Secession Vote in Nagorno-Karabakh

Date: February 20, 1988 • Location: Shushi, Azerbaijan

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1988–1994.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its capital was the city of Stepanakert. The majority of the population were ethnic Armenians.