Two Peoples, One Land
Epochs · Epoch 7 of 9

Eruption

1985–1994

Glasnost reopens the Karabakh question; pogroms, war, and approximately one million displaced over six years.

The 1985-1994 period is the principal modern conflict. NKAO votes to transfer to Armenian SSR (Feb 1988); Sumgait, Kirovabad, Gugark and Baku pogroms drive both populations into homogenisation; Operation Ring, the war in Karabakh, the seven occupied districts, Khojaly, Maraga, the Bishkek ceasefire of 1994. By the end, NKAO is wholly Armenian, the surrounding seven Azerbaijani districts are wholly Armenian-occupied, the residual Azerbaijani population of Armenia and Armenian population of Azerbaijan outside Karabakh have left.

Version 1 Revised 2026-05-09 Stability actively-curated Archive copy History all versions
Chronology
1990198519941988 · NKAO Soviet votes for transfer to Armenian SSR1988 · Formation of the Karabakh Committee1988 · Sumgait pogrom (atrocity)1988 · Kirovabad / Ganja pogrom (atrocity)1988 · Gugark anti-Azeri violence (atrocity)1988 · Anti-Azerbaijani violence in Gugark and Vardenis (atrocity)1988 · Spitak earthquake1989 · Volsky Special Administration of NKAO1989 · Azerbaijani rail and gas blockade of Armenia1990 · Baku pogrom (atrocity)1991 · Soviet–Azerbaijani Operation Ring (atrocity)1991 · Azerbaijan abolishes NKAO autonomy1991 · Nagorno-Karabakh independence referendum1992 · Khojaly massacre (atrocity)1992 · Maraga massacre (atrocity)1992 · Armenian capture of Shusha1992 · Opening of the Lachin Corridor1992 · Azerbaijani Goranboy summer offensive1993 · Armenian capture of Kelbajar1993 · UN Security Council resolutions on Karabakh, 19931993 · Heydar Aliyev returns to power in Azerbaijan1993 · Armenian capture of Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Qubadli, Zangilan (atrocity)1994 · Bishkek ceasefire
atrocity event

Glasnost opens the question

The 20 February 1988 vote of the NKAO Soviet to transfer to Armenian SSR was the first formal challenge to the 1923 settlement. The petition was rejected by Moscow within two days; mass demonstrations followed in Yerevan, Stepanakert and Baku.

The pogroms

The Sumgait pogrom (27-29 February 1988) killed approximately 32 Armenians officially and substantially more in independent reconstructions. The Kirovabad pogrom (Ganja, November 1988) and the Gugark events (Armenia, late November 1988, ~24 Azerbaijanis killed) were the symmetric responses. The Baku pogrom (13-19 January 1990) killed 90+ Armenians and effectively emptied the 200,000+ Armenian community of Baku in a week. Soviet troops entered Baku on 20 January in "Black January", killing ~130 Azerbaijani civilians.

By March 1990, essentially the entire Azerbaijani population of Armenia (approximately 200,000) and the entire Armenian population of Soviet Azerbaijan outside NKAO (approximately 350,000) had relocated. The atlas's 1988-91 expulsion dispute handles the symmetric framing question.

Operation Ring and the war

The Soviet-Azerbaijani Operation Ring (April-May 1991), under General Viktor Polyanichko, deported the Armenian population of approximately 24 villages in the Shahumyan and Hadrut districts. The August 1991 Soviet coup attempt and the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union removed the federal mediator. The 26 November 1991 Azerbaijani parliamentary act abolished NKAO autonomy. The 10 December 1991 Karabakh referendum declared independence. The First Karabakh War followed.

Khojaly and Maraga

The Khojaly massacre (25-26 February 1992) killed at least 161 Azerbaijani civilians (Memorial), with mainstream estimates around 485 (de Waal). The atlas treats it as a major war crime; the Khojaly dispute handles the genocide-label framing. The Maraga massacre (April 1992) killed approximately 50 Armenian civilians in the village of Maraga. Both are recorded as atrocities.

