Armenia–Azerbaijan relations

Armenia-Azerbaijan relations

Armenia	Azerbaijan

The neighboring nations of Armenia and Azerbaijan have 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, after the 1917 Russian Revolution, until they were occupied and annexed again by the successor state the Soviet Union. Due to fought two wars in 1918-1921 and in 1988-1994, in the past century, their relations or the lack of it 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 of the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and dispute.

Relations between the ADR and the DRA (1918 - 1921)

Upon the disintegration of the Transcaucasian Federation with the proclamation of the independent Democratic Republic of Georgia on May 26, 1918, both Azerbaijan and Armenia proclaimed their independent states on the same day, May 28, 1918.

Soviet Period (1922 - 1991)

Upon the establishment of USSR in 1922, Azerbaijan SSR 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, 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.

Main article: Nagorno-Karabakh War

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.

1991 - present

After the war, the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan remained very tense. In 2008, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev 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”. Armenians, however, do not discuss Yerevan as a part of any country, but part of Armenia, because Yerevan has more than 2700 years of Armenian story and concerning Nagorno-Karabagh Armenians say, that it always has been Armenian territory and only in 1936 during Soviet time, Stalin granted it with great mistake to Azeris.

The two countries are still technically at war.

In 2008, in what became known as the 2008 Mardakert Skirmishes, Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed over Nagornno-Karabakh. The fighting between the two sides was brief, with few casualties on either side.

See also

• Armenia–Azerbaijan relations in the Eurovision Song Contest