The conflict in Azerbaijan, explained
An explosion at a fuel depot in Azerbaijan killed at least 68 people Tuesday. The explosion took place as hundreds of ethnic Armenians were trying to flee the country after a military offensive increased tensions in Azerbaijan.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, and according to The New York Times, the explosion produced a large fire near the region’s capital of Stepanakert.
Why are people fleeing Azerbaijan for Armenia?
More than 28,000 people have fled the Nagorno-Karabakh region as tensions have risen in the area. That number represents about 23% of the region’s population, according to The Associated Press.
A blockade between Azerbaijan and Armenia was lifted recently after being in place for 10 months, causing fears of reprisals between the military in Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian residents.
That “shift in power has raised fears of ethnic cleansing in a region where decades of interethnic hatred have fueled wars, population shifts, and atrocities,” the Times reported.
Related
“I think we’re going to see the vast majority of people in Karabakh leaving for Armenia,” said Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank, told AP. “They are being told to integrate into Azerbaijan, a country that they’ve never been part of, and most of them don’t even speak the language and are being told to dismantle their local institutions. That’s an offer that most people in Karabakh will not accept.”
What’s the history of the conflict in Azerbaijan and Armenians?
Here’s a quick timeline about what has been going on in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to The Washington Post.
1992 — After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1992, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought in a brutal war to obtain control of the contested region.
1994 — A cease-fire was declared, leaving Armenia in control of the region that was still internationally recognized to be within the borders of Azerbaijan.
2020 — Azerbaijan recaptures areas of Nagorno-Karabakh.
December 2022 — Azerbaijan began to “stem the flow of people and goods” through the Lachin Corridor — a road that connects Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.
Sept. 19, 2023 — Azerbaijan “launched its lightning-quick offensive” it called an “anti-terrorist operation.”
Sept. 20, 2023 — Nagorno-Karabakh’s military agreed to disarmament, with Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry claiming victory.
Present — the fate of ethnic Armenian residents in the area remains unclear, with thousands fleeing the region out of concerns of retribution.
“I gave my whole life to my homeland,” one Armenian man told BBC. “It would be better if they killed me than this.”
Related