The territorial expansion

Armenian forces took Shusha (May 1992), opened the Lachin corridor (May 1992), and through 1992-94 took the seven Azerbaijani districts surrounding NKAO: Kelbajar (April 1993), Lachin proper, Agdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Qubadli, Zangilan (1993), and the Goranboy / Martakert axis. Approximately 700,000-800,000 Azerbaijanis were displaced. The cities of Agdam and Fuzuli were systematically destroyed.

The institutional reaction

UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874, 884 of 1993 demanded withdrawal from the occupied territories under Chapter VI (negotiation framework, non-binding). The OSCE Minsk Group (founded 1992, with US, Russia, France co-chairs) became the principal mediation mechanism for the next 28 years. The Bishkek ceasefire of 12 May 1994 stopped active combat. Roughly 30,000 had died; just over a million had been displaced.

What the period set

The 1994 ceasefire created the post-1994 status quo: NKAO and the seven occupied districts under de facto Armenian control, the Azerbaijani population of those territories displaced, the residual Azerbaijani and Armenian populations of the two republics gone. That status quo would hold for 26 years before the 2020 reversal.

Events of the period

Grouped into year-bands so the period reads as a sequence rather than a wall.

1987–1988 7 events
1988
NKAO Soviet votes for transfer to Armenian SSR
Vote by the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast Soviet on 20 February 1988 requesting transfer from Soviet Azerbaijan to Soviet Armenia. The vote transformed latent petitions into mass politics and triggered the late-Soviet Karabakh crisis.
vote critical
1988
Formation of the Karabakh Committee
Formation of the Karabakh Committee in Yerevan in February 1988 to coordinate mass mobilisation for NKAO’s transfer to Armenia. Its members became the core of the Pan-Armenian National Movement and later independent Armenia’s first ruling elite.
declaration
1988
Sumgait pogrom
Three-day mob violence against Armenian civilians in the industrial city of Sumgait, 27–29 February 1988. Officially 32 killed (26 Armenians, 6 Azerbaijanis); independent estimates and survivor testimony place the figure considerably higher. The incident ended the Armenian community of Sumgait, accelerated the Armenian–Azerbaijani estrangement of the late Soviet years, and is the founding atrocity of the modern Karabakh conflict.
pogrom critical casualties 32–200
1988
Kirovabad / Ganja pogrom
Anti-Armenian violence in Kirovabad, now Ganja, in November 1988, during the widening post-Sumgait crisis. The pogrom accelerated the end of Armenian life in Azerbaijan’s second city and coincided with retaliatory anti-Azerbaijani violence in Armenia.
pogrom
1988
Gugark anti-Azeri violence
Anti-Azerbaijani violence in the Gugark district of northern Armenia in late 1988. Eleven to twenty-six deaths are commonly cited, and the violence accelerated the flight of Azerbaijanis from Armenia during the same period as anti-Armenian pogroms in Azerbaijan.
pogrom casualties 11–26
1988
Anti-Azerbaijani violence in Gugark and Vardenis
In late November 1988, anti-Azerbaijani violence erupted in [[place:gugark|Gugark district]] in northern Armenia and in [[place:vardenis|Vardenis]] on the eastern shore of Lake Sevan. Memorial documented at least 24 named killings in Gugark; village-level intimidation and looting drove the residual Azerbaijani population of roughly 80,000-90,000 out of Armenia in the following months. The honest Armenian-side counterpart to the [[event:sumgait-pogrom-1988|Sumgait]] and [[event:kirovabad-pogrom-1988|Kirovabad]] pogroms.
pogrom casualties 24–50 displaced 80,000–90,000
1988
Spitak earthquake
Catastrophic earthquake in northern Soviet Armenia on 7 December 1988, destroying Spitak and Leninakan, now Gyumri. Roughly 25,000–50,000 people died and about half a million were displaced, even as the Karabakh crisis was radicalising Armenian politics.
disaster critical casualties 25,000–50,000 displaced 500,000–514,000
1989–1990 3 events
1989
Volsky Special Administration of NKAO
Direct Soviet administration of NKAO under Arkady Volsky in 1989. Moscow suspended local republican control to defuse the Karabakh crisis, then abolished the arrangement after Azerbaijani protest, returning the oblast to Azerbaijani jurisdiction.
declaration
1989
Azerbaijani rail and gas blockade of Armenia
Azerbaijani rail and gas blockade of Armenia beginning in 1989, cutting key freight and energy routes during the Karabakh crisis. It contributed to Armenia’s economic collapse and later “dark and cold years.”
blockade critical
1990
Baku pogrom
Six days of organised anti-Armenian violence in Baku, 13–19 January 1990, that ended the Armenian community of the city, once the largest urban Armenian population in the Caucasus. Casualty estimates of 90–300 Armenian dead. Followed on 19/20 January by Soviet army "Black January" intervention against demonstrators, which killed over 130 Azerbaijani civilians and politically birthed the independent Azerbaijani Republic. The two events are inseparable in causation though distinct in victims.
