ArmInfo. Azerbaijan's lightning attack on Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023 ended three decades of de facto independence for the breakaway region. Previously, the Armenian-populated Nagorno- Karabakh Republic had shown remarkable durability, enabled by support from Armenia and Russia, the latter more after the Second Karabakh War of 2020.
This is stated in A "Frozen Conflict" Boils Over: Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 and Future Implications report by the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
As the authors of the article note: "However, changed regional and global power dynamics since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 encouraged an opportunistic Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, to deliver the death knell to Nagorno-Karabakh. Prior to Azerbaijan's latest assault, two wars had been fought over Nagorno-Karabakh. The first began as a limited conflict, which turned into a larger- scale war when the USSR dissolved. Its ceasefire in 1994 resulted in the establishment of the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The second war, in 2020, resulted in Azerbaijan reversing the gains of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and further isolating the territory. Russia mediated the ceasefire and thereafter stationed peacekeepers in the region. Many issues are still unresolved in this long-running conflict. The biggest concern is directing much-needed humanitarian aid to those displaced by the latest violence. There also remains potential for future Azerbaijani incursions into Armenia to secure a path to its exclave of Nakhchivan," they say.
However, the report states that, Nagorno-Karabakh has important implications for other international conflicts grappling with the competing principles of territorial integrity and national self-determination. The principle of nonuse of force is also affected by the fall-out of this dispute, risking the normalization of international violence with impunity. "The US has limited foreign policy options to affect the current situation on the ground. One approach is to expand the American diplomatic footprint in the region to reinforce its influence. More consequentially, it should work with the European Union and regional players to implement an enduring monitoring mechanism to prevent renewed escalation. This effort should focus on reducing human suffering while improving the quality of life of people displaced by violence, and be pursued with a presence on the ground in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh to facilitate the potential return of refugees to their homes," the report notes.
On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijani forces initiated a massive attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated and effectively self-governing region inside internationally recognized Azerbaijani territory. Russian peacekeepers, stationed in the area since 2020, did not step in to stem the fighting but intervened to arrange for a cease-fire. Within 24 hours, the Nagorno- Karabakh leadership gave in, and, for the first time, Baku could claim full control over the contested territory. This ended 30 years of de facto independence for the tiny statelet. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic-never recognized by any sovereign state including Armenia-was initially declared by its president as formally ceasing to exist on January 1, 2024. That decree was later annulled by the government in exile.
Despite being portrayed in the West as a "frozen conflict," there had long been a risk of renewed violence in Nagorno- Karabakh. Peace negotiations over several years made no substantial progress, arguably because of a lack of interest from major power centers and because the status quo had displayed enduring stability. At the same time, the military build-up in Azerbaijan and occasional minor-and a few major-flare-ups suggested further rounds of fighting, culminating in the Second Karabakh War of 2020. Since the autumn of 2020, the situation in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, also referred to as Artsakh by Armenians, has been kinetic and fast-moving, regularly drawing in the active mediation of external actors, including the US The fighting in September and the subsequent mass exodus of the 100,000-strong Armenian population from Nagorno- Karabakh may end up being only the latest chapter in further violence and displacement to come.
This report has two objectives: first, to present an account of the conflict with an emphasis on analytically useful categories and context up to the present, and second, to discuss local, regional, and global consequences of the latest developments of the dispute, including policy implications and recommendations.
The authors remind that the US has spoken about the deployment of an international monitoring mechanism, under UN auspices. This line of action should be pursued with a presence on the ground in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, facilitating the potential return of the refugees to their homes. At the same time, it is stated that among the most salient unresolved aspects of the outcome of the Second Karabakh War relates to transportation infrastructure.
The authors remind that "According to the cease-fire agreement of 2020, the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan would be given access to the rest of Azerbaijan -"unobstructed movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions," under the supervision of Russian border security forces. Yerevan has consistently interpreted that clause as a general expectation of opening all borders for all the states in the region, each in charge of its own territory. Baku has suggested extraterritorial sovereign rights over what has come to be called the Zangezur Corridor."
"Yerevan has consistently interpreted that clause as a general expectation of opening all borders for all the states in the region, each in charge of its own territory. Baku has suggested extraterritorial sovereign rights over what has come to be called the Zangezur Corridor.
Zangezur can be a loaded toponym, evoking nationalist Azerbaijani readings of history and echoing Azerbaijani discourse about Armenians having moved to the Caucasus only in recent times, in the 19th century. The panhandle region in question is also commonly called Zangezur in Armenian, although its more formal name as a province of the country is Syunik. Irredentist claims to Syunik and other parts of Armenia have been prevalent in Azerbaijani media since 2020. The Azerbaijan Refugee Society was renamed the Western Azerbaijan Community in 2021, pushing forward the idea of the return of Azerbaijanis who fled Soviet Armenia at the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s. Armenian refugees from Soviet Azerbaijan during the same period, meanwhile, are not accorded equivalent consideration. This is another example of mirroring discourse mentioned earlier-"Western Azerbaijan" reflects "Western Armenia," which is a term common in Armenian discourse to refer to territories in central and eastern Turkey that had been populated by Armenians since antiquity until the genocide during the First World War.
There are serious concerns of an armed incursion on a large scale by Azerbaijani forces beyond Nagorno-Karabakh in order for Baku to secure a passage across Syunik/Zangezur. Iran shares concerns about such a prospect as well and about the corridor as such, as it could risk its sole land border with Armenia. The road through Syunik/Zangezur is an important trade route for Iranian goods. It avoids passage through Turkey-a Western, NATO ally-and Azerbaijan, which has close security ties with Israel, rumored to be a base of intelligence operations directed against Iran. As such, Tehran and Baku have a rocky relationship which has seen ups and downs since 2020 in particular. However, recent talk of an alternative or supplemental route through Iran to connect with Nakhchivan may allay broader regional security concerns. The strongest indicators of increased regional and global attention to Syunik/Zangezur have been the frequent visits by diplomats and international engagements with the area, going so far as the opening of an Iranian consulate in the provincial capital, Kapan. Russia too plans on establishing a consulate there, as does France," the report reads.
The full text of the Report can be found at the following link: https://www.fpri.org/article/2024/01/a-frozen- conflict-boils-over-nagorno-karabakh-in-2023-andfuture-implications/.