{"id":3583,"date":"2020-10-08T11:48:47","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T11:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=3583"},"modified":"2020-10-08T11:48:47","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T11:48:47","slug":"the-conflict-between-armenia-and-azerbaijan-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=3583","title":{"rendered":"The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“One of the world\u2019s longest-standing frozen conflicts has thawed into a hot war, leading to over 350 deaths <\/a>and potentially encouraging world powers to enter the fray \u2014 which could make a lethal situation even worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenia and Azerbaijan have reignited their 32-year struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh<\/a>, a mountainous territory of 150,000 people about the size of Delaware. The territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it\u2019s claimed and governed by ethnic Armenians. The two sides haven\u2019t reached a lasting diplomatic resolution to the dispute since a war that killed 30,000 people or more ended in a 1994 ceasefire<\/a>, leaving open the possibility of renewed deadly fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That worst-case scenario proved a reality last week after the former Soviet territories accused each other of unprovoked attacks<\/a>. On September 27, Armenia said Azerbaijan\u2019s military bombed civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh, including the regional capital of Stepanakert. In response, Armenia\u2019s defense ministry claimed it downed two Azerbaijani helicopters and three drones. Azerbaijan didn\u2019t take that lightly, with its defense ministry saying it launched a \u201ccounteroffensive\u201d with tanks, war planes, artillery missiles, and drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Past skirmishes typically lasted no more than a few days<\/a>, but this one has only continued and intensified. Stepanakert<\/a>, a city of over 50,000 people, has experienced heavy artillery fire from Azerbaijan since October 2, while Azerbaijan says Armenia has shelled the country\u2019s second-largest city, Ganja,<\/a> and other missiles elsewhere \u2014 each assault putting civilians in grave danger<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Turkey, a NATO member, is only making matters worse. It has fully backed Azerbaijan, with observers alleging it has sent at least 1,000 Syrian fighters<\/a> to help and providing the country\u2019s forces with weapons and training<\/a>. That\u2019s provocative, experts say, as it not only fans the flames of war, but also threatens the control and calming influence Russia has had over the conflict.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“so far Russia, which oversees the sputtering diplomatic process over the area along with France and the United States, has called for restraint alongside its counterparts.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Most experts I spoke to fear the fighting won\u2019t end until either Armenia deals Azerbaijan a militarily decisive blow, or Azerbaijan reclaims much or all of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding regions. When I mentioned that concern to Zareh Sinanyan, Armenia\u2019s high commissioner for diaspora affairs, he said bluntly: \u201cThat is true.\u201d”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The first person to blame for the current conflict is former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin<\/a>. In 1921<\/a>, he gave Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan, only to turn it into an autonomous region two years later. That change would inevitably prove problematic, as Nagorno-Karabakh\u2019s population was over 90 percent Armenian<\/a>. On top of this, most Armenians are Christian, while Azerbaijan is majority Muslim; thus, Stalin\u2019s decision effectively turned the territory into a Christian-majority enclave in a Muslim-majority nation.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The conflict that erupted last week actually began back in mid-July. During days of border fighting, Armenia killed seven Azerbaijani service members, including a top, popular Army general<\/a>. \u201cArmenia\u2019s political and military leadership will bear the entire responsibility for the provocation,\u201d Aliyev, Azerbaijan\u2019s president, vowed at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later that month, Turkey joined Azerbaijan for two weeks of military drills<\/a> featuring armored vehicles, artillery, and mortars. It was billed as an annual exercise, but the message was clear: Azerbaijan was preparing for a real fight and Turkey had its back. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan<\/a> made that point explicitly last Friday.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“experts note Azerbaijan has been careful not to attack civilian areas in Armenia proper. Doing so might trigger a defense treaty Russia has with Armenia<\/a> requiring Moscow to come to Yerevan\u2019s defense militarily.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.vox.com\/21502327\/armenia-azerbaijan-nagorno-karabakh-war-explained<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“One of the world\u2019s longest-standing frozen conflicts has thawed into a hot war, leading to over 350 deaths and potentially encouraging world powers to enter the fray \u2014 which could make a lethal situation even worse.<\/p>\n

Armenia and Azerbaijan have reignited their 32-year struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous territory of 150,000 people about the size of Delaware. The territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it\u2019s claimed and governed by ethnic Armenians. The two sides haven\u2019t reached a lasting diplomatic resolution to the dispute since a war that killed 30,000 people or more ended in a 1994 ceasefire, leaving open the possibility of renewed deadly fighting.<\/p>\n

That worst-case scenario proved a reality last week after the former Soviet territories accused each other of unprovoked attacks. On September 27, Armenia said Azerbaijan\u2019s military bombed civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh, including the regional capital of Stepanakert. In response, Armenia\u2019s defense ministry claimed it downed two Azerbaijani helicopters and three drones. Azerbaijan didn\u2019t take that lightly, with its defense ministry saying it launched a \u201ccounteroffensive\u201d with tanks, war planes, artillery missiles, and drones.<\/p>\n

Past skirmishes typically lasted no more than a few days, but this one has only continued and intensified. Stepanakert, a city of over 50,000 people, has experienced heavy artillery fire from Azerbaijan since October 2, while Azerbaijan says Armenia has shelled the country\u2019s second-largest city, Ganja, and other missiles elsewhere \u2014 each assault putting civilians in grave danger.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Turkey, a NATO member, is only making matters worse. It has fully backed Azerbaijan, with observers alleging it has sent at least 1,000 Syrian fighters to help and providing the country\u2019s forces with weapons and training. That\u2019s provocative, experts say, as it not only fans the flames of war, but also threatens the control and calming influence Russia has had over the conflict.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“so far Russia, which oversees the sputtering diplomatic process over the area along with France and the United States, has called for restraint alongside its counterparts.” <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Most experts I spoke to fear the fighting won\u2019t end until either Armenia deals Azerbaijan a militarily decisive blow, or Azerbaijan reclaims much or all of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding regions. When I mentioned that concern to Zareh Sinanyan, Armenia\u2019s high commissioner for diaspora affairs, he said bluntly: \u201cThat is true.\u201d”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“The first person to blame for the current conflict is former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. In 1921, he gave Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan, only to turn it into an autonomous region two years later. That change would inevitably prove problematic, as Nagorno-Karabakh\u2019s population was over 90 percent Armenian. On top of this, most Armenians are Christian, while Azerbaijan is majority Muslim; thus, Stalin\u2019s decision effectively turned the territory into a Christian-majority enclave in a Muslim-majority nation.” <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“The conflict that erupted last week actually began back in mid-July. During days of border fighting, Armenia killed seven Azerbaijani service members, including a top, popular Army general. \u201cArmenia\u2019s political and military leadership will bear the entire responsibility for the provocation,\u201d Aliyev, Azerbaijan\u2019s president, vowed at the time.<\/p>\n

Later that month, Turkey joined Azerbaijan for two weeks of military drills featuring armored vehicles, artillery, and mortars. It was billed as an annual exercise, but the message was clear: Azerbaijan was preparing for a real fight and Turkey had its back. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan made that point explicitly last Friday.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“experts note Azerbaijan has been careful not to attack civilian areas in Armenia proper. Doing so might trigger a defense treaty Russia has with Armenia requiring Moscow to come to Yerevan\u2019s defense militarily.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1012,1011,272,355,314,158],"class_list":["post-3583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-share","tag-armenia","tag-azerbaijan","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-foreign-policy","tag-international-relations","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3583"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3584,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3583\/revisions\/3584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}