means “highland.” Such words are not used in the Armenian name, but they have appeared in the official name of the region during the Soviet era as Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. The names for the region in the various local languages all translate to “mountainous Karabakh”, or “mountainous black garden”:
The Armenians living in the area often refer to Nagorno-Karabakh as Artsakh using the name of the 10th province of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia.
HISTORY
Antiquity and Early Middle Ages. The ancient population of the region consisted of various autochthonous local and migrant tribes who were mostly non-Indo-Europeans. These natives intermarried with Armenians who came to the region after its inclusion into Armenia in the 2nd or, possibly earlier, in 4th century BC.
In around 180 BC, Artsakh became one of the 15 provinces of the Armenian Kingdom and remained so until the 4th century. Tigran the Great, King of Armenia, (ruled from 95–55 BC), founded in Artsakh one of four cities named “Tigranakert” after himself. – the ruins of the ancient Tigranakert are located 30 miles (48 km) north-east of Stepanakert.
In 387 AD, after the partition of Armenia between Byzantium and Sassanid Persia, two Armenian provinces Artsakh and Utik became part of the Sassanid satrapy of Caucasian Albania, which, in turn, came under strong Armenian religious and cultural influence. At the time the population of Artsakh and Utik consisted of Armenians and several Armenized tribes.
Armenian culture and civilization flourished in the early medieval Nagorno-Karabakh. In the 5th century, the first-ever Armenian school was opened on the territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh—at the Amaras Monastery—by the efforts of St. Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet. Armenians of Artsakh had their own dialect, and encouraged his readers to learn it.
High Middle Ages (Principality of Khachen). Around the mid 7th century, the region was conquered by the invading Muslim Arabs through the Muslim conquest of Persia. Subsequently, it was ruled by local governors endorsed by the Caliphate. According to some sources, in 821, the Armenian prince Sahl Smbatian revolted in Artsakh and established the House of Khachen, which ruled Artsakh as a principality until the early 19th century. The name “Khachen” originated from Armenian word “khach,” which means “cross”. By 1000 the House of Khachen proclaimed the Kingdom of Artsakh with John Senecherib as its first ruler.[29] Initially Dizak, in southern Artsakh, formed also a kingdom ruled by the ancient House of Aranshahik, descended of the earliest Kings of Caucasian Albania. In 1261, after the daughter of the last king of Dizak married the king of Artsakh, Armenian prince Hasan Jalal Dola, the two states merged into one Armenian Principality of Khachen. Subsequently, Artsakh continued to exist as a de facto independent principality.
Late Middle Ages (Melikdoms of Karabakh). In the 15th century, the territory of Karabakh was part of the states ruled subsequently by the Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu Turkic tribal confederations. According to Abu Bakr Tihrani, during the period of Jahan Shah (1438–1468), the ruler of Kara Koyunlu, Piri bey Karamanli held the governorship of Karabakh. However, according to Robert H. Hewsen, the Turkoman lord Jahan Shah (1437–67) assigned the governorship of upper Karabakh to local Armenian princes, allowing a native Armenian leadership to emerge consisting of five noble families led by princes who held the titles of meliks. These dynasties represented the branches of the earlier House of Khachen and were the descendants of the medieval kings of Artsakh. Their lands were often referred to as the Country of Khamsa (five in Arabic).
The Armenian meliks were granted supreme command over neighboring Armenian principalities and Muslim khans in the Caucasus by the Iranian king Nader Shah, in return for the meliks’ victories over the invading Ottoman Turks in the 1720s. These five principalities in Karabakh were ruled by Armenian families who had received the title Melik (prince) and were the following:
From 1501 to 1736, during the existence of the Safavid Empire, the province of Karabakh was governed by Ziyadoglu Gajar’s dynasty. Ziyadoglu Gajar’s dynasty ruled the province of Karabakh until Nader Shah took over Karabakh from their rule. The Armenian meliks maintained full control over the region until the mid-18th century. In the early 18th century, Iran’s Nader Shah took Karabakh out of control of the Ganja khans in punishment for their support of the Safavids, and placed it under his own control. In the mid-18th century, as internal conflicts between the meliks led to their weakening, the Karabakh Khanate was formed. The Karabakh khanate, one of the largest khanates under Iranian suzerainty, was headed by Panah-Ali khan Javanshir. For the reinforcement of the power of Karabakh khanate, Khan of Karabakh, Panah-Ali khan Javanshir, built up “the fortress of Panahabad (today Shusha)” in 1751. During that time, Otuziki, Javanshir, Kebirli, and other Turkic tribes constituted majority of the overall population.