pogrom critical casualties 90–300
1991–1992 8 events
1991
Soviet–Azerbaijani Operation Ring
Soviet-Azerbaijani security operation from April to August 1991 targeting Armenian villages in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. Officially presented as passport control and disarmament, it deported villagers, destroyed homes and radicalised the Karabakh Armenian independence drive.
military_operation critical
1991
Azerbaijan abolishes NKAO autonomy
Azerbaijani parliament’s abolition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast on 26 November 1991. The act tried to remove Karabakh’s Soviet autonomy just as the USSR was collapsing and was answered by the Karabakh Armenian independence referendum of 10 December.
declaration
1991
Nagorno-Karabakh independence referendum
Nagorno-Karabakh independence referendum of 10 December 1991, held under the Soviet secession-law framework and boycotted by the Azerbaijani minority. Armenian voters overwhelmingly supported independence, creating the foundational legal claim of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
vote critical
1992
Khojaly massacre
Killing of fleeing Azerbaijani civilians during and after the capture of Khojaly by Armenian forces with [[party:nkr-defense-army|NKR Defence Army]] and [[party:russian-366th-regiment|Russian 366th Motor Rifle Regiment]] involvement, 25–26 February 1992. The [[party:memorial-hrc|Memorial Human Rights Center]] documented at least 161 confirmed civilian dead; the Azerbaijani government cites 613. The most-cited Azerbaijani atrocity of the First Karabakh War and the centrepiece of contemporary Azerbaijani genocide-recognition diplomacy.
massacre critical casualties 161–613 displaced 1,275–6,300
1992
Maraga massacre
Killing of Armenian civilians in the village of Maraga, Martakert district of NKAO, by advancing Azerbaijani forces on 10 April 1992. The Cox/Eibner field investigation, conducted within days, documented approximately 45 dead and dozens of hostages. The most thoroughly documented Azerbaijani atrocity of the First Karabakh War.
massacre casualties 45–100
1992
Armenian capture of Shusha
Armenian capture of Shusha on 8–9 May 1992, removing the main Azerbaijani firing position above Stepanakert. The battle opened the way to the Lachin corridor and became a foundational victory in Armenian memory and a foundational loss in Azerbaijani memory.
battle
1992
Opening of the Lachin Corridor
Armenian opening of the Lachin Corridor in May 1992, linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia through Lachin district after the capture of Shusha. It transformed Karabakh from a besieged enclave into contiguous Armenian-controlled territory.
military_operation critical
1992
Azerbaijani Goranboy summer offensive
Azerbaijani summer offensive in 1992 under Surat Huseynov, retaking Shahumyan and much of Martakert and threatening Stepanakert. It was Azerbaijan’s most successful operation of the First Karabakh War before Armenian counteroffensives reversed the gains.
battle
1993–1994 5 events
1993
Armenian capture of Kelbajar
Armenian capture of Kelbajar in April 1993, the first major seizure of territory outside the former NKAO. The offensive displaced Azerbaijani civilians, widened the war beyond Karabakh proper and triggered UN Security Council Resolution 822.
battle
1993
UN Security Council resolutions on Karabakh, 1993
Four UN Security Council resolutions adopted in 1993 during the First Karabakh War. Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 demanded withdrawal from occupied districts, reaffirmed Azerbaijani territorial integrity and became the core international legal citations in Azerbaijan’s diplomacy.
ruling
1993
Heydar Aliyev returns to power in Azerbaijan
Return of Heydar Aliyev to power in Azerbaijan in June 1993 amid military defeats, rebellion and state collapse. His comeback displaced Abulfaz Elchibey and founded the Aliyev political order that still governs Azerbaijan.
declaration critical
1993
Armenian capture of Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Qubadli, Zangilan
Armenian offensives in 1993 capturing Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Qubadli and Zangilan, completing control over most surrounding Azerbaijani districts. The operations displaced hundreds of thousands and triggered UN resolutions 853, 874 and 884.
military_operation critical displaced 600,000–750,000
1994
Bishkek ceasefire
Russian-mediated ceasefire protocol of May 1994 ending the active phase of the First Karabakh War. It froze Armenian control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts without resolving status, displacement or security guarantees.
agreement critical displaced 700,000–1,100,000

