Victory Day in Azerbaijan Date in the current year: November 8, 2024

Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus. Although it is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, the population of Nagorno-Karabakh is mostly made up of ethnic Armenians.

The first conflicts between Azerbaijanis and Armenians over the territorial ownership of Nagorno-Karabakh date back to the early 20th century. During the Soviet era, the region was governed as Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh voted in favor of independence at a referendum that was boycotted by the Azerbaijani minority. The independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was proclaimed on December 10, 1991.

From 1992 to 1994, the self-proclaimed republic fought in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, which also involved Armenia and Azerbaijan. It resulted in the Armenian victory and the de facto independence of the Republic of Artsakh (the official name of Nagorno-Karabakh). However, it did not mean that the territorial conflict was over.

A new stage of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh began in 2020. In July, a number of skirmishes occurred on the Armenian-Azerbaijan border. Both sides accused each other of initiating the hostilities and each claimed victory when the clashes were over.

Hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed on the morning of September 27, 2020 with an Azerbaijani ground offensive. The Republic of Artsakh and Armenia responded by introducing martial law and launching total mobilization.

The fighting lasted for a month and a half. It was characterized by the widespread use of drones, the deployment of long-range heavy artillery and missile strikes, and the use of information warfare. The decisive battle of the war was the Battle of Shusha, fought from November 6 to 8. Azerbaijan’s capture of the strategically important city of Shusha led to the signing of a ceasefire agreement.

All hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh officially ended on November 10, 2020. As a result, Azerbaijan gained the territories initially situated outside the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast that had been captured by the Republic of Atrsakh during the First Karabakh War. As part of the settlement, Russian peacekeepers were deployed in the Lachin corridor linking Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev established a public holiday celebrating the country’s victory in the Second Karabakh War in December 2020. Victory Day was originally supposed to be celebrated on November 10 to commemorate the anniversary of the ceasefire agreement. However, it was subsequently moved two days earlier (the anniversary of the Battle of Shusha) to avoid overlapping with the memorial day for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Turkey. Victory Day in Azerbaijan is marked by military parades and other festive events.