The Artsakh Conflict as a Violation of the Genocide Convention: Toward a Referral to the International Criminal Court

Abstract

The Artsakh War is an ethnic, religious, and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Artsakh, an Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan. The modern conflict began in 1988 and escalated into a full-scale war in the early 1990s. A ceasefire signed in 1994 provided for two decades of relative stability, but escalations in April 2016, and most recently in October 2020, have renewed the antagonism. Actions by Azeri nationals within the past three months evidence an attempt to eradicate Artsakh Armenians from their homeland and are violative of the Genocide Convention. This essay evaluates this recent Azeri aggression as measured against the Genocide Convention. Implications for international criminal prosecutions are discussed.