ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the development of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and Russia's role therein. Generally speaking, the conflict arose due to the presence of a densely packed Armenian minority in Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of Azerbaijan. For two main reasons, the case of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh was significantly more prone to conflict than in the case of any other ethnic group in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The first reason was the relatively illegitimate and randomly drawn border between Armenians and Azeris and the legally ambiguous status of Nagorno-Karabakh's autonomy. The second reason lies in the history of Azeri-Armenian relations, there is nothing to indicate that Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh were particularly oppressed. The main goal was Nagorno-Karabakh, which the leaders of the movement believed Moscow would finally turn over to Armenia under pressure from the united Armenian nation and its allies.
