The Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh were areas of Azerbaijan, situated around the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), which were occupied by the ethnic Armenian military forces of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh (or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) with military support from Armenia, from the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994) to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020 (with the exception of the Lachin corridor).Нужны ли российские миротворцы в Нагорном Карабахе Human Rights Watch. Playing the "Communal Card". Communal Violence and Human Rights. ("By early 1992 full-scale fighting broke out between Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijani authorities.") / ("...Karabakh Armenian forces -often with the support of forces from the Republic of Armenia- conducted large-scale operations...") / ("Because 1993 witnessed unrelenting Karabakh Armenian offensives against the Azerbaijani provinces surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh...") / ("Since late 1993, the conflict has also clearly become internationalized: in addition to Azerbaijani and Karabakh Armenian forces, troops from the Republic of Armenia participate on the Karabakh side in fighting inside Azerbaijan and in Nagorno-Karabakh.")Human Rights Watch. The former Soviet Union. Human Rights Developments. ("In 1992 the conflict grew far more lethal as both sides -the Azerbaijani National Army and free-lance militias fighting along with it, and ethnic Armenians and mercenaries fighting in the Popular Liberation Army of Artsakh- began...")United States Institute of Peace. Nagorno-Karabakh Searching for a Solution. Foreword. ("Nagorno-Karabakh’s armed forces have not only fortified their region but have also occupied a large swath of surrounding Azeri territory in the hopes of linking the enclave to Armenia.")United States Institute of Peace. Sovereignty after Empire. Self-Determination Movements in the Former Soviet Union. Hopes and Disappointments: Case Studies. ("Meanwhile, the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh was gradually transforming into a full-scale war between Azeri and Karabakh irregulars, the latter receiving support from Armenia.") / ("Azerbaijan's objective advantage in terms of human and economic potential has so far been offset by the superior fighting skills and discipline of Nagorno-Karabakh's forces. After a series of offensives, retreats, and counteroffensives, Nagorno-Karabakh now controls a sizable portion of Azerbaijan proper (...), including the Lachin corridor.") The surrounding regions were seized by Armenians under the justification of a "security belt" which was to be traded for recognition of autonomous status from Azerbaijan.

The United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War demanding that all occupying forces withdraw from the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 62/243, demanding the withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, although the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the United States, voted against it. Unlike the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, the population of all the adjacent Armenian-occupied districts were majority-Azerbaijani.

In the wake of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020), Azerbaijan gained control over Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, and Qubadli districts, and Armenia agreed to withdraw its forces from Agdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin districts, returning them to Azerbaijani control, by 20 November, 25 November and 1 December 2020, respectively. This agreement was codified in a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement, to be enforced by Russian peacekeepers.

History

At the outset of the 1991–1994 Karabakh conflict, the majority-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was surrounded by regions with Azerbaijani majorities and had no land border with Armenia. 18 May 1992, Armenian forces occupied Lachin, opening the Lachin corridor for land communications between NKR and Armenia. A strong offensive by Armenian forces occurred in 1993, resulting in the securing of further territory to act as a "security zone". 27 March 1993, Armenian forces launched an offensive in Kalbajar and by 5 April had completely occupied the area of Kalbajar District, creating a strong link between Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia and removing from the Lachin corridor the threat of attack from the north. 23 July 1993, after 40 days of fighting, officially known in Armenia as the "suppression of enemy firing points", Agdam was occupied. Then followed an attack in the south: 22 August 1993 – Fuzuli was occupied. 25 August 1993 – Jabrayil was occupied. 31 August 1993 – Qubadli was occupied. 29 October 1993 – Zangilan was occupied.

From then till the 2020 war, Armenians were in control of most of the territory of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, with Azerbaijan controlling parts of the eastern Martuni and eastern Mardakert. In addition, since that time and until 2020, Armenians occupied all of the territory between the former NKAO and Iran, as well as all of the territory between the former NKAO and Armenia, and some areas to the east surrounding Aghdam. Nagorno-Karabakh also claims but did not control the region known until 1992 as Shahumian, which although being majority-Armenian before 1992, was not part of the NKAO. Shahumian's Armenian population was driven out during the war, and the Armenian and Azeri forces were separated on the northern front by the Murovdag mountain chain until 2020.

Since 1994, Armenia and Azerbaijan have held talks on the future of the occupied territories. The Armenian side offered to use a "land for status" formula (returning the occupied territories to the control of Azerbaijan in exchange for Azerbaijan recognizing the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh and giving security assurances to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor),Контролируемые карабахской стороной территории могут быть возвращены Азербайджану лишь в обмен на независимость НКР-депутат while Azerbaijan offered a formula of "land for peace" (returning the occupied territories back to Azerbaijan in exchange for security guarantees with Azerbaijan controlling the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh). Mediators offered another "land for status" option (returning the occupied territories to the control of Azerbaijan in exchange for guarantees by Azerbaijan to hold at some point a referendum on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh).Дартмутская конференция Ереван "сдает" Карабах и спешит в объятия НАТО Визит действующего председателя ОБСЕ Дмитрия Рупеля Препятствия на пути к урегулированию: взгляд из Азербайджана Земля преткновения . 25 October 2009.Переговоры по Карабаху: внимание переключается на президента Алиева "Сатана" раскрывает "детали", а "они не нужны нам и подавно": политики Армении и Карабаха о возможности сдачи территорий

Territory and population

Before 2020 war

The predominantly Azerbaijani population of the occupied territories was forced out as a result of what HRW considers violations of the rules of war, and became IDPs in Azerbaijan. According to UNHCR office in Baku, based on Azerbaijani government statistics, in March 1994 there were an estimated 658,000 displaced persons and 235,000 refugees in Azerbaijan.

