1988 Spitak Earthquake - Preface

Preface

See also: History of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh War, and Sumgait pogrom

In 1987 and 1988 the Caucasus region was experiencing a surge in political turmoil with large and near constant demonstrations being held in the capital of Yerevan beginning in February 1988. For the fifteen months prior to the earthquake and at times up to hundreds of thousands of protesters, represented by the Karabakh Committee, were demanding both democracy and the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh (a disputed autonomous territory with an 80% Aremenian majority, but administered by the Azerbaijani's) in the mountains of the Karabakh region. The unrest and the opposition movement began in September 1987 with negotiations between the Karabakh Committee and Gorbachev taking place throughout most of 1988. The relationship between the communist authorities and the Armenian society took a turn for the worse in March and the developments climaxed in November when a state of emergency was declared, along with a nighttime curfew, and a mass movement of up to 50,000 Armenians fleeing ethnic violence arrived from Azerbaijan.

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