06 04 09- FACT SHEET: NAGORNO-KARABAGH , ARMENIAN RESEARCH CENTER

The University of Michigan-Dearborn
http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/facts/karabagh.html-----
Dearborn, MI 48128
The Autonomous Region of Mountainous Karabagh (also known in America as Nagorno-Karabagh) recently declared independence from Azerbaijan because of continued persecution, oppression, and human and civil rights violations by the Azeri Turks. It was attached to Azerbaijan as an Autonomous Region by Joseph Stalin in 1921 and has suffered under Azeri rule from that time onward.
Mountainous Karabagh had a pre-war population of approximately 200,000 people, 77% of whom were Christian Armenians. The remaining 23% were mainly Muslim Azeri Turks. Nagorno-Karabagh's capital is Stepanakert. It has an area of about 1,700 square miles, slightly smaller than the state of Delaware.


On December 10, 1991, Nagorno-Karabagh held an independence referendum in which 82% of all voters participated, and 99% voted for independence.

On January 6, 1992, the leaders of Nagorno-Karabagh declared independence as the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh (RMK).

On January 8, 1992, Artur Mkrtchian was elected President and Oleg Yessaian as Prime Minister of Karabagh by Karabagh's Parliament. Note that this Presidency is not an independent office such as in the United States.

On January 24, 1992, Karabagh's Parliament elected Georgi Petrosian to the office of Vice President.

On April 14, Artur Mkrtchian died in an accidental weapons misfire. Georgi Petrosian became acting President.

On May 8, the Karabagh Defense Forces took Shushi, a city in Karabagh overlooking Stepanakert, from which the Azeris had been shelling Stepanakert.

On May 18, the Karabagh Defense Forces took Lachin and connected Karabagh to Armenia, thus breaking the Azeri economic blockade on Karabagh (however, Armenia's situation was not much better since it too was—and still is—under Azeri blockade).

On June 12, following the June 7 election of Abulfez Elchibey as President of Azerbaijan, the Azeris launched a massive offensive that seized almost half of Karabagh by September. Beginning in late fall, the Karabagh Defense Forces retook nearly all of these territories and restored the political integrity of Karabagh by late March 1993.

On March 27, 1993, the Karabagh Defense Forces, to forestall an Azeri spring offensive, launched attacks at two strategic Azeri cities, Kelbajar and Fizuli. They took Kelbajar on April 3, but were unable to take Fizuli. The capture of Kelbajar gave Karabagh a new connection to Armenia.

On June 14, acting President Georgi Petrosian resigned as Armenian President Levon Ter Petrosian travels to Stepanakert to persuade the Presidium of Karabagh's Parliament to accept a new CSCE peace plan, which it does by a vote of 6 to 5. Garen Baburian became the new acting President.

June through August 1993 was a time of confusion in Azerbaijan as Surat Huseinov led a revolt against Elchibey; Haidar Aliyev became the new President of Azerbaijan; and a short-lived Mughan-Talish Republic was declared in Lenkoran, a port city near the Iranian border.

July 23 to September 4 1993, Karabagh Defense Forces take Agdam, Fizuli, Jebrail, and Horadiz (although Horadiz keeps changing hands), thus taking the war to the rest of Azerbaijan.

From December 22, 1993, to November 1994, the re-formed Azeri army, stiffened by Turkish and MegaOil (renegade Americans) training; Ukrainian, Turkish, and Chinese weaponry; and Afghan mujaheddin, launched new unsuccessful attacks on Karabagh.

In May of 1994 a tenuous cease-fire went into effect, which is still holding today.

December 28, 1994, The Karabagh Parliament created an independent Presidency such as in the United States and elected Robert Kocharian to fill it the next day.
Historical Background:


Historically Armenian, Nagorno-Karabagh was connected to Armenia in ancient times, a connection that was lost after the division of the Armenian Kingdom in 387 AD. With the rise of Islam in the seventh century, Karabagh fell under Arab rule, where it stayed for 300 years.

In the eleventh century, Karabagh came under the rule of the Bagratid Kings of Georgia, relatives of the Armenian Bagratids, who held it until the Mongol invasion. After 100 years of Mongol rule, Karabagh fell into Turkish hands, where it stayed until the Persians took power in the early 1600s.

