With thanks to Envio, National Commission for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, Managua. For several days commentators found it difficult to pinpoint the cause of the dispute. Finally they decided it was an ethnic conflict between Christian Armenians and Islamic Azerbaijanis who live in the region. But this is only part of the story. And ironically, it was the success of a series of environmental protests that triggered the current disturbances.
Pollution is severe in the region.
Their protests were taken seriously by the authorities and closure orders were served on the worst polluters. And when one major chemical plant in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, ignored the orders environmental campaigners demonstrated outside the plant gates with the full backing of local Communist Party officials. The demonstrations received wide press coverage and set off other demonstrations, this time by campaigners who wanted greater autonomy for the area of Nagorno-Karabakh and its return to Armenia. This political potato was too hot for the authorities to handle and they sent in the police. Further protests ensued leading to violent clashes, deaths - and world press coverage.