Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict- Hey! Check This Out (Willow Carter)

 According to the article by Vox, a conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region between Armenia and Azerbaijan has started up again. The original fight for the region ended over 30 years ago, with a ceasefire being signed after a war that caused 30,000 deaths. However, because of it being a ceasefire, the idea that the fighting could start up again at any time was always looming on the horizon. In the last week of September, both countries accused the other of unprovoked attacks against the other, which caused the fighting to start up again. Instead of it fizzling out like many of the previous skirmishes, this has only gained more and more intensity as the days went by. Now, many major cities within both countries have been attacked by heavy artillery fire. This has caused the days since then to be the most violent since the 1994 ceasefire, and some are even calling it the second Nagorno-Karabakh war. 

Along with that, Turkey has only been making things worse by supporting Azerbaijan, and allegedly sending fighters over to help. There are also serious fears that Russia may get involved, but so far that hasn't happened. However, if they were to get involved it would most likely escalate the situation more than it already has been. Neither side seems to be stepping down either, and both have made claims to the region. 

The reason for the conflict goes all the way back to when the Soviet Union was formed. Nagorno-Karabakh has a population of about 90% Armenian Christians, while Azerbaijan is a majority Muslim country. When both countries became a part of the Soviet Union, the region was given to Azerbaijan before being made into an autonomous region two years later. When the Soviet Union began to fall apart in the late '80s, disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan began, which then led to the first war. 

I think that this has the potential to turn into a very serious conflict, but I don't think major powers in the region like Turkey should intervene with military force. I believe that the larger countries should work together with Armenia and Azerbaijan to come to a resolution for the conflict. Russia did broker the first ceasefire, so that might be an obvious choice for another resolution, but this time the solution should be more permanent than a ceasefire. 

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