Azerbaijan takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh: Victory of ‘authoritarian power over struggling democracy’

PERSPECTIVE © FRANCE 24

Over the course of two weeks, starting on September 19, some 100,000 Armenians fled the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in an exodus prompted by Azerbaijan’s invasion of the contested region, which had been governed by ethnic Armenians for some three decades. In Perspective, we spoke to Richard Giragosian, the founding director of the Regional Studies Center – an independent think-tank in Yerevan – to discuss Azerbaijan’s recent takeover. The invasion represented a military victory of “authoritarian power over struggling democracy”, Giragosian said, adding that the international community could have contributed more to help Armenia fend off Azerbaijani forces.