A Russian peacekeeping force has arrived in the Nagorno-Karabakh region to oversee a deal signed by Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday. The agreement must end the struggle between the last two countries.
The Nagoro-Karabakh conflict arose after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and flared up again in late September. Since then, it is estimated that several thousand people have died. The answers to the most important questions:
How did the conflict in the region originate?
Armenia and Azerbaijan have a long history of war and conflict.
In the 1920s the Russians gave the area where the population was predominantly Aramaic to Azerbaijan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, the Azerbaijani region, which is still largely inhabited by Armenians, declared independence and became the focus of war.
In 1994, an armistice put an end to this. Nagorno-Karabakh has since officially belonged to Azerbaijan, but is governed independently, supported by Armenia. Since 1994, the ceasefire has been violated several times. This led to a four-day war in 2016, in which an estimated hundreds of soldiers were killed on both sides.
Why is the conflict flaring up now?
And now the conflict has flared up again since the end of September. According to correspondent David Jan Godfroid, it is difficult to say why the conflict is flaring up right now. “It is a succession of several conflicts. For example, in July of this year there was another smaller armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia that did not concern the Nagorno-Karabakh region, but that also has an impact on the relationship between the two countries. You can’t really put your finger on why it’s playing right now. “
What is the role of Russia and Turkey?
Behind the scenes, Russia and Turkey play an important role. Azerbaijan can count on the support of Turkey, while Russia is Armenia’s protective force. “Russia is closer to Armenia, but the relationship with Azerbaijan has always been okay. But Russia does not want to let Turkey’s role become too big,” Godfroid explains.
Most of the residents of Azerbaijan are Muslim and are ethnically related to Turkey. The international news agency Reuters reported in late September that Turkey allegedly sent Syrian mercenaries to the region to fight for Azerbaijan.
This is how Russian troops arrived in the region today:
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