The pictures tell most of the story. Hundreds, maybe thousands of cars. Everything from tired Ladas to powerful 4x4s wind their way west and up the road through the Lachin Corridor into Armenia itself. On the roofs we see suitcases and prams. Through the windows we glimpse serious and frightened faces. UNCERTAIN FUTURE. Many of the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh have left with only what they have managed to get in their car. Photo: AP The explosion at a petrol warehouse resulted in hundreds of dead and injured. And it finally made it clear to the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh that they now had to get away. Azerbaijan had put an end to Armenian rule in the area with superior armed force. Europe has now perhaps experienced one of the biggest ethnic cleansings since the war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Why did it happen like this? CAUCASUS. Nagorno-Karabakh is located inside Azerbaijan, in the south of the Caucasus. Photo: news From empires to nation states The Caucasus is today divided between Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and partly Russia. The mountain area has always been at the intersection of superpower interests. In what we now define as Europe, Romans, Persians, Ottomans (Turks) and finally Russian army divisions have marched. At the same time, there have been strong national movements. The Armenian Church traces its history all the way back to the year 301 AD. It thus calls itself the world’s oldest national church. It was only in the 19th century that Russia tightened its grip on this region. This after the Ottoman Empire suffered several military defeats. Tsar Nicholas II had to give up power in 1917. It also marked the start of how national movements tried to come to power. At the same time, socialist movements were active in the area. And at the forefront: The advancing revolutionary Georgian Josef Dzugasvili, under his nickname Stalin. STALIN. Josef “Stalin” Dzhugashvili later became the dictator of the Soviet Union, until his death in 1953. Soviet Caucasus The socialists now called themselves Bolsheviks and Communized. In the end, they managed to tighten their grip on most of the territory that Tsarist Russia had held in the Caucasus. The population in the area was promised a large degree of internal self-government, following the ethnic and linguistic border. This carrot made many choose to support the communists and Stalin. We got the three Soviet republics: Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. MANY ARE LEAVING: There are many indications that almost the entire Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh is choosing to flee the area. Photo: Reuters Within the borders of Azerbaijan, the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh was then granted a certain degree of internal self-government. This happened in 1923 and they themselves called the area Artsakh. At the time, Armenians made up almost 90 percent of the population in what was defined as an autonomous county within Azerbaijan. But right up until the end of the 1980s, the population, whether you were Azerbaijani or Armenian, was part of the great Soviet community. Then the Soviet Union disintegrated. It was the start of what these days seems to end with the entire Nagorno-Karabakh being emptied of Armenians. Moscow loses control Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev lost control of what was the world’s largest country. In the Caucasus, one ethnic conflict exploded after another. The better organized Armenians took control of Nagorno-Karabakh and large areas in western Azerbaijan. This happened through a bloody war in 1994. Hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were driven to flight. But the hour of vengeance would come. Armenians did not use their militarily strong position to bring about a more lasting solution. With oil and gas money behind them, Azerbaijan built itself up until in 2020 they felt strong enough to fight back militarily. Armenia’s humiliating defeat Large areas were recaptured. And now in September 2023, they put in the final push. The Armenian willingness to compromise came too late The Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh were isolated and inferior. Not least after Armenia and the country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had said that they had to prepare for a future within Azerbaijan’s borders. But Pasjinjan’s concessions came too late for it to be possible to negotiate a compromise. With Russia preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, Armenia had few supporters. The Russian so-called peacekeeping forces largely stood by and watched as Azerbaijani soldiers took over Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and President Heidar Aliyev have promised to respect the Armenians’ right to their own language and culture. But with all the blood that has flowed in the last hundred years, it seems that few Armenians trust this. They have packed up what they can and got into their cars to flee to Armenia. Prime Minister Niklol Pasjinjan said on Thursday that within a few days, Nagorno Karabakh will be emptied of Armenians. WHAT NOW? The exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh could be the biggest ethnic cleansing Europe has seen since the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Photo: AP New tragic chapter in Armenian history The pictures on September 27 of the area’s former prime minister Ruben Vardanjan arrested and in handcuffs are unlikely to calm the situation. THE DEFEAT: The former Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Ruben Vardanjan after he was arrested and transported to Baku. Photo: The Azerbaijani Defense Forces Until now, what the Armenians have called a genocide by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War has been central to the official historiography, which is about a small people subjected to brutal abuse. Now the mass flight from Nagorno-Karabakh will probably become a new tragic chapter in the history of this small nation on the edge of Europe.
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That is why several thousand have fled the Caucasus – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