Modern era. Karabakh (including modern-day Nagorno-Karabakh), became a protectorate of the Russian Empire by the Kurekchay Treaty, signed between Ibrahim Khalil Khan of Karabakh and general Pavel Tsitsianov on behalf of Tsar Alexander I in 1805, according to which the Russian monarch recognized Ibrahim Khalil Khan and his descendants as the sole hereditary rulers of the region. However, its new status was only confirmed following the outcome of the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813), when through the loss in the war, Persia formally ceded Karabakh to the Russian Empire per the Treaty of Gulistan (1813) before the rest of Transcaucasia was incorporated into the Empire in 1828 by the Treaty of Turkmenchay, which came as an outcome of the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828).
In 1822, 9 years after passing from Iranian to Russian control, the Karabakh Khanate was dissolved, and the area became part of the Elisabethpol Governorate within the Russian Empire. In 1823 the five districts corresponding roughly to modern-day Nagorno-Karabakh, was 90.8% Armenian.
Soviet era. The present-day conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has its roots in the decisions made by Joseph Stalin and the Caucasian Bureau during the Sovietization of Transcaucasia. Stalin was the acting Commissar of Nationalities for the Soviet Union during the early 1920s, the branch of the government under which the Kavburo was created. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Karabakh became part of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, but this soon dissolved into separate Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian states. Over the next two years (1918–1920), there were a series of short wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan over several regions, including Karabakh. In July 1918, the First Armenian Assembly of Nagorno-Karabakh declared the region self-governing and created a National Council and government. Later, Ottoman troops entered Karabakh, meeting armed resistance by Armenians.
After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, British troops occupied Karabakh. The British command provisionally affirmed Khosrov bey Sultanov (appointed by the Azerbaijani government) as the governor-general of Karabakh and Zangezur, pending final decision by the Paris Peace Conference. The decision was opposed by Karabakh Armenians. In February 1920, the Karabakh National Council preliminarily agreed to Azerbaijani jurisdiction, while Armenians elsewhere in Karabakh continued guerrilla fighting, never accepting the agreement. The agreement itself was soon annulled by the Ninth Karabagh Assembly, which declared union with Armenia in April.
In April 1920, while the Azerbaijani army was locked in Karabakh fighting local Armenian forces, Azerbaijan was taken over by Bolsheviks. On 10 August 1920, Armenia signed a preliminary agreement with the Bolsheviks, agreeing to a temporary Bolshevik occupation of these areas until final settlement would be reached. In 1921, Armenia and Georgia were also taken over by the Bolsheviks who, in order to attract public support, promised they would allot Karabakh to Armenia, along with Nakhchivan and Zangezur (the strip of land separating Nakhchivan from Karabakh). However, the Soviet Union also had far-reaching plans concerning Turkey, hoping that it would, with a little help from them, develop along Communist lines. Needing to placate Turkey, the Soviet Union agreed to a division under which Zangezur would fall under the control of Armenia, while Karabakh and Nakhchivan would be under the control of Azerbaijan. Had Turkey not been an issue, Stalin would likely have left Karabakh under Armenian control. As a result, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was established within the Azerbaijan SSR on 7 July 1923.
With the Soviet Union firmly in control of the region, the conflict over the region died down for several decades. With the beginning of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the question of Nagorno-Karabakh re-emerged. Accusing the Azerbaijani SSR government of conducting forced Azerification of the region, the majority Armenian population, with ideological and material support from the Armenian SSR, started a movement to have the autonomous oblast transferred to the Armenian SSR. The oblast’s borders were drawn to include Armenian villages and to exclude as much as possible Azerbaijani villages. The resulting district ensured an Armenian majority. In August 1987, Karabakh Armenians sent a petition for union with Armenia with tens of thousands of signatures to Moscow.
