In Pictures

Gallery

Nagorno Karabakh: The silent war next door

Nagorno-Karabakh has been in dispute since the 1991 Soviet Union collapse with tens of thousands killed in fighting.

Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
Conscripts stand against a wall in the yard of their military base in the Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh. Conscription is mandatory in Armenia; all 18-year-old males have to complete two years of military service before they can continue their studies or work. Many are sent to the Karabakh region and serve on the frontlines. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
By Gus Palmer
Published On 15 Feb 2018

Nagorno Karabakh – Troops are “always ready to war”, says a commander of a military unit stationed in the Martuni area of the contested Nagorno Karabakh, a landlocked region in the southern Caucuses that formerly made up the outer edges of the Soviet Union. 

For more than two decades, the autonomous region has been controlled by Armenian-backed separatists. But it is internationally recognised as the territory of Armenia’s neighbour, Azerbaijan.

The war in Karabakh is silent, cold and dirty. 

It flared up in April 2016 when an all-out war erupted between the two factions. More than 400 people died on each side.

WATCH: What triggered the conflict?

Nagorno-Karabakh has been in dispute since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

After that, separatists backed by Yerevan announced allegiance to Armenia and then declared an independent republic, a move that has not been recognised elsewhere, including by Armenia.

In the subsequent fighting, about 30,000 people were killed, and thousands of others from both ethnic groups fled their homes.

A ceasefire brokered by Russia was signed in 1994, but the two countries have never agreed on a lasting peace.

Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
A teacher stands in the entrance of the local school in Berdashen village, Karabakh. Behind her, a wall is dedicated to the portraits of those killed over the past two decades in the war with Azerbaijan. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Advertisement
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
Stella and Muskegh Mirzoyan sent their son Levon, 18, to join the army, just as his father had done in the war in the 1990s and his grandfather did in World War II. A year later, Levon was dispatched to the frontline where he was shot in the head by a sniper. His father was still an officer at the time in charge of moving men in and out of frontline positions. He never thought he would one day be transferring the body of his teenage son. "I killed many enemies, and it should have been me killed, not my son." [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
Marusya Babayan stands in front of her temporary accommodation in Alishan village, set up in the grounds of an old military hospital to house the residents of Talish who fled the April 2016 war. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
A bomb shelter in Talish, a village that received the heaviest bombardment in the April 2016 war. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
A local commander walks through the trenches on a visit to a frontline position. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
Armin and his grandfather at their home in Martakert. His father was killed while serving on the frontline. His grandfather fought in the war in the early 1990s. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Advertisement
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
Lena and Edik Grigoryan's village is in the firing line of Azerbaijan. On a clear day, you can make out enemy positions in the distance. Lena remembers when they lived side by side in harmony with Azerbaijanis, and speaks the Azeri language fluently. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
The football team in Matakert, minus some players who were away in the army. Conscription is compulsory for all 18-year olds unless they have a health problem that prevents them from fighting. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
The Saliyans' breakfast table. They had to evacuate when the war broke out in April 2016. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
A car outside a supermarket in the town of Martuni. During the recent escalation in fighting in April 2016, many residents wanted to stay put, although many say they could hear the exchange of fire happening within the village. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
A student takes aim at a target in the primary school of Berdashen. Target practice is a mandatory subject for students at school. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
A conscript does pull-ups in a trench at a frontline position. There is little space to move around within the soldiers' barracks, as the positions are closely monitored by the opposite side. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
Conscripts run laps in the yard of a military base in Martuni. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]
Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh/Please Do Not Use
Washing lines in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh. It's tradition here to hang laundry out every Sunday. Stepanakert is nestled deep inside the region, far away from the conflict. It has a population of about 55,000. [Gus Palmer/Al Jazeera]