Miatsum

After the collapse of the Russian Empire and then the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic declared the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh a part of the newly formed state. The Karabakh Congress of Armenians refused to recognize the power of the latter. Following the Sovietization of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the status of Nagorno-Karabakh was referred to the Central Committee of the RCP (B.) For its decision in the Caucasus Bureau . As a result of several meetings of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), the predominantly Armenian-populated territory was included in the Azerbaijan SSR . For several years, the status of the region was not finally determined until in 1923 the Autonomous Region of Nagorny Karabakh (AONK) was formed from the Armenian-populated part of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the Azerbaijan SSR. Later, through a series of territorial transformations, it was consciously separated from the Armenian SSR by the formation of the Lachin corridor. In 1937, the AONK was transformed into the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAO).

During the existence of the USSR, the issue of transferring Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia was raised from time to time by the Armenian leadership, but did not receive support in the center ^[2] . In the 1960s, the socio-economic tension in the NKAR twice grew into riots. The Armenians addressed the leadership of the Azerbaijan SSR with charges of economic discrimination of the NKAR, as well as of attempts to change the demographic structure of the autonomous region ^[3] .

The policy of democratization of Soviet public life initiated by M. S. Gorbachev provided the NKAR Armenians with the opportunity to speak more openly about their demands. The leadership of the AzSSR was accused of preserving the economic backwardness of the region, neglecting the development of the rights, culture and identity of the Armenian minority in Azerbaijan, creating artificial barriers for cultural ties between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]} .

Armenian pogroms in Sumgait and Baku also strengthened the desire of Armenians for reunification.

• At the beginning of October 1987 at rallies in Yerevan devoted to environmental issues , demands were made for the transfer of the NKAO of the Armenian SSR, which were repeated in numerous appeals addressed to the Soviet leadership.
• December 1 - The delegation of the Karabakh Armenians handed over the signatures, letters and demands collected in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh to the reception of the CPSU Central Committee in Moscow .
• January - February 1988 - the delegation of Karabakh Armenians to Moscow in order to convince the central government to transfer the NKAR to Armenia.
• February 20, 1988 - an extraordinary session of the Council of People's Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAR) decided "On a petition to the Supreme Soviets of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR to transfer the NKAO from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR."
• On March 17, the plenum of the regional party committee made a decision which said: “ Expressing the aspirations of the Armenian population of the autonomous region, the will of the overwhelming majority of the communists of Nagorno-Karabakh, ask the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee to consider and positively resolve the issue of the accession of the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region to the Armenian SSR, thereby correcting the historic mistake made in the early 1920s in determining the territorial affiliation of Nagorno-Karabakh . ”
• In 1989, the social and political organization Miatsum was founded under the leadership of Robert Kocharyan , with the goal of joining the NKAR to Armenia ^[8] .
• 1988-1991 - as a result of ethnic friction, about 185,000 Azerbaijanis became refugees from Armenia to Azerbaijan, more than 300,000 Armenians fled in the opposite direction ^[9] .
• On December 10, 1991, a referendum on the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh was held in the NKR. According to its results, 99.89% of those who took part in the voting supported the independence of the NKR. The minority of NKAO in Azerbaijan boycotted the referendum.
• 1991-1994 - the Karabakh war . The outcome of the war was the de facto independence of the Karabakh Armenians from Azerbaijan. After the truce in 1994, hundreds of thousands of refugees (Azeris, Kurds and Meskhetian Turks) left the territory controlled by Armenian forces (Nagorno-Karabakh and 7 adjacent areas) in Azerbaijan ^[10] .

• According to the candidate of historical sciences, Sergey Markedonov, there are parallels between the idea of ​​miatsum and enosis ^[11] .

• The flag of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic symbolizes the idea of ​​Miatsum ^[12] .

• Anschluss
• Enosis
• Karabakh conflict
• Karabakh war
• Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region
• History of Nagorno-Karabakh

Karabakh: Is there hope for peace?