About Hostile Actions Against Armenia – 1920

When it comes to hostile actions against the Republic of Armenia in 1920 and the demolition of Armenian statehood, it must be remembered that the first military encroachment on Armenia was made not by the Kemalists but by Azerbaijan and, after the country’s Sovietization, by Soviet Russia.

The Armenian-Turkish war began in September 1920. It was preceded by numerous incidents on the Armenian-Turkish border. However, in May 1920, without a declaration of war, the Russian-Azerbaijani joint forces invaded the territory of the Armenian Republic and captured Artsakh, thereby occupying an area of 11,000 square kilometers. At that time, the area of the Republic of Armenia was about 70 thousand square kilometers.

In June-July 1920, the Russian military forces captured Zangezur and Nakhichevan (together, they constituted about 10 thousand square kilometers).

On August 10, 1920, on the day of the signing of the Treaty of Sevres in Tiflis, an Armenian-Russian agreement was signed, according to which the Armenian regions of Artsakh, Syunik, and Nakhichevan remained under Russian occupation.

On March 16, 1921, as a result of the Russian-Turkish Treaty of Friendship and Brotherhood signed in Moscow (Moscow Treaty), the Kremlin presented Nakhichevan to Azerbaijan. On July 5 of the same year, Artsakh was passed to Azerbaijan as well.

Arshaluis Zurabyan