The President of Nagorno-Karabakh signed a decree ending the existence of the republic

History of Nagorno-Karabakh

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) was proclaimed against the background of the beginning of the collapse of the USSR on September 2, 1991 on the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAO) and the Shaumyan region of the Azerbaijan SSR. This happened at a joint session of people’s deputies of territorial entities. The declaration was preceded by three years of interethnic conflict, accompanied by casualties and ethnic cleansing on both sides, with Moscow’s unsuccessful attempts to resolve the situation through mediation and sending the Internal Troops (VV) of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. The conflict initially flared up during the years of Perestroika against the background of the desire of local Armenians to change the status of the territory and unite with the Armenian SSR due to dissatisfaction with the national, economic and cultural policies of the Azerbaijan SSR.

In response to the declaration of the NKR on November 23, 1991, Baku, which had declared its own independence in October and began secession from the USSR, formally liquidated the NKAO and transferred it to neighboring regions. In NKR, in turn, on December 10, 1991, two days after the actual dissolution of the USSR as a result of the Belovezhskaya Accords, a referendum was held, not recognized by the world community, in which 99% of local Armenians supported secession from Azerbaijan, and local Azerbaijanis boycotted the vote. Independence was declared in territories with a total area of ​​5000 square meters. km. In the following weeks, the withdrawal of the former troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs was completed, and in January 1992, Baku began attempts to return Karabakh to its control by military force.

Full-scale hostilities, later called the First Karabakh War, lasted until May 1994, when ceasefire agreements were concluded in Bishkek, mediated by Russia. As a result, the territory actually controlled by the NKR expanded beyond its declared territory in 1991 (former NKAO and Shaumyanov region) due to seven regions of Azerbaijan that were not previously included in it (Kelbajar, Lachin, Kubatly, Jebrail, Zangelan, Fizuli and Agdam regions , called “safety belt”)
and received communication with Armenia through the Lachin region (“Lachin Corridor”). Baku ceased to control about a fifth of the territory within its internationally recognized borders: about 13,300 square meters came under the control of the NKR. km.

All attempts to resolve the status of the NKR ended in vain. The Second Karabakh War took place from September 27 to November 9, 2020. As a result of the hostilities, the Azerbaijani army regained control over the Fizuli, Jebrail, Zangelan and Gubadli regions; the remaining areas of the NKR “security belt” were returned to Baku in December 2020, in accordance with the trilateral agreements of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia dated November 9, 2020. NKR, in particular, lost land connection with Armenia through Lachin. Russian peacekeepers were introduced into the territory remaining under the control of the unrecognized republic, which three-quarters coincided with the borders of the Soviet NKAO and the declared borders of the NKR. From December 2022 to September 2023, the actual transport blockade of the NKR continued. As of September 19, 2022, when Baku began “anti-terrorism measures,” the NKR authorities controlled an area of ​​approximately 3,000 sq. km.