Nagorno-Karabakh along with seven nearly located districts is currently internationally recognized to be under Azerbaijan, but it has a majority of Armenians. This region is also known as Artsakh and is a self-proclaimed region of Armenians within Azerbaijan. It has a self-declared national capital at Stepanakert and its own President. This place is recently witnessing eruption and escalation of armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia since last Sunday morning. The conflict has seen accusations by the Artkash authorities of firing by Azerbaijan authorities on the local Armenians and the assertion by Azerbaijan of its launch of counter-offensive against the Armenian separatists in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). Recent reports suggest that Azerbaijan first used an Israeli made short-range ballistic missile named LORA to destroy a bridge near Asagi-sus village connecting Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh region. This incident is said to have triggered the conflict. The Press secretary of the President of Nagorno-Karabakh claimed that intelligence data indicated that Azerbaijan suffered losses of 3000 servicemen in the weeklong conflict till Saturday and that majority of the dead bodies are in the neutral zone with no arrangements being made for their transportation back into Azerbaijan.

During the final years of the collapse of the USSR, the local government in the current region of Artsakh had voted for the transfer of the area of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) into Armenia and a proposal was sent to the Supreme Soviet (USSR parliament). This offer was turned down by the Soviet parliament. The local Armenians have held onto their demand over the inclusion of the region into Armenia which has resulted in occasional eruptions of conflicts in the region. This series of conflicts has resulted in the displacement of thousands of people since 1991.

In 1994, a ceasefire agreement, also known as Bishkek protocol was signed between Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh, overseen by Russia. This ceasefire protocol was signed in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, hence it is known as Bishkek protocol. In April 2016, the region of Nagorno-Karabakh had seen a four-day armed clash which was the deadliest until the current conflict. The status quo of the region Nagorno-Karabakh has always bothered Azerbaijan which has been identified by some observers as a key reason for the trigger of the latest crisis.

During the recent conflict, the President of Azerbaijan has declared a partial military mobilization in the country under a presidential decree. UN Security Council had offered a platform for talks which has been rejected by Armenia and Azerbaijan. This has kept the conflict wide open.