Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict refers to the ongoing ethnic conflict between the majority Armenian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh (also known as Artsakh) area of the Azerbaijani SSR. The conflict is generally said to have begun in February of 1988 when mass racial riots broke out in the city of Stepanakert, Azerbaijan. Armenians in the region wished for the Nagorno-Karabakh region to secede and form and independent soviet republic. The violence caused by this eventually spiraled out of control, quickly becoming a crisis of Azerbaijani national importance. At its height, the conflict saw widespread media attention throughout the Soviet Union and even internationally. The conflict resulted in the occupation of Stepanakert and the Nagorno-Karabakh area by Red Army forces until the 1990s, and the rise of Heydar Aliyev to national prominence, allowing him to sweep the Azerbaijani seats in the 1992 and 1994 elections. The conflict is generally considered a watershed for Gorbachev's reputation due to his inability to end the conflict in his own country.