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ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN ARE STILL FIGHTING OVER THIS PIECE OF LAND
Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/armenia-and-azerbaijan-are-still-fighting-over-this-piece-of-land-2012-3
March 26 2012
Last weekend, on the 20th anniversary of the end of the Armenian-Azeri
war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory, the Minsk group:
the United States, Russia, and France, urged the two governments to
show the "political will needed to achieve a lasting and peaceful
settlement" to their conflict, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.
The landlocked mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh is geographically
part of Azerbaijan, but the majority of its population is ethnic
Armenian.
Even though the war ended 20 years ago, the peace process has been
sporadic and lukewarm, at best. The Minsk group OSCE, which was
created in 1992 to broker peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
has so far been unsuccessful in its mission.
We take a look at what all the fighting is about.
The war began in 1988, but its seeds were sown in the 1920s:
After the end of World War I and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia
in the early 1920s, the Soviet Union, as part of its divide-and-rule
policy in the region, established the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous
Region, with an ethnic Armenian majority, within the Soviet Socialist
Republic of Azerbaijan. Before this, Christian Armenians and Turkic
Azeris lived together in relative peace, according to the office of
the republic in Washington, DC's website.
As Soviet control loosened towards the end of the 1980s, the region's
parliament voted to join Armenia. Violence broke out in 1988.
More than one million people were displaced, and 20,000 to 30,000
people died in the conflict. The Armenians routed the Azeris to gain
control not only of the disputed region, but also some Azerbaijani
territory outside it. The region declared itself an independent
republic, although this has not been internationally recognized,
the BBC reports.
A truce was finally brokered by Russia in 1994, but Karabakh retained
control of the disputed land and the Azeri territory it had captured.
All attempts at lasting peace and ceasefires have failed so far:
Azerbaijan wants the land they believe is rightfully theirs back,
while Armenia is unwilling to do so, given that the demographic makeup
of the region favors it.
When the war ended in 1994, Russia, France, and the U.S. formed the
OSCE's Minsk Group, which has been attempting to broker an end to
the dispute. But negotiations are at a tenuous stalemate so far,
Armenia Now reports.
While the Armenian and Azeri presidents have met for negotiations
on a few occasions, and some progress was made in 2009, progress has
since stalled, and a number of soldiers have been killed in ceasefire
violations on both sides.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly threatened to use force to get back Karabakh
if negotiations fail, but Yerevan has warned of large-scale retaliation
if Baku launches any military action, AFP reports.
From: A. Papazian
Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/armenia-and-azerbaijan-are-still-fighting-over-this-piece-of-land-2012-3
March 26 2012
Last weekend, on the 20th anniversary of the end of the Armenian-Azeri
war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory, the Minsk group:
the United States, Russia, and France, urged the two governments to
show the "political will needed to achieve a lasting and peaceful
settlement" to their conflict, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.
The landlocked mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh is geographically
part of Azerbaijan, but the majority of its population is ethnic
Armenian.
Even though the war ended 20 years ago, the peace process has been
sporadic and lukewarm, at best. The Minsk group OSCE, which was
created in 1992 to broker peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
has so far been unsuccessful in its mission.
We take a look at what all the fighting is about.
The war began in 1988, but its seeds were sown in the 1920s:
After the end of World War I and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia
in the early 1920s, the Soviet Union, as part of its divide-and-rule
policy in the region, established the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous
Region, with an ethnic Armenian majority, within the Soviet Socialist
Republic of Azerbaijan. Before this, Christian Armenians and Turkic
Azeris lived together in relative peace, according to the office of
the republic in Washington, DC's website.
As Soviet control loosened towards the end of the 1980s, the region's
parliament voted to join Armenia. Violence broke out in 1988.
More than one million people were displaced, and 20,000 to 30,000
people died in the conflict. The Armenians routed the Azeris to gain
control not only of the disputed region, but also some Azerbaijani
territory outside it. The region declared itself an independent
republic, although this has not been internationally recognized,
the BBC reports.
A truce was finally brokered by Russia in 1994, but Karabakh retained
control of the disputed land and the Azeri territory it had captured.
All attempts at lasting peace and ceasefires have failed so far:
Azerbaijan wants the land they believe is rightfully theirs back,
while Armenia is unwilling to do so, given that the demographic makeup
of the region favors it.
When the war ended in 1994, Russia, France, and the U.S. formed the
OSCE's Minsk Group, which has been attempting to broker an end to
the dispute. But negotiations are at a tenuous stalemate so far,
Armenia Now reports.
While the Armenian and Azeri presidents have met for negotiations
on a few occasions, and some progress was made in 2009, progress has
since stalled, and a number of soldiers have been killed in ceasefire
violations on both sides.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly threatened to use force to get back Karabakh
if negotiations fail, but Yerevan has warned of large-scale retaliation
if Baku launches any military action, AFP reports.
From: A. Papazian