Armenia And Azerbaijan Change The Prisoners Of The Nargorno-Karabakh War, Again Russia Role

Local resident Elsever Pashayev stands at his house that was allegedly destroyed by a cannon fire in the city of Tartar, Azerbaijan. (Source: Antara)

JAKARTA - Armenia and Azerbaijan have begun exchanging prisoners of war after ending the Nargorno-Karabakh conflict through a ceasefire. The prisoner swap is mediated by Russia, a country that is also the mediator of the ceasefire.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyan said 44 detainees had returned to Armenia on Wednesday, December 16. Vice versa. A Russian military plane also flew 12 prisoners to Azerbaijan as part of the exchange.

Earlier, the six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nargorno-Karabakh was halted by last month's ceasefire agreement. However, in the ceasefire agreement, Armenia is the party that is considered to be the loser.

Armenia has lost many important territories. Meanwhile, to keep the ceasefire smooth, Russian peacekeeping forces have been deployed in the conflict area for a while.

Historically, the root of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh has been going on for centuries, triggered by competition between Christian Armenians and Muslim populations under the influence of Turkey and Persia. In the late 19th century, this area became part of the Russian Empire.

At the end of World War I, the Soviets established the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region under the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan even though the population is predominantly Armenian. Because the Nagorno-Karabakh parliament preferred to join Armenia in the 1980s.

This sparked violence that grew into war. As might be expected, the breakup of the Soviet Union led Nagorno-Karabakh to proclaim independence. This act was the start of a bloody war that killed more than 30,000 people and displaced about one million people.