Azerbaijanis in Armenia - Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

When the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict broke out as the Soviet Union was falling apart Armenia had a large Azeri population. Civil unrest in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1987 led to Azeris' being often harassed and forced to leave Armenia. On 25 January 1988 the first wave of Azeri refugees from Armenia settled in the city of Sumgait. On 23 March, the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union – that is the highest institution in the Union – rejected the demands of the Nagorno-Karabakh Council of People's Deputies to join Armenia without any possibility of appeal. Troops were deployed in Yerevan to prevent protests to the decision. In the following months, Azeris in Armenia were subject to further harassment and forced to flee. In the district of Ararat, four villages were burned on 25 March. On 7 June, Azeris were evicted from the town of Masis near the Armenian–Turkish border, and on the 20th of the same month five more Azeri villages were cleansed in the Ararat region. Another major wave occurred in November 1988 as Azeris were either expelled by the nationalists and local or state authorities, or fled fearing for their lives. Violence took place as a result of ethnic conflicts; in November 1988, 25 Azeris were killed, according to Armenian sources (of those 20 in the town of Gugark); and 217, according to Azerbaijani sources.

Thus, in 1988–91 the remaining Azeris were forced to flee primarily to Azerbaijan. It is impossible to determine the exact population numbers for Azeris in Armenia at the time of the conflict's escalation, since during the 1989 census forced Azeri migration from Armenia was already in progress. UNHCR's estimate is 200,000 persons.