This beautiful area has many natural and cultural-historical monuments that still attract the attention of some explorers and tourists. But mountainous Karabakh is better known to the whole world for the ethnic conflict that broke out in 1988 - history has decreed so. The beginning of the sad incident, which claimed many lives, was the statement of the leadership of the autonomy about joining Armenia. Currently, the region, which is actually an administrative part of Azerbaijan, is controlled by the world's unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
Nagorno-Karabakh: where is it?
It occupies the mountainous and foothill region of the Lesser Caucasus, the geographic region of the same name. The etymology of the name comes from the Turkic "kara" (which means "black") and "bakh" (in Persian - "garden"). Often, this term - mountainous Karabakh - is also used to refer to the unrecognized republic itself. But geographically, the territories overlap only partially.
Ancient history
In ancient times, mountainous Karabakhinhabited by tribes that had non-Indo-European roots. These tribes mixed with the Armenians, and the region itself became part of it (4-2 centuries BC). At that time, the area was part of the Ervandid Armenian kingdom (it was called the province of Artsakh). After the fall of the Armenian kingdom, it retreats to Caucasian Albania (dependent on Persia). But for a long time being part of Armenia, the tribes were Armenianized and acquired all the signs of Armenian culture. So, according to one historical source, in 700 AD. e. the people who then inhabited mountainous Karabakh spoke the Armenian dialect. And they had all the signs of belonging to this ethnic group.
Middle Ages and Modern History
In the 9th-11th century, the territory was part of the restored Armenian state, and from the 13th century Armenian princes ruled there. In the 12th-13th centuries, Karabakh was one of the centers of Armenian culture and political life (according to the testimonies of foreign travelers). Until the 16th century, according to some historians, the institutions of Armenian statehood were preserved in Artsakh.
Ottoman occupation
In the 20s of the 18th century, Karabakh was the center of the struggle against the Osman Empire, designed to liberate Armenians from occupation. And starting from the period of the reign of Peter the Great and later, the priests conduct secret correspondence, setting the goal of joining the territories of Karabakh to the Russian Empire. In the middle of the 18th century, a khanate was formed that subjugated the Armenian Karabakh, and the area and the people were under Turkic control.
Russian Empire
A in 1805year, during the Russian-Persian war, Russian troops entered Karabakh. So since 1813 (signed a peace treaty) - this is officially Russian territory. And since 1823, after the complete liquidation of the Khanate, Nagorno-Karabakh was first part of the Karabakh Russian province, and then several districts of the province.
After 1917
The Russian Empire collapsed, and the Azerbaijani state immediately disputes the right of Armenians to rule the territory. The area again becomes an area for interethnic clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. With foreign help, the latter succeed, and the territory passes under the rule of Azerbaijan. In the Soviet years, the area was considered controversial, but in 1921-23. it finally becomes part of the AzSSR, and then becomes an autonomous region.
Mountain Karabakh. War and the core of the conflict
The Armenian population of the region has always wanted to restore (in their opinion) justice in historical terms. After all, Artsakh, a well-known region with a long-term Armenian history, was handed over to the rule of the Azerbaijanis by a strong-willed decision of the Soviet government and became part of the AzSSR. The unequal position of some representatives of the people (and the number of Armenians in Karabakh has significantly decreased over the years of the USSR) was the main reason for the unwillingness to remain in this position. All this led to a conflict situation: pogroms in Sumgayit, events in Baku, Khojale.
The very essence of it is explained by the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities do not want to recognize Karabakh as primordially Armenian lands, designating Armenia asaggressor and occupier. And in the early nineties, first spontaneous, and then large-scale hostilities broke out, which led to a real war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Unsteady and relative, peace was restored only by the year 94.
Independence referendum and current situation
In 1991, a nationwide referendum on independence was held in Nagorno-Karabakh. The republic formed autonomous institutions of power. The UN and other international structures do not recognize the country's sovereignty to this day. Solidarity and loy alty are shown only by Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, which in one way or another are themselves unrecognized. The Russian Federation has repeatedly acted as a peacemaker in settling the dispute. But the conflicting countries have not yet reached a consensus on borders and territories. Azerbaijan continues to frighten by the forceful seizure of the republic, while Armenia insists on self-determination and a new referendum. What is happening in Nagorno-Karabakh now? With a shaky world, the republic continues to develop such industries as agriculture, tourism, and mining. But provocations and attacks by sabotage groups continue, although the government assures that the situation is under control.