Abstract/Summary

After three decades of being occupied by Armenia, the territories in and around Nagorno-Karabakh (NK), which make up more than 20 per cent of Azerbaijan’s territory were recaptured by Azerbaijan by 1 December 2020. At the end of the second war over NK, which erupted on 27 September 2020, a ceasefire agreement, brokered by Russia after a successful 44-day operation in Azerbaijan, provided for up to 1,960 Russian peacekeepers to be stationed in the region. According to the ceasefire agreement signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia on 10 November 2020, Armenian forces were expected to withdraw permanently from NK, especially the Lachin Corridor as the lone highway connecting NK to Armenia. However, they remained and continued to operate against Azerbaijani forces in the region. The recent military operations taken by Azerbaijani military forces on 19 September 2023 in the NK enclave were the extension of Azerbaijan’s long-standing goals to retake full control of the region. Although local Armenian forces in NK agreed to be disarmed after the intense military operations taken by Azerbaijan, tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians fled NK. The operations, therefore, hampered the claims and allegations of forced movement of thousands of ethnic Armenians from the region. This article asks whether the movement of civilians in NK meets the requirements to be considered an instance of forced movement under the relevant international law.