The history of
Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenians have inhabited the Nagorno-Karabakh region since the 1st millennium BC, as part of the Kingdom of Greater Armenia. In 1921, despite a 90% Armenian population, Artsakh was assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan by Joseph Stalin after the 1920 Soviet-Turkish occupation of Armenia, a decision with no legal basis.

Discrimination against Armenians was prevalent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, linked to the genocidal policies of the Ottoman Empire. Renewed ethnic hatred and xenophobia erupted during the USSR’s final days, with pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad and Baku (1988-1990), as well as the so called “Operation Ring”.

To prevent another genocide, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh carried out a referendum to join Soviet Armenia, but after Azerbaijan decided to resolve the situation by force with another military aggression, Armenians were forced to fight for survival, a battle which they won when a ceasefire agreement was signed in 1994. Despite this, there was no peace.  The frozen war lasted until 2020 when Azerbaijan launched a large-scale aggression, leading to territorial loss and 40,000 displaced Armenians. The war ended with a Trilateral Declaration in November 2020, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan started another aggression against the Armenian population following a nine-month blockade designed to starve and drive out the ethnic Armenian population. This resulted in the forced migration of 120,000 Armenians and the region being ethnically cleansed as well as the continued systematic destruction of Armenian holy sites and cultural monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh.