Nagorno-Karabakh or Artsakh is a small mountainous region with majority Armenian population in South Caucasus bordering Armenia and Azerbaijan.
When both Armenia and Azerbaijan became part of the Soviet Union in 1920’s Nagorno-Karabakh region was given to Soviet Azerbaijan despite having a majority Armenian population and being historically an Armenian region. When Soviet union started to collapse Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh started mass protests demanding unification with Armenia which were met with violence and mass pogroms against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan (Baku, Sumgait).
As a result of the violence Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh declared their independence and formed the Artsakh Republic (also known Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) in 1991 and became a de facto independent unrecognized state. In the same year both Armenia an Azerbaijan became independent and a full-scale war broke out between Artsakh Republic supported by Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Armenians won the war and gained control of Nagorno Karabakh and some surrounding areas. A ceasefire agreement was signed in 1994 but all negotiations failed to reach a peace deal.
On September 2020 Azerbaijan attacked Artaskh republic starting the second Nagorno Karabakh War. The war ended with Azerbaijani victory, another ceasefire was signed and Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region. The conflict is still unresolved as the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is still undecided and the safety of Armenians in the region is endangered.