An OSCE Fact-Finding Mission visited the occupied territories in 2005 to inspect settlement activity in the area and report its findings to the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. According to FFM figures, at that time the number of Armenian settlers in Kelbajar District was approximately 1,500, in Agdam District from 800 to 1,000, in Fizuli District under 10; in Jebrail District under 100, in Zangelan District from 700 to 1,000, in Kubatly District from 1000 to 1,500, and in Lachin District about 8,000. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, who conducted a Field Assessment Mission to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in October 2010 reported that there was no significant growth in the population since 2005, and the overall population was roughly estimated as 14,000 persons. They also reported that towns and villages that existed before the conflict were abandoned and almost entirely in ruins, and Armenian settlers lived "in precarious conditions, with poor infrastructure, little economic activity, and limited access to public services". In later years, Armenians from Lebanon and Syria settled in the occupied territories.

Based on the administrative and territorial division of Azerbaijan, Armenian forces occupied the territory of the following districts of Azerbaijan from 1994 to 2020:

+Districts of Azerbaijan occupied by ethnic Karabakh Armenian forces in whole or in part before 2020 war # Raion Total Area (km2) Total Area (sq mi) Area under Armenian occupation (km2) Area under Armenian occupation (sq mi) % Total Area under Armenian occupation Total Population in 1989 1 Kalbajar 100% 43,713 2 Lachin 100% 47,339 3 Qubadli 100% 28,110 4 Zangilan 100% 32,698 5 Jabrayil 100% 49,156 Total of 1989's population of territories under full Armenian occupation 201,016 6 Fuzuli 33% 89,417 7 Agdam 77% 131,293 Total 87% 421,726

The outer perimeter of these territories was a line of direct contact between the military forces of the Republic of Artsakh and Azerbaijan.

+ Ethnic groups as of the 1979 Soviet census on territory occupied by Armenians from 1993 to 2020РГАЭ, ф. 1562, оп. 336, д. 999, 1244, 1565, 1566-д, 1567, 5925, 7879 Azerbaijanis Armenians Lezgins Russians Kurds Total Kalbajar 99.5% (40,329) 0.1% (49) 0.1%(30) 0.1% (46) 0.1% (4) 40,516 Lachin 94.5% (44,665) 0.1% (34) 0.1% (23) 0.1% (28) 5.2% (2,437) 47,261 Qubadli 95.5% (26,537) 0.1% (26) 0.1% (21) 1.4% (312) 0 26,673 Jabrayil 98.5% (42,415) 0.1% (41) 0.1% (33) 1% (434) 0 43,047 Zangilan 97.6% (28,685) 0.1% (35) 0.1% (19) 2.0% (590) 0 29,377 Full occupation's total 97.7% (182,631) 0.1% (185) 0.1% (126) 0.7% (1,410) 1.3% (2,441) 186,874 Fuzuli 96.6% (73,464) 1.1% (833) 0.1% (39) 2.0% (1,544) 0 76,013 Agdam 99% (107,493) 0.4% (387) 0.1% (95) 0.4% (398) 0 108,554 Partitial occupation's total 98% (180,957) 0.7% (1,220) 0.1% (134) 1.1% (1,942) 0 184,567 Total 97.9% (363,588) 0.4% (1,405) 0.1% (260) 0.9% (3,352) 0.7% (2,441) 371,441

2020 war

On 27 September 2020, a war broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh, following skirmishes that occurred on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in July 2020. Thousands of Azerbaijanis demonstrated for war against Armenia in response, with Turkey propagandising in support of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani forces started operations along the Aras River on the same day, with advancements in Jabrayil and Fuzuli districts, and the initial objective to seize control of Jabrayil and Fuzuli. The Azerbaijani authorities claimed to have taken a mountain peak in the Murovdag range in Kalbajar District. They then stated that the Azerbaijani forces had taken effective control of the Vardenis–Martakert/Aghdara highway connecting Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. On 23 October, the clashes spilled to Qubadli, with the suspected goal of taking control of the Lachin corridor. Two days later, the Azerbaijani forces had seized control of Qubadli, the administrative center of Qubadli District; Azerbaijan released confirmary footage. The Azerbaijani forces soon entered Lachin District, with its administrative center, Lachin, getting constantly shelled until the end of the conflict.