Table of contents introduction

CHAPTER I. POLİTİCAL FACTORS İMPACTİNG AZERBAİJAN

1. 
   The Nagorno-Karabakh problem
   
   1. 
      The past of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem
      

Nagorno-Karabakh problem, XIX. The Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, which arose at the beginning of the twentieth century, has lasted to the present day (Özyılmaz, 2013: 193). For many years, Russia has been pursuing policies aimed at weakening the parties in the region and putting them in a race for supremacy over each other. In this context, it can be said that at the root of the Armenian-Azeri conflict, which began to explode in the early 1900s, lie Russia's important strategies (Mustafayev, 2002: 7).

As part of Tsarist Russia's immigration policy, Armenians settled in the Nagorno-Karabakh region (Nejiyev, 2011: 165). After the Crimean War of 1853–1856 and the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877–1879, a large number of Armenians were settled in Karabakh. As a result, Russia's proliferation policy XIX. Over the centuries, it has led to great changes in the demographic and political dimension of the region. As a result of the migration activities carried out on the borders of Karabakh between 1831-1916, the Armenian population, which was about 19 thousand, increased to 119 thousand. In addition to Russia's migration policy, it has laid the groundwork for the racial and geopolitical rivalry between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples (Pasheyava, Bagirova, and Mehdiyev, 2013: 72). The issue, which started as an Azeri-Russian issue, later became an Azeri-Armenian issue and has become an international issue over time (Özyılmaz, 2013: 203).

Although the first conflicts between Azeris and Armenians began in 1905, the events that prepared them date back to the 1890s (Mustafayev, 2002: 7). After the Russo-Turkish war between 1877-1878, the "Armenian question", which came to the fore with the efforts of European states, became a tool for giving Armenians the right to free government in the Eastern Anatolia region and for an independent Armenian state. Although there are a number of priority criteria for the establishment of an independent body, none of these provinces, which they call "Western Armenia", meet this criterion. The fact that the Turkish population in Irevan and its environs fell from 313,176 to 302,965 between 1897 and 1907 results in the massacre of about 10,000 Azerbaijani Turks in the 1905-1906 uprising (Mustafa, 2014: 8-9). Since the early 1890s, one of Russia's main policies has been to incite Armenians against the Ottomans. The conquest of the Straits and Istanbul has always been under Russia's control (Mustafayev, 2002: 7). XX. After the establishment of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the century, the general attitude of the Soviet government was not to make enough clear turns to the land claims of the Armenians and to spread the issue over time (Kazimli, 2018: 107).

During the 1905 uprising, the first serious clashes between Armenians and Azeri Turks began. In the dates of the beginning of the revolutionary movement between 1905-1907, Russia described the attacks of the Armenians on the Turks in order to perpetuate this confusion in the Caucasus (Eyvazli, 2019: 156). 6 The Armenian-Muslim massacres, which began in 1905 with the killing of an Azerbaijani Turk by Armenians, began in Baku without any agreement. With the support of the Armenian millionaires here, they agreed that they would take control of Baku's oil and that they would now liberate all Muslim Turks from the South Caucasus by force and establish an Armenian state. In the bloody conflicts that started in 6 Shubat and lasted until 10 Shubat, the total loss of the parties reached 1,000, but the Armenians did not achieve their goals (Shikhaliyev, 2004: 15-16). 6 Subsequently, the massacres that began in Baku in 1905 were followed by Nakhchivan (5 May), Revan (23 May), Ecmiazin (3 Haziran), Jabrayil (13 Haziran), First Shusha (16 August), Second Baku (20 August). Agustos), Second Shusha (July 12), Cevanshir, Gence (November 18), Tiflis (November 24) massacres and Gazah (22 January), Zengezur (July 29) massacres in 1906 ”(Eyvazli, 2019: 156).

On March 30, 1918, Armenians began killing Turks and looting their homes in Baku. Sources indicate that Armenians massacred about 30,000 Muslims in the March genocide (Amanoglu, 2004: 678-679).

