Nagorno Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in the South Caucasus, in between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The region is a de jure part of Azerbaijan, but is densely populated with Armenians. The roots of the issue began during the Soviet Era (early 1920’s) as Nagorno-Karabakh fell into the hands of various different groups and countries throughout the time including the Soviet Union, Ottomans, British, Armenia SSR and Azerbaijan SSR. For a certain amount of time, Nagorno-Karabakh remained as the territory of Armenia SSR until 1923, when Soviet Union took complete control of the region and formed the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) within the Azerbaijan SSR. Thus, Nagorno-Karabakh was governed as autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union, which meant that the region became an administrative unit that was given autonomy within the republics of Soviet Union (in this case, in the republic of Azerbaijan SSR). Conflicts and disputes in this region continued amongst nations, particularly between Armenians, who felt that the region should have been under their claim throughout the years without the interference of the NKAO, and Azerbaijanis, who felt the region now was their own. The Nagorno-Karabakh War emerged in 1987, between Armenia SSR and Azerbaijan SSR, whom both declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, until 1994. In the same year of 1991, with the abolishment of NKAO, the predominantly Armenian populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh unilaterally declared its independence as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. However, up till today, the NKR is not and has not been recognized as an independent state by any nation or international organization. With the ceasefire in 1994, the Armenian and Azerbaijan government have been engaging in a number of peace talks, arranged by the Organization for Secretary and Co-operation for Europe (OSCE). However, no solid conclusion or resolution have settled for the issue, as regardless to the ceasefire, disputes have still been going on in the region causing great number of casualties and refugees.
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