Caroline Cox and John Eibner

Ethnic Cleansing in Progress: War in Nagorno Karabakh

[Contents] [Preface] [Introduction] [Basic Facts] [A Conflict of Civilizations] [The Genocide] [The Pincers of Pan-Turkism] [Soviet Rule] [The Karabakh Question Revived] [Operation Ring] [The Post-Soviet Conflict] [The Characteristics of the People of Nagorno Karabakh] [The Prognosis: Continuing Bloodshed] [Conclusions] [Recommendations]

Conclusions

• The war in Nagorno Karabakh has cost the lives of thousands and has displaced tens of thousands. The spectres of famine, epidemic and genocide stalk the land.
• The war is characterized by an enormous asymmetry of violence. Azerbaijan has sought from the beginning of the conflict to achieve its aims by steadily escalating military means. The Armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh is the primary victim in this tragic conflict. We do not claim that they are beyond reproach or that they have not contributed to the toll of human suffering. But in at least five ways Azerbaijan is the primary aggressor:

1. It was Azerbaijan, along with the Soviet 4th Army, which carried out the brutal deportations of entire Armenian villages from the Autonomous Region of Nagorno Karabakh and the adjacent Shaumyan district. Thousands of refugees from these deportations are now living in conditions of acute deprivation in Armenia or in Nagorno Karabakh.
2. It was Azerbaijan which imposed the cruel blockades on Nagorno Karabakh and on Armenia, which have caused great damage to the Armenian economy and attempted to cause death by slow strangulation of essential supplies, including emergency humanitarian aid, to the people of Nagorno Karabakh. The blockades were even sustained during the Armenian earthquake catastrophe, hampering the access of urgently needed relief supplies.
3. It was Azerbaijan which first used GRAD multiple-missile rocket launchers against the civilians of Nagorno Karabakh, escalating the rate of casualties, especially of women and children, and the destruction of essential facilities, such as hospitals.
4. It is Azerbaijan which is currently using aerial bombardment against civilian targets, with massive 500 kg and cluster bombs.
5. It is Azerbaijan that is now using ground-to-air missiles against the civilians of Nagorno Karabakh, causing even further threat to life and limb, especially of women, children and the elderly.

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