Armenia-Azerbaijan relations
Encyclopedia
Armenia–Azerbaijan relations refers to the bilateral relationship of Armenia
and Azerbaijan
, as well as relations between the Armenian and the Azerbaijani societies. The neighboring nations had formal governmental relations between 1918–1921, during their brief independence from the collapsed Russian Empire
, as the Democratic Republic of Armenia
and the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan; these relations existed from the period after the 1917 Russian Revolution until they were occupied and annexed again by the successor state, the Soviet Union
. Due to the two wars between the countries in the past century – one from 1918–1921 and another from 1988-1994 – their relations, or the lack thereof, have been shaped due to the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region
. There are no formal diplomatic relations between the two countries because of the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and dispute.
on May 26, 1918, both Azerbaijan
and Armenia
proclaimed their independent states on the same day, May 28, 1918.
and Armenian SSR
became constituent states, initially as a part of Transcaucasian SFSR
, and from 1936 as separate entities. The relations between the two nations, including in Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
(NKAO), were generally peaceful and friendly under the Soviet rule. Though occasional confrontations did occur, particularly the 1948 and the 1964 public protests in Armenia which resulted in exodus of a large number of Azeris, they remained unknown to a broader public due to strict Soviet censorship.
The two countries went to war in 1988 over the territory resulting in the de facto independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The war ended in a ceasefire in 1994.
In 1988, the Armenians of Karabakh voted to secede and join Armenia. This, along with mutual massacres in Azerbaijan and Armenia resulted in the conflict that became known as the Nagorno-Karabakh War
. The violence resulted in de facto Armenian control of former NKAO and seven surrounding Azerbaijani regions which was effectively halted when both sides agreed to observe a cease-fire which has been in effect since May 1994. In late 1995, both also agreed to mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group
. The Minsk Group is currently co-chaired by the US, France, and Russia and comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and several Western European nations. Despite the cease fire, up to 40 clashes are reported along the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict lines of control each year.
declared that “Nagorno Karabakh will never be independent; the position is backed by international mediators as well; Armenia has to accept the reality” and that “in 1918, Yerevan
was granted to the Armenians
. It was a great mistake. The khanate of Iravan
was the Azeri territory, the Armenians were guests here."
The two countries are still technically at war and the Azerbaijani government regularly threatens to retake Nagorno-Karabakh by military force, if mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group does not succeed.
Citizens of the Republic of Armenia, as well as citizens of any other country who are of Armenian descent
, are forbidden entry to the Republic of Azerbaijan. If a person's passport shows any evidence of travel to Nagorno-Karabakh, barring a diplomatic passport, they are forbidden entry to the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In 2008, in what became known as the 2008 Mardakert Skirmishes
, Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed over Nagorno-Karabakh. The fighting between the two sides was brief, with few casualties on either side.
June 2010 saw a brief flare up of the conflict, resulting in the deaths of four Armenian soldiers and one Azeri soldier. The clash came a day after peace talks between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan which were held in Moscow.
On August 31, 2010, a border clash killed three Armenians and two Azeris, although the Armenian Military claimed up to seven Azeris had been killed in the fighting. Both sides blamed the other for the incident. This preceded another incident on September 4 in which two Azerbaijani soldiers were killed and one Armenian wounded.
On June 24 2011, the two sides met in Kazan, Russia, to negotiate an end to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue but the talks ended in failure. Following the breakdown of talks, the Azeri President Ilham Aliyev used the June 26 Salvation Day military parade to warn Armenia that Azerbaijan may retake Nagorno-Karabakh by force.
On 5 October 2011, border clashes around Nagorno Karabakh left one Armenian soldier and two Azeri's dead. Two Amenians were also wounded by sniper fire the same day
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
and Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, as well as relations between the Armenian and the Azerbaijani societies. The neighboring nations had formal governmental relations between 1918–1921, during their brief independence from the collapsed Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, as the Democratic Republic of Armenia
Democratic Republic of Armenia
The Democratic Republic of Armenia was the first modern establishment of an Armenian state...
and the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan; these relations existed from the period after the 1917 Russian Revolution until they were occupied and annexed again by the successor state, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Due to the two wars between the countries in the past century – one from 1918–1921 and another from 1988-1994 – their relations, or the lack thereof, have been shaped due to the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region
Nagorno-Karabakh War
The Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan...
. There are no formal diplomatic relations between the two countries because of the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and dispute.
Relations between 1918–1921
Upon the disintegration of the Transcaucasian Federation with the proclamation of the independent Democratic Republic of GeorgiaDemocratic Republic of Georgia
The Democratic Republic of Georgia , 1918–1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia.The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917...
on May 26, 1918, both Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
proclaimed their independent states on the same day, May 28, 1918.
