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NAGORNO-KARABAKH: CONFLICT ON ICE
The Economist
Oct 28 2011
DURING the late 1980s and early 1990s the conflict between Armenians
and Azeris over the Nagorno-Karabkh region was often in the news.
Thousands died in fighting; hundreds of thousands fled, or were
ethnically cleansed. Nagorno-Karabakh is an Armenian-majority region
inside Azerbaijan. During Soviet times it enjoyed autonomy. In
September 1991 it declared independence, triggering war. The region
doubled in size, but the problem was not resolved.
Twenty years later, Nagorno-Karabakh is often called a "frozen
conflict". For most people outside the Caucasus, it is more of a
forgotten one.
No Azeris remain in Nagorno-Karabakh. Towns like Aghdam, which
were Azeri-dominated before the war but that lie outside the
old autonomous region, are in ruins. But there has been some
reconstruction in in areas within the pre-war borders. Equally
importantly, Nagorno-Karabakh's 140,000 Armenians have built a small
but functioning state. (Not even Armenia, on which the statelet
depends, formally recognises its independence.)
Peace talks have ground on for years, but a breakthrough is never
made. Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenians want recognition for their
breakaway state, but Azerbaijan is unwilling to grant anything more
than autonomy. Azeri refugees also want to return to their homes.
The conflict impedes economic development and regional co-operation in
the south Caucasus. But Westerners forget it at their peril. In 2005
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline opened to pump Azerbaijani oil to
a terminal in Turkey to lessen dependence on piplines through Russia.
The pipeline runs close to the line where Nagorno-Karabakh's soldiers
confront those of Azerbaijan. In the event of a new conflict it could
be cut by rocket fire within hours.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/eastern-approaches/2011/10/nagorno-karabakh
The Economist
Oct 28 2011
DURING the late 1980s and early 1990s the conflict between Armenians
and Azeris over the Nagorno-Karabkh region was often in the news.
Thousands died in fighting; hundreds of thousands fled, or were
ethnically cleansed. Nagorno-Karabakh is an Armenian-majority region
inside Azerbaijan. During Soviet times it enjoyed autonomy. In
September 1991 it declared independence, triggering war. The region
doubled in size, but the problem was not resolved.
Twenty years later, Nagorno-Karabakh is often called a "frozen
conflict". For most people outside the Caucasus, it is more of a
forgotten one.
No Azeris remain in Nagorno-Karabakh. Towns like Aghdam, which
were Azeri-dominated before the war but that lie outside the
old autonomous region, are in ruins. But there has been some
reconstruction in in areas within the pre-war borders. Equally
importantly, Nagorno-Karabakh's 140,000 Armenians have built a small
but functioning state. (Not even Armenia, on which the statelet
depends, formally recognises its independence.)
Peace talks have ground on for years, but a breakthrough is never
made. Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenians want recognition for their
breakaway state, but Azerbaijan is unwilling to grant anything more
than autonomy. Azeri refugees also want to return to their homes.
The conflict impedes economic development and regional co-operation in
the south Caucasus. But Westerners forget it at their peril. In 2005
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline opened to pump Azerbaijani oil to
a terminal in Turkey to lessen dependence on piplines through Russia.
The pipeline runs close to the line where Nagorno-Karabakh's soldiers
confront those of Azerbaijan. In the event of a new conflict it could
be cut by rocket fire within hours.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/eastern-approaches/2011/10/nagorno-karabakh