Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh

The Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh^[a] were areas of Azerbaijan, situated around the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), which were occupied by the ethnic Armenian military forces of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh (or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) with military support from Armenia, from the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994) to 2020, when the territories were returned to Azerbaijani control by military force or handed over in accordance to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement (with the exception of the Lachin corridor).^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] The surrounding regions were seized by Armenians under the justification of a "security belt" which was to be traded for recognition of autonomous status from Azerbaijan.^[5]^[6]

The United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War demanding that all occupying forces withdraw from the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10] In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 62/243, demanding the withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,^[11] although the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the United States, voted against it.^[12] Unlike the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, the population of all the adjacent Armenian-occupied districts were majority-Azerbaijani.^[13]^[14]

In the wake of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020), Azerbaijan gained control over Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, and Qubadli districts, and Armenia agreed to withdraw its forces from Agdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin districts, returning them to Azerbaijani control, by 20 November, 25 November and 1 December 2020, respectively. This agreement was codified in a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement, to be enforced by Russian peacekeepers.^[15]

18 May 1992, Armenian forces occupied , opening the Lachin corridor for land communications between NKR and Armenia. A strong offensive by Armenian forces occurred in 1993, resulting in the securing of further territory to act as a "security zone".

Lachin

27 March 1993, Armenian forces launched an offensive in and by 5 April had completely occupied the area of Kalbajar District, creating a strong link between Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia and removing from the Lachin corridor the threat of attack from the north.

Kalbajar

23 July 1993, after 40 days of fighting, officially known in Armenia as the "suppression of enemy firing points", Agdam was occupied. Then followed an attack in the south:

22 August 1993 – was occupied.

Fuzuli

25 August 1993 – was occupied.

Jabrayil

31 August 1993 – was occupied.

Qubadli

29 October 1993 – was occupied.

Zangilan

According to the resolution, the 7 adjacent districts were occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

[91]

From the standpoint of the , the 7 occupied districts were the territory of Azerbaijan temporarily occupied by the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army as a "security belt" until the provision of security guarantees for Nagorno-Karabakh and the establishment of control over the whole of the territory claimed by Nagorno-Karabakh, with the exception of the Lachin corridor linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia (which the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh stated it did not intend to return because of its strategic importance)^[92]^[93] However, the occupied territories were declared to be included in administrative territorial system of Nagorno-Karabakh as parts of its districts.^[94] In 2022, Nagorno-Karabakh parliament approved a bill that declared all territories that came under Azerbaijani control after the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, including those outside of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, to be "occupied".^[95]

Nagorno-Karabakh

The ruled on the case Chiragov and Others v. Armenia that Armenia "exercised effective control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories".^[96]

European Court of Human Rights

During the first Nagorno-Karabakh War, the United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions calling for the withdrawal of occupying forces from the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10] In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly passed the Resolution 62/243 by 39 to 7, calling for the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.^[11]