Nagorno-Karabakh Enclave

Subject : International Relations

Section: Places in news

Concept :

Azerbaijan said it set up a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, the only land link between Armenia and the the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

Nagorno-Karabakh Region

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous and heavily forested region that under international law is recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
However, ethnic Armenians who constitute the vast majority of the population there reject Azeri rule (the legal system of Azerbaijan).
After Azerbaijan’s troops were pushed out of the region following a war in the 1990s, these ethnic Armenians have been in administrative control of Nagorno-Karabakh, with support from Armenia.
Strategic Significance:
The energy-rich Azerbaijan has built several gas and oil pipelines across the Caucasus (the region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea) to Turkey and Europe.
Some of these pipelines pass close to the conflict zone (within 16 km of the border).
In an open war between the two countries, the pipelines could be targeted, which would impact energy supplies and may even lead to higher oil prices globally.