Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)

According to the decree of the head of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh, this state ceases to exist on January 1, 2024.

Natural resources

Copper-gold deposits

The Drmbon and Kashen mines have some of the richest gold and copper deposits in the region.

In December 2022, the Azerbaijani authorities demand passage to the Drmbon and Kashen copper-gold deposits, to which Armenia refused.

After the peace agreements of 2020, Baku announced the upcoming development of deposits by Anglo-Asian Mining, registered in Britain.

Its owner is a fugitive Iranian businessman Reza Vaziri - part-time co-chairman of the US-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce.

Then the company said that the development is impossible due to the control of Russian peacekeepers over the mines and the future fate "will depend on the final decision on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh."

History

2024: Withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent

In April 2024, the Kremlin officially announced the beginning of the withdrawal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent (RMK) from the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh: earlier, personnel with columns of equipment of the RF Armed Forces emerging from temporary deployment points appeared on the Web.

Although under the trilateral agreement, the peacekeepers were supposed to be in the region until 2025, after Azerbaijan established control over Artsakh and the full outcome of the Armenian population, the feasibility of the presence of the RMK came into question. Partial curtailment of activities began back in 2023.

2023

Armenia surrenders control over Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. Residents of the republic leave

In September 2023, due to the inaction of the Armenian authorities, Nagorno-Karabakh lost its independence and fully became part of Azerbaijan.

By September 27, about 47 thousand people had already crossed the border with Armenia, which is more than a third of the indigenous inhabitants living in Nagorno-Karabakh. By September 29, the number of people who left the region reached 93 thousand out of the total number of people living in 120 thousand.

On October 3, 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that over 98 thousand civilians were evacuated from Nagorno-Karabakh to the territory of Armenia through the mediation of Russian peacekeepers.

The centuries-old history of Armenians living in Karabakh is coming to its tragic end.

Change of commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to Kirill Kulakov

On September 4, 2023, information about the change of the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh was officially confirmed. The new head of the RMK was Major General Kirill Kulakov, who replaced Colonel General Alexander Lentsov in this position.

Kirill Kulakov

Judging by the fact that the replacement took place only four months after the previous shift, To Moscow they were dissatisfied with Lentsov's work in Artsakh.

The appearance of General Kulakov in this case looks like an attempt to eliminate problems at an accelerated pace, and the ex-boss himself, apparently, should act as some kind of crisis manager.

Alexander Lentsov appointed commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh

Colonel-General Alexander Lentsov became the new commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the unrecognized republic of Artsakh in April 2023.

Prior to this appointment, General Lentsov served as adviser to the Minister of Defense of Russia, and until 2020 he was deputy commander in chief of the ground forces.

He participated in hostilities in Afghanistan: starting with a company commander, he went to the battalion commander of the 234th parachute regiment. In Yugoslavia, he was as the commander of a unit of Russian peacekeepers in Bosnia.

In addition, he took part in both Chechen wars, as well as hostilities in South Ossetia in 2008 and in Ukraine in 2014-2015. And in 2016, he served as deputy commander of the grouping of troops (forces) of the Russian Armed Forces for commandant's offices in Syria.

2020

Azerbaijan's victory in the second Karabakh war with Armenia

The second Karabakh war, which began on September 27, 2020, was predetermined by many factors. Unlike the first war, which ended in the defeat of Azerbaijan, this time the victory was on the side of Baku, which converted military successes into an agreement to return to its control a significant part of the territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as part of Nagorno-Karabakh itself - Shushi and Hadrut.

Among the factors contributing to the victory of Azerbaijan was its superiority in armament, primarily complete air dominance, which was achieved thanks to unmanned aerial vehicles purchased from Israel and Turkey. Experts believe that the Armenian side was taken by surprise by barraging ammunition ("kamikaze drones"). Among other factors that ensured Azerbaijan victory in the war was the help of Turkish military advisers, as well as, according to some reports, direct participation in the battles of Turkish military personnel, including pilots and gunners, as well as mercenaries from the Middle East (which, however, the Azerbaijani side categorically denies).

Speaking about the reasons for the defeat of Armenia, experts call the short-sighted policy of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who allowed the war in conditions when the country was not ready for it, the mistakes of the Armenian leadership in matters of military construction, strategic and tactical miscalculations of the Armenian military command.

The war ended on November 9, 2020 with the signing of a statement by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and President. Russia Vladimir Putin

The key point of the trilateral agreement was the agreement to deploy Russian peacekeepers in the conflict zone, which should eliminate the possibility of resuming armed confrontation and create conditions for restarting the diplomatic process, which has stalled for a quarter of a century.

The victory of Azerbaijan sharply devalued the calls made by Nikol Pashinyan throughout the year in Yerevan to grant Nagorno-Karabakh a special status. There is not a word in the trilateral statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 9 about the need for a special status of Karabakh.

In this regard, in his address to the nation the very day after the signing of the trilateral statement of November 9, Ilham Aliyev said: "Well, Pashinyan? Where is your status? There's no status and there won't be. This is part of Azerbaijan, Pashinyan. "

In turn, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov, after signing the statement by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, confirmed Moscow's commitment to the principle of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. "Yes, this document does not talk about the status of Karabakh, at the moment we continue to proceed from all relevant basic acts of international law, primarily the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and other documents,"^[1].

After the Victory Parade in Baku on December 10 and negotiations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was present at the celebrations, Ilham Aliyev made a conciliatory statement to Armenia. "We discussed the creation of a unified platform for the development of the region in peace. This platform provides for cooperation between Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran. If Armenia draws the right conclusions from the ended war, we can cooperate with Armenia. We need to put an end to this feud, open a new page, "Ilham Aliyev said.

COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic halts long-term growth of the republic's economy

Since the beginning of the 2000s, real GDP Karabakh has grown at double-digit rates, from 2011 to 2016 the average GDP growth exceeded 9%, in 2019 the economy of the unrecognized republic increased by 10.3%. In terms of dollars, GDP in 2019 amounted to about $713 million (the average rate dollar for the Karabakh drama is just over 480 drams per dollar).

However, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic also affected the Karabakh economy: in the first half of 2020, GDP decreased by 1.5% year-on-year.

With a GDP of $713 million at current prices, Nagorno-Karabakh would be one of the smallest economies in the world - less than Samoa ($851 million) and Vanuatu ($917 million), according to data from the World Bank.

On a per capita basis, GDP has grown more than one and a half times since 2015 and was valued at $4,803 last year. This is more than in Armenia ($4,623 in 2019, according to the World Bank) and Azerbaijan ($4,794).

1994

In 1994, Armenia and Azerbaijan entered into a ceasefire agreement.

Notes