Stepanakert or Khankendi is a ghost city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The city was under the control and the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in the region. The city is located in a valley on the eastern slopes of the Karabakh mountain range,on the left bank of the Qarqarçay (Karkar) river.
Artsakh,officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh,was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023,Artsakh controlled parts of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic,including its capital Stepanakert. It had been an enclave within Azerbaijan from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war until the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive,when the Azerbaijani military took control over the remaining territory controlled by Artsakh. Its only overland access route to Armenia after the 2020 war was via the 5 km (3.1 mi) wide Lachin corridor,which was placed under the supervision of Russian peacekeeping forces.
The National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Artsakh.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh,inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023,and seven surrounding districts,inhabited mostly by Azerbaijanis until their expulsion during the 1990s. The Nagorno-Karabakh region was entirely claimed by and partially controlled by the breakaway Republic of Artsakh,but was recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan gradually re-established control over Nagorno-Karabakh region and the seven surrounding districts.
Holy Savior Cathedral,commonly referred to as Ghazanchetsots,is an Armenian Apostolic cathedral in Shusha in Azerbaijan. It is the cathedra of the Diocese of Artsakh of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Standing 35 metres (115 ft) high,Ghazanchetsots is one of the largest Armenian churches in the world. A landmark of Shusha and the Karabakh region,and of Armenian cultural and religious identity,it is listed as cultural and historical monument of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh is located in the southern part of the Lesser Caucasus range,at the eastern edge of the Armenian Highlands,encompassing the highland part of the wider geographical region known as Karabakh. Under Russian and Soviet rule,the region came to be known as Nagorno-Karabakh,meaning "Mountainous Karabakh" in Russian. The name Karabakh itself was first encountered in Georgian and Persian sources from the 13th and 14th centuries to refer to lowlands between the Kura and Aras rivers and the adjacent mountainous territory.
Sberbank CIB is a multinational investment banking and asset management firm headquartered in Moscow,Russia,and a subsidiary of Sberbank. It was founded in Moscow in 1991,and was formerly known as Troika Dialog.
Arayik Vladimiri Harutyunyan is an Armenian politician who served as the fourth president of the Republic of Artsakh from May 2020 to September 2023. Under his predecessor Bako Sahakyan,he served as the sixth and last Prime Minister from 2007 until the abolishment of that position in 2017 and as the first State Minister of the Republic of Artsakh from 2017 until his resignation in 2018. Harutyunyan led Artsakh through the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War with Azerbaijan,during which the republic lost most of the territory under its control. He resigned on 1 September 2023 in the midst of the Azerbaijani blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Bilateral relations between modern-day Armenia and the Russian Federation were established on 3 April 1992,though Russia has been an important actor in Armenia since the early 19th century. The two countries' historic relationship has its roots in the Russo-Persian War of 1826 to 1828 between the Russian Empire and Qajar Persia after which Eastern Armenia was ceded to Russia. Moreover,Russia was viewed as a protector of the Christian subjects in the Ottoman Empire,including the Armenians.
Armen Frunzekovych Vardanyan is an Armenian-Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler. He is an Olympic bronze medalist,three-time World Championships silver medalist,and two-time European Champion. He has also been awarded the Honoured Master of Sports Ukraine title.
Dashalty or Karin Tak is a village in the Shusha District of Azerbaijan,in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Until 2020,the village was controlled by the unrecognised Republic of Artsakh. The village had an ethnic Armenian-majority population prior to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war,and also had an Armenian majority in 1989.
The Lachin corridor is a mountain road in Azerbaijan that links Armenia and Karabakh.
The Ministry of Defence of Artsakh was a government agency of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh. It was the executive body in implementing defence policies of the Artsakh Defence Army. The final minister of defence was Lieutenant General Kamo Vardanyan. Following an Azerbaijani assault on 19 September 2023,Artsakh agreed to dissolve itself by 1 January 2024.
The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region,involving Azerbaijan,Armenia and the self-declared Armenian breakaway state of Artsakh. The war lasted for 44 days and resulted in Azerbaijani victory,with the defeat igniting anti-government protests in Armenia. Post-war skirmishes continued in the region,including substantial clashes in 2022.
In the aftermath of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War,peacekeeping operations were initiated by Russia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region to monitor the ceasefire between the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces. Separate from the Russian operation,Turkey also has personnel working in a joint Russian–Turkish monitoring centre.
Because of the geography,history,and sensitivities of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,accusations,allegations,and statements have been made of involvement by third-party and international actors during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War,including in media reports. Azerbaijan has been accused of employing Syrian mercenaries during the war,including reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). There have also been allegations of Kurdish militia from Syria and Iraq fighting on the Armenian side,and although some third-party sources had confirmed it,some publications had considered these claims "dubious". During the war,ethnic Armenian volunteers from the Middle East,Europe,and Latin America fought on Armenian side. Both sides have denied employing mercenaries in the war,but the OHCHR had stated that there were reports about Syrian fighters motivated primarily by private gain fighting on Azerbaijan's side recruited with Turkey's assistance and foreign nationals fighting on Armenian side with motivation being investigated,calling for withdrawal of any mercenaries and related actors from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Events of the year 2023 in Armenia.
This is a list of individuals and events related to Azerbaijan in 2023.
The blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh was an event in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The region was disputed between Azerbaijan and the breakaway Republic of Artsakh,internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan,which had an ethnic Armenian population and was supported by neighbouring Armenia,until the dissolution of Republic of Artsakh on 28 September 2023.
Kamo Bahaturi Vardanyan is an Armenian military officer from the Republic of Artsakh. He served as the last Minister of Defence of Artsakh and Chief of Staff of the Artsakh Defence Army.
