Nine years have passed since a bloody escalation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict that was later dubbed the April War or Four Day War.
In early April 2016, Armenian forces launched massive artillery bombardments of the Azerbaijani villages and civilian settlements located close to the so-called line of contact.
The clashes lasted from April 1 through April 5, 2016, claimed hundreds of lives on both sides. As a result of the Four-Day War, Azerbaijan liberated a total of about 2,000 hectares (approximately 5,000 acres) of land, including strategic hills and three villages, which were occupied by Armenia during the First Karabakh war in the early 1990s. After the April War, the government of Azerbaijan launched a two-phase revival campaign in liberated Jojug Marjanli to rebuild the village’s infrastructure as well as residential houses, a school, a hospital, and a kindergarten. Over 100 IDP families returned to their native lands.
The April War has become an unexpected reminder of the full-scale war, which broke out shortly after Azerbaijan and Armenia became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Following the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991, Armenia launched a military campaign against Azerbaijan. The full-scale war, which lasted until a ceasefire in 1994, resulted in Armenia occupying 20% of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territories. Over 20,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were killed, nearly 4,000 went missing, and one million were expelled from those lands in a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign conducted by Armenia.
Armenia failed to comply with all four legally binding resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, which demanded the immediate withdrawal of the occupying forces from the Azerbaijani lands and the return of internally displaced Azerbaijanis to their native lands.
The April War was considered an unprecedented escalation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict since the 1994 ceasefire – but everything has changed after the latest outbreak of hostilities.
On September 27, 2020, Armenia’s forces deployed in the occupied Azerbaijani lands shelled military positions and civilian settlements of Azerbaijan. The attacks triggered the Azerbaijani forces to take immediate counter-offensive measures for pushing back the assault.
The war ended in a tripartite statement signed on November 10, 2020, by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. By this time, Azerbaijani forces liberated more than 300 settlements, including the cities of Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Gubadli, and Shusha, from nearly 30-year-long illegal Armenian occupation. Armenia also returned the occupied Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin districts to Azerbaijan by December 1, 2020, as part of the obligations it took under the deal.
Shortly after the war, the Azerbaijani authorities voiced readiness and determination to launch negotiations with Armenia that would ultimately bring the long-awaited peace to the region. In February 2022, Baku submitted a proposal containing five basic principles to Armenia. These principles highlight the key issues related to the peace negotiations between the two countries, including mutual recognition of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of internationally recognized borders; mutual confirmation of the absence of territorial claims against each other; obligation to refrain in interstate relations from undermining the security of each other; delimitation and demarcation of the state border; and unblocking of the transportation and other communications.
However, the process suffered major setbacks due to Armenia’s demands, including so-called “rights and security” for nearly 25,000 Armenians living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, in addition to avoiding fulfilling its obligations under the Trilateral statement, such as the withdrawal of its armed formations from the Azerbaijani territories.
The presence of Armenian military units in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan has sporadically fueled hostilities, resulting in casualties on both sides. Despite warnings from Baku, Armenia neglected to take necessary steps to withdraw its troops from Azerbaijani sovereign territory.
On September 19, 2023, the Azerbaijan Armed Forces conducted a one-day local anti-terror operation to neutralize illegal Armenian armed formations and dismantle their military infrastructure in the Karabakh region. This decision was prompted by mine incidents in the Khojavand district, resulting in casualties among Azerbaijani law enforcement and civilian workers. Azerbaijani troops stationed in the Aghdam district also faced injuries due to the presence of Armenian armed formations in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region, which was temporarily monitored by Russian peacekeeping forces.
During the operation, the Azerbaijani military successfully targeted military assets outside civilian areas, including artillery systems, radio-electronic warfare equipment, military vehicles, ammunition depots, and strongholds.
As a result of the operation, the armed Armenian separatists in the Karabakh region surrendered on September 20, agreeing to abandon their military positions and withdraw. Subsequently, on September 28, the self-proclaimed separatist regime disbanded itself.
On October 15, 2023, President Aliyev hoisted Azerbaijan’s flag in Khankendi, symbolizing the restoration of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over the entire territory of the Karabakh region.
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