| Summary: | Faces of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
The territory of Nagorno-Karabakh had become the matter of Armenian-Azerbaijani disputes long before the establishment of the Soviet power in the Caucasus. Armenian colonization of Muslim territories intensified after each conflict which the Russian Empire was involved in, especially after the Crimean War and the Russo-Turkish War of 1876–1878. Following the conflicts which took place between 1905–1907 and 1918–1920, Karabakh became part of the Armenian national myth. The establishment of the Soviet power in November 1920 resulted in the recognition of Karabakh as part of Armenia, but the decision was reversed the following year and the region was transferred to Azerbaijan. The claim that during the times of the Soviet Union the conflict did not exist can only refer to the military state of affairs. The beginning of its current phase occurred in 1987. The Armenian Supreme Council’s decision of 10 January 1990 to cover Nagorno-Karabakh in the republican budget and grant its citizens the right to vote in Armenian general elections was another step leading to the escalation of the conflict. The authorities in Baku insist that it can only be solved according to the principle of territorial integrity, which means that the solution must assume that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan. On the other hand, the Armenians invoke the right to self-determination, which, according to them, makes Karabakh’s declaration of independence legitimate. The dispute is still one of the key problems destabilizing the situation in the South Caucasus.
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