What is happening in Nagorno-Karabakh and why did Azerbaijan launch an attack on the enclave? 10 questions and answers

Where is Nagorno-Karabakh and why is the region often conflicted?

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of about 120 thousand people embedded in the territory of Azerbaijan, and it is not recognized by the international community as an independent republic, although it is considered so by its citizens, almost all of whom are of Armenian origin (98%). Indeed, nothing would work in Nagorno-Karabakh without outside help from Armenia, a country linked by a mountainous road known as the Lachine Corridor — the “road of life,” as the enclave’s residents call it. The ethnic and regional conflict is more than a century old, but, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, nationalisms previously crushed by Stalin’s fists have re-emerged. A bloody war between the Azeris and Armenians began in 1991 and, after the fall of the Soviet Union, lasted until 1994, with reports of attempts at ethnic cleansing from both sides – and numerous investigations and complaints by international NGOs. Massacres of civilians – and their forced displacement – were weapons used by both forces. About 30 thousand people died.