Armenia 2001

Yearbook 2001

Armenia. In January, Armenia and neighboring Azerbaijan were admitted at the same time as members of the Council of Europe. In the spring, Armenian President Robert Kotjarjan and Azerbaijan President Gejdar Alijev met in the United States to negotiate the Armenian breakaway piano Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan demands to regain power over the enclave, which Armenia opposes. The talks were unsuccessful and during the summer, Azerbaijan’s defense minister accused Armenia of military armaments at the border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov visited Armenia in September. Russia is Armenia’s most important military ally and trading partner. Agreements were signed on Russian military advisers in the country and on an expansion of the Russian military base on Armenian territory near the border with Turkey.

Following the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, Armenia opened its airspace for US military flight en route to Afghanistan. At the same time, Azerbaijani mass media accused Armenians of being behind the attacks in the United States – the hijacked aircraft had taken off in Boston, which has a significant Armenian population.

Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion and during the year celebrated the 1,700th anniversary of this event. Pope John Paul II then became the first Catholic head to visit Armenia, whose independent church is akin to the Greek Orthodox.

• Abbreviationfinder: lists typical abbreviations and country overview of Armenia, including bordering countries, geography, history, politics, and economics.

November

Fleeing Armenians burn the houses

November 14

Following the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh, tens of thousands of Armenians are now leaving places they were encouraged to move into in the 1990s, when Armenian forces occupied the territories. Armenia and the ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh must relinquish control of Azerbaijan over Ağdam, Kalbajar and the Latin Corridor by 1 December. The three districts and another four that have now been recaptured by Azeri forces have, among other things, formed a buffer zone around the enclave.. The Latin Corridor, which forms the physical link between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, will be monitored by Russian troops on November 9, according to the agreement. Ağdam, which in Soviet times had about 40,000 inhabitants, has been almost a ghost town since the 1990s. Kalbajar, which Azeris were forced to leave in the 1990s, will now be evacuated by Armenian civilians and soldiers. In Kalbajar, house fires are seen that are built so that moving or relocating azeris do not enjoy the buildings.

Ceasefire with Armenian losses

November 9

Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Russia as intermediary, sign a ceasefire agreement after six weeks of fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, the breakaway enclave in Azerbaijan with an Armenian population. Azerbaijan retains all the land taken and the Armenians promise to withdraw from some nearby areas as well. Nearly 2,000 Russian soldiers will be deployed to guard front sections and prisoners of war will be exchanged. According to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Turkey will also have a peacekeeping role. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described the deal as “incredibly painful”. IN enclavesays leaders of the ethnic Armenians that the capital Stepanakert was about to fall, and that continued war would have worsened the situation for them. But outraged protesters in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, are reacting by storming parliament, beating the president and looting the prime minister’s office.

Exposed location for disputed city

November 8

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announces in a televised speech that Azerbaijani forces have occupied an important city in the Nagorno-Karabakh separatist clave: Şuşa in Azeri (belonging to the Turkish language family), Shushi or Shushi in Armenian. The city is located along a road that connects the enclave with Armenia, but also near the enclave’s capital Stepanakert. The situation is strategic: it facilitates an attack on Stepanakert for Azerbaijan’s forces.

Population 2001

According to Countryaah, the population of Armenia in 2001 was 2,981,158, ranking number 136 in the world. The population growth rate was -0.580% yearly, and the population density was 104.7162 people per km².