XI. The Red Army established Bolshevik rule in Azerbaijan in April 1920 and in Armenia in November (Pasheyeva et al., 2013: 73). On July 5, 1921, the Russian Communist Party declared the region's current status. The Nagorno-Karabakh region created a great problem between the Armenians who wanted the region to be annexed to Armenia in 1920 and the Azeri people who rejected this demand. In the face of this situation, the Bolsheviks entered the region and created a new map; Nakhchivan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Zangezur were handed over to the Armenian administration. However, in 1921, the Bolsheviks, who were seeking an agreement with Turkey, which gave the War of Independence, left Nakhchivan and Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan unilaterally. 64).

After the Bolshevik Invasion, the Armenians continued their attacks on the Muslims. After the Batum Treaty, which took place in the same year, the Armenians were forced to move thousands of houses and relatives to Kars as a result of their persecution of Muslims in the Karabakh region (Gokce, 2011: 1140).

Taking the opportunity of Russian troops to evacuate some lands of Azerbaijan after the uprising, the Armenians destroyed about 60% of the population by burning and destroying the settlements in the south-western part of Azerbaijan. In this case, Muslims; With the intervention of Ottoman troops, they were forced to move to safer areas or to areas under British occupation (Gokce, 2011: 1140-1141).

Another step taken was the establishment of DKÖB in the Azerbaijani lands. The Communist Party of Azerbaijan decided to establish the Autonomous Region in Karabakh on January 30, 1921; On July 24, 1923, DKÖB was announced. In fact, the policy pursued during the Soviet era in relation to Armenian nationalism was a continuation of this policy pursued by Tsarist Russia. When the shortcomings flared up again in the late 1980s, the pro-Armenian approach of the Soviet administration showed this (Kazimli, 2018: 107-108).

The Secretary of the Armenian Communist Party asked Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhchivan from Stalin in 1935, and this demand was rejected by the SSCB. With the establishment of the SSCB, Armenia has put these demands on the agenda. Although Moscow's general view of the question is positive, the current political situation in the world at that time was not accepted due to its incompatibility (Ekici, 2017: 64). After 1945, Stalin's project to transport its population to Armenia with the Armenian diaspora in different parts of the world was put into practice (Bilgin, 2020: 16).

By the decisions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 4083 (No. 23 of 1947) and No. 754 (March 10, 1948), Azerbaijani Turks were deported from Armenia to the Kur-Aras regions of the Azerbaijan SSR. This project, which is planned to provide group migration from Armenia to the Kur-Aras region, involves the relocation of 10,000, 40,000, and 50,000 people (a total of 100,000 Azeri population) to the Kur-Aras region in 1948, 1949, and 1950, respectively. Free travel permits were issued to the displaced people with the goods they could carry with them, and at the same time all relevant institutions of the Azerbaijan SSC were tasked by the Council of Ministers to provide the apartments (Bayramov, 2019: 910-911).
By an ambiguous resolution issued by the Soviet administration on March 10, 1948; Azeris were expelled from their homeland due to the old immigration law, while Armenians began to be resettled in accordance with the new law. In 1961, a bill was passed to allow Armenians who did not lick the country to migrate to Armenia (Karaca, 2015: 116).

The Nagorno-Karabakh issue has been on the agenda whenever there is a change of government in the SSCB. In connection with the issue, in 1963-1965, through the Armenian leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, there were written demands on the condemnation of Azerbaijan and the annexation of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenian lands. These demands, voiced by Erivan, did not receive a positive response (Ekici, 2017: 64).

Armenians have been intensively raising their land claims over Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan since the 1960s, and have carried it to the point of occupying Turkish lands. The media and the press were also used in these actions, and in these passages the Anatolian lands were referred to as "Western Armenia". Similar initiatives were carried out in 1965 and 1973. In the wake of the collapse of the SSCB, Armenia's claims to Nagorno-Karabakh have once again come to the fore. Armenia's claim to the region with the support of Russia and the demonstrations of the Armenians in the region were the beginning of the problem. In 1991, the region gained a different character by announcing the independence of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh (Eyvazli, 2019: 157-158). Armenia's claim to Azerbaijani rights during the Soviet era led to the outbreak of the Karabakh War (Kavak, 2014: 3).

2.