Further reading

  1. Thomas de Waal, Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, 2003
  2. Razmik Panossian, The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars, 2006
  3. Arsène Saparov, From Conflict to Autonomy in the Caucasus: The Soviet Union and the Making of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, 2014
  4. Svante E. Cornell, Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus, 2001
  5. Memorial Human Rights Center, Report on the Mass Violations of Human Rights in Khojaly, 1992
  6. Caroline Cox, John Eibner, Ethnic Cleansing in Progress: War in Nagorno-Karabakh, 1993
  7. Human Rights Watch, Azerbaijan: Seven Years of Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, 1994
  8. Human Rights Watch, Bloodshed in the Caucasus: Escalation of the Armed Conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, 1992
  9. Dana Mazalová (interviewer); Ayaz Mutallibov (interviewee), Mutallibov interview, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 2 April 1992, 1992
  10. Markar Melkonian, My Brother's Road: An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia, 2005
  11. Chingiz Mustafayev (footage); various subsequent compilers, Chingiz Mustafayev video footage of the Khojaly kill zone, 28 February and 2 March 1992, 1992
  12. Memorial Human Rights Center, Memorial Human Rights Center: Indiscriminate shelling of Stepanakert, winter 1991–1992, 1992
  13. Levon Chorbajian, Patrick Donabedian, Claude Mutafian, The Caucasian Knot: The History and Geo-Politics of Nagorno-Karabagh, 1994
  14. Audrey L. Altstadt, Frustrated Democracy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan, 2017
  15. Svante E. Cornell, Azerbaijan Since Independence, 2011
  16. United Nations Security Council, UN Security Council Resolution 822 (1993), 1993
  17. United Nations Security Council, UN Security Council Resolution 853 (1993), 1993
  18. United Nations Security Council, UN Security Council Resolution 874 (1993), 1993
  19. United Nations Security Council, UN Security Council Resolution 884 (1993), 1993
  20. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE Lisbon Summit Declaration, Annex 1 (statement by the Chairman-in-Office on Nagorno-Karabakh), 1996
  21. Gerard J. Libaridian, Modern Armenia: People, Nation, State, 2004
  22. Thomas Goltz, Azerbaijan Diary: A Rogue Reporter's Adventures in an Oil-Rich, War-Torn, Post-Soviet Republic, 1998
  23. Caucasian Knot / Memorial archives (compiled), Anti-Azerbaijani violence in Gugark, Spitak and Vardenis districts, November-December 1988, 1989