Explainer-What is the history of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan?

By Felix Light

TBILISI (Reuters) - Armenia and Azerbaijan were locked in conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for nearly four decades after the Soviet Union they were both members of collapsed.

Here is a look at the history of the conflict and the latest developments as Armenian and Azerbaijani officials said on Thursday that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement. 

WHAT IS NAGORNO-KARABAKH?

Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh by Armenians, is a mountainous region at the southern end of the Karabakh mountain range, within Azerbaijan. It is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but until 2023 its 100,000 inhabitants were predominantly ethnic Armenians. 

Armenians, who are Christian, claim a long presence in the area, dating back to several centuries before Christ. Azerbaijan, whose inhabitants are mostly Turkic Muslims, also claims deep historical ties to the region, which over the centuries has come under the sway of Persians, Turks and Russians. Bloody conflict between the two peoples goes back more than a century.

Under the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh became an autonomous region within the republic of Azerbaijan. 

FIRST KARABAKH WAR  

As the Soviet Union crumbled, the First Karabakh War (1988-1994) erupted between Armenians and their Azeri neighbours. About 30,000 people were killed and more than a million displaced. Most of those were Azeris driven from their homes when the Armenian side ended up in control of Nagorno-Karabakh itself and swathes of seven surrounding districts.

44-DAY WAR IN 2020

In 2020, after decades of intermittent skirmishes, Azerbaijan began a military operation that became the Second Karabakh War, swiftly breaking through Armenian defences. It won a resounding victory in 44 days, taking back the seven districts and about a third of Nagorno-Karabakh itself. 

The deal provided for 1,960 Russian peacekeepers to guard the territory's lifeline to Armenia: the road through the "Lachin corridor", which Armenian forces no longer controlled. 

BLOCKADE AND EXODUS

In 2022, Azerbaijani personnel blocked the one remaining road into Karabakh, causing acute shortages of food and fuel in the territory.

In September 2023, Azerbaijani forces launched an offensive against what remained of Karabakh, which quickly agreed a ceasefire and capitulated to Baku.

Almost all of the remaining 100,000 or so Armenians in the region fled to Armenia as refugees.

PEACE TALKS

After the exodus from Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan both said that they wanted to sign a treaty to end the conflict between them.

Though Armenia in 2024 handed back some disputed territory, progress towards a final deal was slow and fitful, with both sides blaming each other for the stalled talks.

Azerbaijan demanded that Armenia rewrite its constitution, which Baku says makes implicit claims to Azerbaijani territory. Armenia denied that it made any such claim, but has recently signalled openness to changing its constitution.

Azerbaijan also asked for a transport corridor through Armenia, linking the bulk of its territory to Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani enclave that borders Baku's ally Turkey.

(Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Alison Williams)