War and secession. On 13 February 1988, Karabakh Armenians began demonstrating in their capital, Stepanakert, in favour of unification with the Armenian republic. Six days later they were joined by mass marches in Yerevan. On 20 February, the Soviet of People’s Deputies in Karabakh voted 110 to 17 to request the transfer of the region to Armenia. This unprecedented action by a regional soviet brought out tens of thousands of demonstrations both in Stepanakert and Yerevan, but Moscow rejected the Armenians’ demands. On 22 February 1988, the first direct confrontation of the conflict occurred as a large group of Azeris marched from Agdam against the Armenian populated town of Askeran, “wreaking destruction en route”. The confrontation between the Azeris and the police near Askeran degenerated into the Askeran clash, which left two Azeris dead, one of them reportedly killed by an Azeri police officer, as well as 50 Armenian villagers, and an unknown number of Azeris and police injured. Large numbers of refugees left Armenia and Azerbaijan as violence began against the minority populations of the respective countries.
On 29 November 1989, direct rule in Nagorno-Karabakh was ended and the region was returned to Azerbaijani administration. The Soviet policy backfired, however, when a joint session of the Armenian Supreme Soviet and the National Council, the legislative body of Nagorno-Karabakh, proclaimed the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.
In 1989, Nagorno-Karabakh had a population of 192,000. The population at that time was 76 percent Armenian and 23 percent Azerbaijanis, with Russian and Kurdish minorities. On 26 November 1991 Azerbaijan abolished the status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, rearranging the administrative division and bringing the territory under direct control of Azerbaijan.
On 10 December 1991, in a referendum boycotted by local Azerbaijanis, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh approved the creation of an independent state. A Soviet proposal for enhanced autonomy for Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan satisfied neither side, and a full-scale war subsequently erupted between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, with the latter receiving support from Armenia. According to Armenia’s former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, the Karabakh leadership approach was maximalist and “they thought they could get more.”
The struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated after both Armenia and Azerbaijan attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. In the post-Soviet power vacuum, military action between Azerbaijan and Armenia was heavily influenced by the Russian military. Furthermore, both the Armenian and Azerbaijani military employed a large number of mercenaries from Ukraine and Russia. As many as one thousand Afghan mujahideen participated in the fighting on Azerbaijan’s side. There were also fighters from Chechnya fighting on the side of Azerbaijan, as well heavy artillery and tanks provided to Armenia by Russia. Many survivors from the Azerbaijani side found shelter in 12 emergency camps set up in other parts of Azerbaijan to cope with the growing number of internally displaced people due to the Nagorno-Karabakh war.
By the end of 1993, the conflict had caused thousands of casualties and created hundreds of thousands of refugees on both sides. By May 1994, the Armenians were in control of 14% of the territory of Azerbaijan. At that stage, for the first time during the conflict, the Azerbaijani government recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as a third party in the war, and started direct negotiations with the Karabakh authorities. As a result, a cease-fire was reached on 12 May 1994 through Russian negotiation.
Post-1994 ceasefire. Armenian forces of Nagorno-Karabakh currently control almost 9 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory outside the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, while Azerbaijani forces control Shahumian and the eastern parts of Martakert and Martuni.
Despite the ceasefire, fatalities due to armed conflicts between Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers continued. On 25 January 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted PACE Resolution 1416, which condemned alleged ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis. On 15–17 May 2007 the 34th session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Conference adopted resolution № 7/34-P, considering the occupation of Azerbaijani territory as the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and recognizing the actions against Azerbaijani civilians as a crime against humanity, and condemning the destruction of archaeological, cultural and religious monuments in the occupied territories. The 11th session of the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference held on 13–14 March 2008 in Dakar adopted resolution No. 10/11-P (IS). In the resolution, OIC member states condemned the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenian forces and Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, alleged ethnic cleansing against the Azeri population, and charged Armenia with the “destruction of cultural monuments in the occupied Azerbaijani territories”. On 14 March of the same year the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution № 62/243 which “demands the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan”. On 18–20 May 2010, the 37th session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Dushanbe adopted another resolution condemning the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, recognizing the actions against Azerbaijani civilians as a crime against humanity and condemning the destruction of archaeological, cultural, and religious monuments in occupied territories. On 20 May of the same year, the European Parliament in Strasbourg adopted the resolution on “The need for an EU Strategy for the South Caucasus” on the basis of the report by Evgeni Kirilov, the Bulgarian member of the Parliament. The resolution states in particular that “the occupied Azerbaijani regions around Nagorno-Karabakh must be cleared as soon as possible”. On 26 January 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted Resolution 2085, which deplored the fact that the occupation by Armenia of Nagorno-Karabakh and other adjacent areas of Azerbaijan creates humanitarian and environmental problems for the citizens of Azerbaijan, condemned alleged ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis and Assembly requested immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the region concerned.
