Background

Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Parliament of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Province voted in 1988 to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) and join the Armenian SSR, which resulted in armed conflict from 1988 to 1994. The region declared independence as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in 1991. Nagorno-Karabakh is not recognized by any UN member state and thus is not eligible to adhere formally to international instruments such as the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Policy

In the government’s last comment on the matter in May 2012, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Vasiliy Atajanyan acknowledged that “the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is not in a position to join the Convention, in view of the fact the conflict with Azerbaijan is not yet resolved.” Atajanyan declared the government’s support for the ban on cluster munitions: “Realizing what a deadly [sic] to civilians are cluster munitions, and assuming that the suffering of civilians caused by cluster munitions outweigh the potential military benefits of using this weapon, the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic fully support the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”[1] Atajanyan also stated that “the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic does not produce, export, stockpile or use cluster munitions and does not intend to do so.”

Cluster munition remnants including submunitions have been identified in Nagorno-Karabakh from the 1988 to 1994 conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the territory. Large quantities of air-dropped cluster munitions were used over the six-year period.