on september 27th explosions shook
nagorno-karabakh it's a mountainous
region between armenia and azerbaijan
and the center of a relentless dispute
between these countries
nagorno-karabakh is internationally
recognized as part of azerbaijan
though was occupied by armenia in a war
almost 30 years ago
both countries armies have been dug in
along this line ever since
fighting occasionally broke out but
usually died down
this time was different
fierce fighting erupted in september
2020 and quickly became a full-scale war
both sides were accused of bombing
civilian areas in the region
thousands of people died including a
hundred civilians
then in a sudden and dramatic turn in
this decade's old conflict
armenia surrendered a ceasefire was
signed on november 9th and azerbaijan
declared victory
so what sparked this war and what does
the ceasefire mean for this fiercely
contested place
nagorno-karabakh is in the caucasus
between europe and asia
historically its population has been
mostly ethnic armenian
with a substantial azeri minority it's
dotted with
medieval armenian churches has always
had this strong armenian population
and to complicate things that in the
18th century a kind of very
big important azerbaijani town the
citadel of shusha was founded right in
the middle of this territory so
this was a region that was incredibly
important
both to armenians and to azerbaijanis
but for most of the 19th century it was
ruled by the russian empire
after the empire fell in 1918 i think
armenians and azeri's formed new
countries
armenia and azerbaijan and they
immediately fought over this region
but just three years later russian
soviets captured the entire caucasus
the soviets eventually made armenia and
azerbaijan republics within the soviet
union
and drew new borders and they made
nagorno-karabakh a semi-autonomous
region
in the azerbaijani republic despite its
majority armenian population
ethnic armenians they are frequently
asked to join the armenian republic
but were denied this was the soviet
union there was no democracy
there was no dialogue that kind of
problem festered for all those years
still there weren't signs of war until
the soviet union began to loosen its
grip
in the late 1980s the soviet union
announced a new policy called glasnost
that gave its people more political
freedoms change but it had unintended
consequences
a peaceful soviet union seems
increasingly at risk
glasnost has given people freedom not
only to create
but to hate ancient feuds erupting such
as the one between azerbaijan and
armenia
in 1988 ethnic armenians enda garner
karabakh
passed a referendum to leave the
azerbaijan republic reviving the
conflict
in armenia people rallied for
unification while in azerbaijan people
responded with counter protests
violence soon erupted into garner
karabakh as the soviet union fell apart
armenia and azerbaijan declared
independence escalating the conflict
into a war
about 20 000 people died and over a
million were forced to flee their homes
in the region
fighting raged for three more years
until armenia finally won
in 1994 both sides signed a ceasefire
agreement freezing the conflict
armenia occupied several pieces of
azerbaijan as well as nagorno-karabakh
which was still legally recognized as
part of azerbaijan
even though it had declared itself an
autonomous region at the start of the
war
this occupation displaced hundreds of
thousands of azeries from their homes
the deal was broken by russia who was a
formal ally to armenia
but also had a good relationship with
azerbaijan russia's role has always been
a bit ambiguous here
because although they are the main
mediator they've had their own agenda
which is to
keep their influence in the region and
if possible get
russian troops back on the ground while
russia was not able to send troops as
part of the deal in 1994
it did end up leading a new
international group with france and the
us
to try and find a permanent solution to
the conflict
but armenia and azerbaijan refused to
settle
instead armenia renamed formally as zeri
towns and repopulated them with ethnic
armenians
while its leaders called for it to be
officially unified with armenia
meanwhile azerbaijan planned to come
back from 2008 to 2019
it spent 24 billion dollars on its
military six times more than armenia
all the while reiterating its claim to
nagorno-karabakh
on the ground both countries maintained
a military presence along the front
lines
where skirmishes broke out occasionally
in 2016
they fought a war that lasted four days
people called this a frozen conflict but
it was
in no way a frozen conflict it was a
smoldering conflict
and it reignited when another country
suddenly intervened
in the past few years turkey has
increasingly intervened in conflicts
around the region
in order to tilt the outcomes in its
favor by sending troops into the syrian
civil war
it captured a swath of territory along
its border in 2019
and in 2020 its troops have turned the
tide of the libyan civil war in favor of
the government
who is helping turkey claim valuable
natural gas deposits in the
mediterranean
these are also ways for turkey to push
back against its major rival russia
who is also fighting in both conflicts
so in july 2020
when skirmishes broke out into garner
karbak turkey saw an opportunity
and threw its support behind azerbaijan
whose majority of zeri population is a
turkic ethnic group
azerbaijan is probably the closest
country there is to turkey
the two languages are extremely close
there was even talk of you know one
nation and two states
in august the two held joint military
exercises in azerbaijan
and turkey's supply of weapons to
azerbaijan dramatically surged
which included advanced drones i think
this conflict has been planned for many
months
jointly in ankara and in baku
and so with turkey support azerbaijan
launched its attack
in just over a week azerbaijani soldiers
had pushed at least 20 kilometers into
armenian-held territory
a few weeks later they advanced further
into nicaragua
and also got close to the armenian
border it wasn't a fair fight
armenia fought back but was nearly
defenseless against azerbaijan's deadly
drones
then on november 8th azerbaijan won its
biggest victory
it captured the historic city of susha
just 15 kilometers from the capitals to
panicurt
that's when armenia agreed to surrender
the ceasefire agreement that ended the
war dramatically reshapes who controls
nagorno-karabakh
azerbaijan will keep what it captured
and take over this part from armenia
this part remains under control of
ethnic armenians but they won't be alone
russia didn't intervene in the war but
brokered this deal
which calls for 2 000 of its troops to
serve there as peacekeepers russia
obviously
had its ideas about how to end this
conflict with russian
peacekeepers and certainly didn't rush
to help armenia
turkey also gains a foothold here the
deal calls for the construction of a
road here which would give turkey access
to azerbaijan
plus in agreement with russia turkey
will now send its own peacekeeping
troops to the region
so while azerbaijan is celebrating and
turkey and russia won strategic rewards
armenia is in turmoil
after the deal was announced mob stormed
government buildings in the capital
and called for the removal of the prime
minister i think armenia's in a
huge state of trauma it's going to take
a long time for it to occur off on this
and the political
crisis i think is going to be ongoing
for a long time in in armenia
in nagorno-karabakh i think armenians
and newly captured areas may be forced
out
some have already burned their homes
before leaving while azeri's who fled
during the previous war can make their
way back
ultimately though the agreement does
nothing to end the hostility between the
two countries
and until that happens this conflict
could have another round
this is much more a deal than it is a
piece
you