Line of Contact (Nagorno-Karabakh)

The Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact (1994–2020) in red, with the largely unguarded Murovdag (Mrav) mountain range in the north.

The Line of Contact (Armenian: շփման գիծ, shp’man gits, Azerbaijani: təmas xətti) was the front line which separated Armenian forces (the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army and the Armenian Armed Forces) and the Azerbaijan Armed Forces from the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994 until the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement.

It was formed in the aftermath of the May 1994 ceasefire that ended the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–94).[1] During its existence, the mountain range of Murovdag (Mrav) was the northern part of the line of contact and essentially served as a natural border between the two forces.[2][3] The length of the line of contact was between 180 kilometres (110 mi)[4] and 200 kilometres (120 mi) until 2020.[5]

For the first time since the 1994 ceasefire, the front line slightly shifted during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,[6] when Azerbaijan recaptured some hectares of territory.[7] The Line of Contact effectively dissolved during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, after Azerbaijan made significant military gains against the internationally unrecognised Republic of Artsakh including capturing parts of the original Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. Armenian forces later withdrew from almost the entirety of Karabkh territories that it remained in control of as part of the 2020 ceasefire agreement, officially ending the existence of the Line of Contact.[8] A new line of contact then existed between the remaining Artsakhi zone in the former Autonomous Oblast controlled by Russian Armed Forces peacekeepers and the recaptured Azerbaijani territories until 2024.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Smolnik was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "David Simonyan: Surrender of territories to Azerbaijan: Consequences for Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh". Noravank Foundation. 21 April 2009. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. the northern flank – by the hard-to-access Mrav mountain range
  3. ^ Elbakyan, Edgar (16 May 2014). "Արցախի տարածքն անբաժանելի է". Hayastani Hanrapetutyun (in Armenian). Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. բնական սահմաններ հասցնելու համար, որը հյուսիսում Մռավի լեռնաշղթան է, իսկ հարավում՝ Արաքս գետը
  4. ^ Freizer, Sabine (2014). "Twenty years after the Nagorny Karabakh ceasefire: an opportunity to move towards more inclusive conflict resolution". Caucasus Survey. 1 (2): 2. doi:10.1080/23761199.2014.11417295.
  5. ^ de Waal, Thomas (24 July 2013). "The Two NKs". Carnegie Moscow Center. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019.
  6. ^ Simão, Licínia (June 2016), The Nagorno-Karabakh redux (PDF), European Union Institute for Security Studies, p. 2, doi:10.2815/58373, ISBN 9789291984022, ISSN 2315-1129, archived (PDF) from the original on 21 March 2018, retrieved 31 March 2018, For the first time since the 1990s, Azerbaijani forces managed to regain control of small parts of the territory surrounding Karabakh – the first time the Line of Contact has shifted. Although these changes do not significantly alter the parties' military predicament on the ground...
  7. ^ Silahlı Qüvvələrimiz tərəfindən 2000 hektardan artıq ərazi azad edilib Archived 18 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine // Official site of Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, 18 May 2016.
  8. ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (10 November 2020). "Facing Military Debacle, Armenia Accepts a Deal in Nagorno-Karabakh War". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.