Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Putin says 'tragedy must end'

Notes about Nagorno-Karabakh

It is a mountainous region of approximately 4,400 square kilometers.

Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks live there.

During the Soviet Union era, it became an autonomous region in the Azerbaijan Republic.

It is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the majority of the population comprises of ethnic Armenians.

The sovereign status of the Nagorno-Karabakh administration, the Republic of Artsakh, is not recognized by any United Nations member state, including Armenia.

During the conflict between 1988-1994, about one million people were displaced and 30,000 were killed.

Russia has a military base in Armenia.

The dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Relations between the two former Soviet countries have been tense since 1989 over Nagorno-Karabakh, or Upper Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

In 1989, the parliament of Azerbaijan removed Nagorno-Karabakh's autonomous status, which had been in place since 1923.

During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Armenia began military operations into Nagorno-Karabakh in 1991.

In the same year, the separatist administration in Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence. The Azeri people of the region had boycotted the independence referendum.

The independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh, or Artsakh republic, is not internationally recognized.

Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions as well as many international organizations demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces.

The OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia and the US – was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. A cease-fire was agreed upon in 1994.

France, Russia and NATO, among others, have urged an immediate halt to clashes in the occupied region.