BLOG
The never-ending conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan
I hold my hands up and own up to some bias here as this is personal: Armenia is part of my ancestry and I was deeply upset about this conflict stirring again.
Armenian history is long, and complex, with epic and heroic aspects to it. In the middle of the second millennium BCE it became an organised state. Armenia was at the ancient crossroads of the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas, and is mainly on high rocky and mountainous land. It was both a buffer zone and coveted prize of ancient empires including Assyrian, Mede, Persian, Parthian, Sasanian, Arab and Mongol from the south and east. Seleucid, Roman, Byzantine and Crusader from the west. Armenia has survived through the centuries against invasion and occupation.
The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan is complicated and long running. The state of Armenia is land-locked with Iran in the south; Turkey in the west; Georgia in the north, and Azerbaijan in the east. Azerbaijan has a coastline with Russia in the north; Georgia in the north west; Armenia in the west, and with oil at Baku on the eastern coast.
The area in dispute is Nagorno-Karabakh where the ethnic majority is Armenian. The dissolution of the Union of Soviet Republics is crucial to the understanding of this conflict. In 1988 the region of Nagorno-Karabakh voted to unify with Armenia, although one must have some sympathy with the minority Azerbaijani population. The collapse of the Soviet Union meant that many countries became independent, including Armenia and Azerbaijan. The latter then found that the enclave parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh was claiming independence from Azerbaijan and war broke out in 1992. By the end of the war in 1994, the Armenians were in full control of the area and nearly 10% of Azerbaijan. Perhaps as many as a million people were displaced during this conflict; a fifth of whom were Armenia and four fifths were Azerbaijani. Russia brokered the cease-fire in 1994.
The war has smouldered on for the last 25 years and unfortunately broke out again in 2020. Russia again sent in peacekeepers. The conflict is multi-layered with Israel selling arms to Azerbaijan, including cluster bombs. There are Jews living in both Armenia and Azerbaijan; Israel refuses to acknowledge and recognise the genocide of Armenians in 1915.The peace deal now is that Azerbaijan will take control of areas surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, the latter will then be surrounded by Azerbaijan. So, the Christian Armenian population will be surrounded by Muslim Azerbaijan who have bought weapons from Jewish Israel. The Azerbaijani victory has been partly won by Muslim Turkey who is lobbying in Washington for Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has oil. Armenians are fleeing from the area, taking as much as they can carry and removing everything they can, and then burning their homes. My interfaith prayer is please do not let 1915 happen again!
© Wikimedia Commons.
I hold my hands up and own up to some bias here as this is personal: Armenia is part of my ancestry and I was deeply upset about this conflict stirring again.
Armenian history is long, and complex, with epic and heroic aspects to it. In the middle of the second millennium BCE it became an organised state. Armenia was at the ancient crossroads of the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas, and is mainly on high rocky and mountainous land. It was both a buffer zone and coveted prize of ancient empires including Assyrian, Mede, Persian, Parthian, Sasanian, Arab and Mongol from the south and east. Seleucid, Roman, Byzantine and Crusader from the west. Armenia has survived through the centuries against invasion and occupation.
The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan is complicated and long running. The state of Armenia is land-locked with Iran in the south; Turkey in the west; Georgia in the north, and Azerbaijan in the east. Azerbaijan has a coastline with Russia in the north; Georgia in the north west; Armenia in the west, and with oil at Baku on the eastern coast.
The area in dispute is Nagorno-Karabakh where the ethnic majority is Armenian. The dissolution of the Union of Soviet Republics is crucial to the understanding of this conflict. In 1988 the region of Nagorno-Karabakh voted to unify with Armenia, although one must have some sympathy with the minority Azerbaijani population. The collapse of the Soviet Union meant that many countries became independent, including Armenia and Azerbaijan. The latter then found that the enclave parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh was claiming independence from Azerbaijan and war broke out in 1992. By the end of the war in 1994, the Armenians were in full control of the area and nearly 10% of Azerbaijan. Perhaps as many as a million people were displaced during this conflict; a fifth of whom were Armenia and four fifths were Azerbaijani. Russia brokered the cease-fire in 1994.
The war has smouldered on for the last 25 years and unfortunately broke out again in 2020. Russia again sent in peacekeepers. The conflict is multi-layered with Israel selling arms to Azerbaijan, including cluster bombs. There are Jews living in both Armenia and Azerbaijan; Israel refuses to acknowledge and recognise the genocide of Armenians in 1915.The peace deal now is that Azerbaijan will take control of areas surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, the latter will then be surrounded by Azerbaijan. So, the Christian Armenian population will be surrounded by Muslim Azerbaijan who have bought weapons from Jewish Israel. The Azerbaijani victory has been partly won by Muslim Turkey who is lobbying in Washington for Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has oil. Armenians are fleeing from the area, taking as much as they can carry and removing everything they can, and then burning their homes. My interfaith prayer is please do not let 1915 happen again!
