At the end of 40 years of war, Armenia and Azerbaijan come to a peace agreement

A conflict that extends from the crumbling of the USSR now comes to an end. There are still pending matters, but Azerbaijan ensures the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

This Thursday, Armenia accepted Azerbaijan’s proposals on “the two unresolved articles” that were missing for a peace agreement that has been extending for 4 decades.

“One of two articles concerns the issue of non -detachment of forces from third countries along the border. The other article concerns the mutual withdrawal of the claims of international instances and the commitment not to act mutually, ”said Prime Minister Armenian Nikol Pashinyan, quoted by.

And Azerbaijan confirmed: “We recorded with satisfaction that the negotiations About the text of the project on a peace agreement and the establishment of interstate relationships between Azerbaijan and Armenia were completed“.

The conclusion of the conflict comes after several over the years to resolve the situation, with AE a recent, which should be over. But why did the two countries war?

Geography vs. ethnia

The two countries of the former Soviet Union fought since the USSR’s fall in the region of Nagorno-karabakh, A rich oil zone. As explained by, territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan (Geographically is in the middle of the country)but its inhabitants are predominantly of Armenian ethnicity (and Catholics, unlike azerbaijanese, predominantly Muslims).

The region, with about 120,000 Armenians, has its own local government, and both countries claim it as their own.

When the Soviet Union fell, the First War of Nagorno-Karabakh (1988-1994) between Armenians and their neighbors Azeris (ethnic group of Azerbaijan). About 30,000 people were killed and more than one million were displaced.

Armenia was a winner, and Azerbaijan lost territory, with promises of retaliation. But revenge only arrived in 2020, with the so-called Second War of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In this phase of the conflict, the Muslim country obtained the Military Support from Türkiye and from Israel, and eventually regained the territory in 2023 after thousands of deaths. Armenia used to count on the Russian supportbut the war in Ukraine dictated other priorities for Kremlin.

Now, a peace agreement should be signed and that consecrates the territory as Azerbaijanese, but there are still pending matters. Azerbaijan stated that the Armenian constitution should “eliminate claims against sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan ”.