The Escalation of Ethnic Violence and Population Displacement, 1988–1990

Throughout 1988, Armenian-Azerbaijani relations deteriorated sharply.

Violence occurred in multiple cities and villages. Nationalist rhetoric increased, and Soviet officials struggled to maintain order.

In November 1988, anti-Armenian violence broke out in Kirovabad, now Ganja, one of Azerbaijan's largest cities.

Armenians were attacked and forced from their homes, and large numbers fled.

At the same time, Azerbaijanis living in Armenia experienced threats, attacks, and forced displacement.

These events cannot be understood as a simple one-directional movement of refugees. Both communities suffered ethnic violence and large-scale uprooting.

By the early 1990s, most Armenians who had lived in Azerbaijan outside Nagorno-Karabakh had fled or been expelled, while the overwhelming majority of Azerbaijanis who had lived in Armenia had also departed.

Population estimates vary according to whether they count people displaced before 1988, during the immediate crisis, or over the entire conflict.

Human Rights Watch documented hundreds of thousands of Armenians displaced from Azerbaijan and substantial Azerbaijani displacement from Armenia during the initial years.

The December 1988 Armenian earthquake

On December 7, 1988, a catastrophic earthquake struck northern Armenia.

The disaster devastated Spitak, Leninakan—now Gyumri—and surrounding communities.

Approximately 25,000 people died.

The earthquake did not cause the Karabakh conflict, but it severely complicated Armenia's political and economic circumstances.

Armenian society was simultaneously confronting a humanitarian disaster, a growing national movement, Soviet political instability, and the arrival of displaced Armenian families from Azerbaijan.

The earthquake also placed extraordinary pressure on transportation, housing, medical facilities, and public finances.