In 1603, Shah Abbas the Great of Persia allowed local Armenian rule in Karabagh under five meliks (kings). These five kinglets, later joined—but not supplanted—by a Muslim khanate, survived until the Russian conquest of Karabagh in 1828.

Under Russian rule, a deliberate effort was made to link Karabagh economically with the "Baku Province," later to be named Azerbaijan. With the withdrawal of Russian power following the Russian democratic revolution in February/March of 1917, Karabagh reemerged as a state, governed by the Assembly of Karabagh Armenians.

The Azerbaijanis, who were trying to organize their own state, contested the Armenians' right to rule Karabagh, even though it was overwhelmingly Armenian. The Azeris first turned for help to the British occupation force led by General Dunsterville, then to the Ottoman army under Nuri Pasha, and finally to the Russian Bolsheviks. With foreign aid, they won out.

Soviet Period:

At first the Soviets returned Nagorno-Karabagh to Armenia; but after a brief period, Joseph Stalin gave it to Azerbaijan as an "autonomous region," and altered the boundaries so that Karabagh was cut off from Armenia and was smaller in size.

The next 70-plus years witnessed Azeri persecution of Armenians in an attempt to drive them out and replace them with Azeris, as was done in the Armenian territory of Nakhichevan.

In the Gorbachev era of glasnost, the Armenians brought the persecution of their brethren to the world's attention through massive peaceful demonstrations in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia, in February 1988.

By openly and bravely protesting Soviet ethnic injustice for the first time, the reform movement in Nagorno-Karabagh ignited the independence movements in the Soviet Bloc of Eastern Europe. The "Karabagh Movement" is thus the grandfather of freedom not only in Eastern Europe but in the former USSR itself.

At that time the Armenians wanted to attach Nagorno-Karabagh to Armenia, to ensure its survival, but now they respect the wishes of the Nargorno-Karabagh Armenians to be independent. The independence movement has been met with appalling violence from the Azeris. In February 1988 there was a pogrom (massacre) against Armenians in Sumgait, a suburb of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. In November of 1988, there was a pogrom against Armenians in Kirovabad (now Ganja), in the interior of Azerbaijan. In 1989-90, there are joint Soviet-Azerbaijani forced deportations of Armenians living in towns and villages of Azerbaijan bordering Nagorno- Karabagh. In January of 1990, there was pogrom against Armenians in Baku itself.

When the Azeris began an outright military assault on the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabagh itself, they took up arms to defend their homes, their land, and their ancient culture. The Armenians are fighting for self-preservation and for the right of self- determination, while the Azeris are fighting to expel an ancient people from their historic homeland and to preserve power over a foreign province.

Today, a tenous cease-fire is in place and has been holding for the past 16 months. However, the Azeris number eight million and have a wealth of oil resources to draw upon in the coming years, and the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabagh only 160,000 and scant resources. Very little would prevent the Azeris from reopening hostilities and starting a full-scale war once the oil money enters its coffers. A genocide similar to that of 1915 is threatened unless the world takes an interest in and protects the lives of the embattled Armenian minority.

Despite numerous acts of provocation on the part of Azerbaijan—including a six-year-old blockade of Armenia—the Armenian government has studiously avoided being drawn into the war between the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabagh and the Azeri leaders in Baku. In October 1992, the US Congress enacted legislation banning direct US assistance to the government of Azerbaijan until the blockade is lifted and the aggression ends.

The six-year-old war has taken the lives of more than 16,000 people, and over 1,000,000 have been displaced. Azerbaijan currently has 600,000-1,000,000 refugees, Armenia 400,000 refugees, and Nagorno-Karabagh 60,000 refugees.

Current Issues:


The United States and the United Nations should recognize the independence of the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh.

Azeri leaders and Turkish leaders should reduce belligerent talk and cease to incite their people to war.

Azerbaijan should cease hiring mujaheddin and other foreign mercenaries.

Turkey should no longer train and supply Azerbaijani troops and should cease threatening gestures towards Armenia.

Azerbaijan and Turkey should cease their illegal blockades of Armenia and Karabagh, which have caused untold suffering and death for the civilian population of Armenia.

A permanent truce must be agreed upon and enforced.

United Nations troops should be sent in to monitor a self- determination plebiscite.