Several world leaders have met with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the years, but efforts to maintain the ceasefire have failed.
On 2 April 2016 Azerbaijani and Armenian forces again clashed in the region. The Armenian Defense Ministry alleged that Azerbaijan launched an offensive to seize territory in the region. At least 30 soldiers were killed during the fighting and a Mil Mi-24 helicopter and tank were also destroyed, with 12 of the fallen soldiers belonging to the Azerbaijani forces and the other 18 belonging to the Armenian forces, as well as an additional 35 Armenian soldiers reportedly wounded.
GEOGRAPHY
Nagorno-Karabakh has a total area of 4,400kms2. Approximately half of Nagorno-Karabakh terrain is over 950 metres (3,120 ft) above sea level. The borders of Nagorno-Karabakh resemble a kidney bean with the indentation on the east side. It has tall mountain ridges along the northern edge and along the west and a mountainous south. The part near the indentation of the kidney bean itself is a relatively flat valley, with the two edges of the bean, the provinces of Martakert and Martuni, having flat lands as well. Other flatter valleys exist around the Sarsang reservoir, Hadrut, and the south. The entire region lies, on average, 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) above sea level. Notable peaks include the border mountain Murovdag and the Great Kirs mountain chain in the junction of Shusha Rayon and Hadrut. The territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh forms a portion of the historic region of Karabakh, which lies between the rivers Kura and Araxes, and the modern Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Nagorno-Karabakh in its modern borders is part of the larger region of Upper Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s environment vary from steppe on the Kura lowland through dense forests of oak, hornbeam, and beech on the lower mountain slopes to birch wood and alpine meadows higher up. The region possesses numerous mineral springs and deposits of zinc, coal, lead, gold, marble, and limestone. The major cities of the region are Stepanakert, which serves as the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and Shusha, which lies partially in ruins. Vineyards, orchards, and mulberry groves for silkworms are developed in the valleys.
DEMOGRAPHICS.
The earliest concrete numbers about the population of the whole of Karabakh is from the census of 1823 concerning the abolition of the Karabakh Khanate. In the territory of the former Armenian principalities, 90.8% of villages were recorded as being Armenian, while 9.2% were recorded as Tatar or Kurd. The population of the former Armenian principalities accounted for approximately 8.4% of the population of the whole of Karabakh.
In the census of 2015, Artsakh had a population of 145,053, consisting of 144,683 Armenians and 238 Russians, and others.
TRANSPORT
During rule of the Soviet Union, the Yevlax–Ağdam–Stepanakert line connected the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region with the main part of Azerbaijan. After the Nagorno-Karabakh war and the abandonment of Ağdam, the line’s service was cut back to service only between Yevlax and Kətəlparaq, without any present section at the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The former railway line between Kətəlparaq and Stepanakert has been almost completely destroyed.
The (Tbilisi–Gyumri–) Yerevan–Nakhchivan–Horadiz–Şirvan (–Baku) main railway was also dismantled from the NKR between Ordubad and Horadiz, and a by-line from Mincivan to the Armenian city of Kapan. Currently, the Azerbaijani trains only travel to Horadiz. The Ordubad–Horadiz section has been demolished, leaving the NKR with no intact, active railway line in their territory. The railway at the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic still operates, but it is separated from the main Azerbaijani lines, and only has connection to Iran.