The
Nagorno-Karabakh War , referred to as the
Artsakh Liberation War (,
Artsakhyan azatamart) by Armenians, was an
ethnic conflict that took place in the late 1980s to May 1994, in the
enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern
Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the
Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan. As the war progressed, Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former
Soviet Republics, entangled themselves in a protracted, undeclared
war in the mountainous heights of Karabakh as Azerbaijan attempted to curb the
secessionist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh. The
enclave's parliament had voted in favor of uniting itself with Armenia and a referendum, boycotted by the Azerbaijani population of Nagorno-Karabakh, was held, whereby most of the voters voted in favor of independence. The demand to unify with Armenia, which began anew in 1988, began in a relatively peaceful manner; however, in the following months, as the
Soviet Union's disintegration neared, it gradually grew into an increasingly violent conflict between ethnic Armenians and ethnic Azerbaijanis, resulting in claims of
ethnic cleansing by both sides.