Current Situation
The current situation is one of "no peace, no war." Negotiations continue, but with Azerbaijan insisting on the principle of "territorial integrity" (despite the fact that Eritrea was recognized by the world community as independent from Ethiopia after a war), little progress has been made.
April 3, 1996
Armenia, Karabagh, and the Armenian Genocide . ------------------------. Three Fact Sheets Fact sheet on Armenia Fact sheet on the Armenian Genocide Fact Sheet on Nagorno-Karabagh Bibliographies Bibliographies on Karabagh Bibliographies on the Armenian Genocide Questions and Answers about the Armenian Genocide 17 Responses to common Turkish rationalizations on the Armenian Genocide (for more in this vein, see Dr. Papazian's article on "Misplaced Credulity" and an essay by the Zoryan Institute entitled The Key Distortions and Falsehoods in the Denial of the Armenian Genocide (A Response to the Memorandum of the Turkish Ambassador) ). Why do Armenian-Americans, and, in this case Detroit-area Armenian Americans, commemorate the Armenian Genocide? (further in that vein, see also Why the Armenian Genocide is still relevant today, an Op/Ed contribution by Dr. Dennis Papazian). Before the Silence News reports on the destruction of the Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire Documentary Links on the Armenian Genocide Deutschland und Armenien, 1914-1918: Sammlung diplomatischer Aktenstücke (German and Armenia, 1914-1918: A Collection of Diplomatic Documents). This collection of official German documents was originally assembled by Dr. Johannes Lepsius in 1919. His edition, however, had a few discrepencies between the published version of documents and the originals in the archives. The present online edition was edited by Wolfgang and Sigrid Gust, with help from Dr. Taner Akçam, and points out the discrepencies as well as offers the entire version in German and English. The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire (The Bryce Blue Book). This major work assembled by Lord Byrce and Arnold J. Toynbee includes eyewitness accounts from all over the Ottoman Empire, and Persia as well. This is part of the World War One Documents Archive. Ambassador Morgenthau's Story by Henry Morgenthau (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, and Company, 1918). Henry Morgenthau was the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916. In his capacity as ambassador he had several revealing conversations with the rulers of the Ottoman Empire concerning the Armenians. The King-Crane Commission Report, August 28, 1919 The King-Crane Commission dealt with the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide, and their report recommended an enlarged state of Armenia. This is also from the World War One Documents Archive. Report of the American Military Mission to Armenia by Major General James G. Harbord The Harbord Report also dealt with the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide. The Blight of Asia by George Horton. George Horton was the U.S. Consul General in Smyrna at the time of the 1922 fire and massacre of the Christian inhabitants. I Was Sent to Athens by Henry Morgenthau Many of the survivors of the 1922 fire and massacre in Smyrna ended up in Athens. Henry Morgenthau was sent to Athens to help with refugee relief and resettlement. Certain Samaritans by Ester Pohl Lovejoy, M.D. Dr. Lovejoy was extensively involved in relief efforts for the Genocide survivors The Genocide Project has online survivor accounts. Excerpts from four survivor interviews by Dr. Racho Donef are online here. An English translation of the court transcript of the trial of Soghomon Tehlirian can be found at ArmenianHouse.org. Documentary Links on the Hamidian Massacres Letters from the Scenes of the Recent Massacres in Armenia by Rendel J. Harris & Helen B. Harris is a collection of letters from a missionary couple who visited Turkish Armenia in 1896. Edwin Munsell Bliss' Turkey and the Armenian Atrocities 1896). Graphics Several people have asked us for gifs of the Armenian Genocide. We do not keep any on-line, however, Reynold Khachatourian's Armenian Genocide web page does have some. Warning: his page is not for the squeamish. The Armenian National Institute also has two collections of photographs online. See also the photos at Raffi Kojoian's Cilicia.com website. Additional Essays on the Armenian Genocide Dennis R. Papazian, "The Changing American View of the Armenian Question: An Interpretation," Armenian Review 39, No. 4-156 (Winter 1986). Hans-Lukas Kieser's online "Kolloquium 'Der Völkermord an den Armeniern und die Shoah' " has excellent essays in English, French, and German on the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. Dennis R. Papazian, Modern Genocide: The Curse of the Nation State and Ideological Political Parties. A paper presented at the Conference on Genocide: History and Prevention, November 8-9, 2001, Vienna, Austria. Teaching Resources on the Armenian Genocide The State of California Center for Excellence on the Holocaust, Genocide, Human Rights and Tolerance has essays, photos, website links, and lesson plans on the Armenian Genocide.

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