Introduction: The End of an Armenian Homeland

The End of an Armenian Homeland

Karabağ'dan göç edenlerin sayısı 50 bine dayandı

Concluye el plazo para la disolución de Nagorno Karabaj, territorio que fue reconquistado por el Ejército de Azerbaiyán

UN mission arrives to empty streets in Nagorno-Karabakh

In September 2023, one of the most consequential events in modern Armenian history unfolded in Nagorno-Karabakh, known to Armenians as Artsakh. Within days, Azerbaijan's military offensive brought the remaining Armenian-administered territory under Azerbaijani control. The military defeat was followed by the departure of almost the entire ethnic Armenian population, ending more than three decades of Armenian self-government and radically transforming the region's demographic, political, and cultural landscape.

More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh for the Republic of Armenia in approximately one week. Families abandoned homes, businesses, farms, churches, cemeteries, personal belongings, and communities whose histories extended across generations. The journey was marked by fear, exhaustion, uncertainty, and profound loss.

The events were not simply another episode in the long-running Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. They represented the destruction of Nagorno-Karabakh's de facto Armenian governing institutions, the near-total displacement of its Armenian population, and the beginning of a new struggle over the right of return, cultural preservation, property restitution, accountability, and regional peace.

The humanitarian catastrophe occurred after nine months of severe restrictions on movement and supplies through the Lachin Corridor, Nagorno-Karabakh's principal road connection with Armenia. By September 2023, the population was already suffering from serious shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and essential goods.

Azerbaijan described its September offensive as an anti-terrorist operation intended to restore constitutional order and sovereignty over internationally recognized Azerbaijani territory. Armenian authorities and numerous human rights organizations characterized the operation and preceding blockade as coercive actions that made continued Armenian life in the territory untenable.

These contrasting descriptions are central to understanding the conflict, but they do not alter the documented humanitarian consequences: a civilian population was uprooted on a massive scale, longstanding communities were emptied, and the future of Armenian cultural and religious heritage became deeply uncertain.

The exodus also exposed the limitations of international diplomacy, the fragility of ceasefire guarantees, and the inability of Russian peacekeepers and other international actors to prevent the collapse of the Armenian population's security.

To understand September 2023, it is necessary to examine the region's ancient and modern history, the First and Second Nagorno-Karabakh Wars, the 2020 ceasefire, the Lachin Corridor crisis, the final Azerbaijani offensive, the refugee emergency, and the consequences that continued long after the fighting stopped.