Soviet Period (1922–1991)
Upon the establishment of USSR in 1922, Azerbaijan SSRAzerbaijan SSR
The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Azerbaijan SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union....
and Armenian SSR
Armenian SSR
The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet...
became constituent states, initially as a part of Transcaucasian SFSR
Transcaucasian SFSR
The Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , also known as the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Transcaucasian SFSR and the TSFSR for short, was a short-lived republic of the Soviet Union, lasting from 1922 to 1936...
, and from 1936 as separate entities. The relations between the two nations, including in Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast within the borders of the Azerbaijan SSR, mostly inhabited by ethnic Armenians and created on July 7, 1923. According to Karl R. DeRouen it was created as an enclave so that a narrow strip of land would separate it from Armenia proper....
(NKAO), were generally peaceful and friendly under the Soviet rule. Though occasional confrontations did occur, particularly the 1948 and the 1964 public protests in Armenia which resulted in exodus of a large number of Azeris, they remained unknown to a broader public due to strict Soviet censorship.
The two countries went to war in 1988 over the territory resulting in the de facto independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The war ended in a ceasefire in 1994.
In 1988, the Armenians of Karabakh voted to secede and join Armenia. This, along with mutual massacres in Azerbaijan and Armenia resulted in the conflict that became known as the Nagorno-Karabakh War
Nagorno-Karabakh War
The Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan...
. The violence resulted in de facto Armenian control of former NKAO and seven surrounding Azerbaijani regions which was effectively halted when both sides agreed to observe a cease-fire which has been in effect since May 1994. In late 1995, both also agreed to mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group
OSCE Minsk Group
The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.-Founding and members:The Helsinki Additional Meeting of the CSCE Council on 24 March...
. The Minsk Group is currently co-chaired by the US, France, and Russia and comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and several Western European nations. Despite the cease fire, up to 40 clashes are reported along the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict lines of control each year.
1994 – present
After the war, relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan remained very tense. In 2008, Azerbaijani president Ilham AliyevIlham Aliyev
Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev is the President of Azerbaijan since 2003. He also functions as the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party and the head of the National Olympic Committee...
declared that “Nagorno Karabakh will never be independent; the position is backed by international mediators as well; Armenia has to accept the reality” and that “in 1918, Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
was granted to the Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
. It was a great mistake. The khanate of Iravan
Erivan Khanate
The Khanate of Erivan , was an administrative territory that was established Safavid Persia in the early 17th century. It covered an area of roughly 7,500 square miles, and corresponded to most of present-day central Armenia, most of the Iğdır Province of present-day Turkey, and the Sharur and...
was the Azeri territory, the Armenians were guests here."
The two countries are still technically at war and the Azerbaijani government regularly threatens to retake Nagorno-Karabakh by military force, if mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group does not succeed.
Citizens of the Republic of Armenia, as well as citizens of any other country who are of Armenian descent
Armenian diaspora
The Armenian diaspora refers to the Armenian communities outside the Republic of Armenia and self proclaimed de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic...
, are forbidden entry to the Republic of Azerbaijan. If a person's passport shows any evidence of travel to Nagorno-Karabakh, barring a diplomatic passport, they are forbidden entry to the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In 2008, in what became known as the 2008 Mardakert Skirmishes
2008 Mardakert skirmishes
The 2008 Mardakert skirmishes began on March 4 after the 2008 Armenian election protests. It involved the heaviest fighting between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh since the 1994 ceasefire after the Nagorno-Karabakh War.Armenian sources accused...
, Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed over Nagorno-Karabakh. The fighting between the two sides was brief, with few casualties on either side.
June 2010 saw a brief flare up of the conflict, resulting in the deaths of four Armenian soldiers and one Azeri soldier. The clash came a day after peace talks between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan which were held in Moscow.
On August 31, 2010, a border clash killed three Armenians and two Azeris, although the Armenian Military claimed up to seven Azeris had been killed in the fighting. Both sides blamed the other for the incident. This preceded another incident on September 4 in which two Azerbaijani soldiers were killed and one Armenian wounded.
On June 24 2011, the two sides met in Kazan, Russia, to negotiate an end to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue but the talks ended in failure. Following the breakdown of talks, the Azeri President Ilham Aliyev used the June 26 Salvation Day military parade to warn Armenia that Azerbaijan may retake Nagorno-Karabakh by force.
On 5 October 2011, border clashes around Nagorno Karabakh left one Armenian soldier and two Azeri's dead. Two Amenians were also wounded by sniper fire the same day