VOA慢速英语--为什么纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫，成为亚美尼亚和阿塞拜疆战争的导火索

For more than two weeks, Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have been fighting over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Hundreds of soldiers and many civilians¹ have been killed in the clashes.

Observers fear that, as the number of dead rises, it will be harder for diplomats² to persuade Armenia and Azerbaijan to return to negotiations³.

Russia negotiated a ceasefire between the warring countries on Saturday. But the truce⁴ is only being partly observed. The two sides are accusing the other of violating the agreement.

A short history of the disputed area

Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan, but the area is largely independent of the central government. Most of the people living there are ethnic⁵ Armenians, not Azeris.

The current fighting started on September 27. It has been described as the worst in the territory since the early 1990s. At that time, as many as 30,000 people were killed before Russia helped negotiate a halt to the fighting. The ceasefire agreement left the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan frozen. Both the United States and France supported the deal.

Over the past 20 years, conflicts have flared⁷ up from time to time. This time, Azerbaijan's president appears to want to make a breakthrough either by force or by negotiations.

Observers say Azeris, who are the majority in the rest of Azerbaijan, are dissatisfied with a lack of diplomatic progress on the conflict.

Talks are being led by France, the United States and Russia as co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The three and several other countries in the area are known as the OSCE Minsk Group.

Azerbaijan has become frustrated⁸ with a lack of progress. They say the ceasefire has permitted Armenian control not only of Nagorno-Karabakh, but seven other areas. They also claim that Armenia now controls about 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized land. Azerbaijan says United Nations Security Council resolutions requiring Armenian troops to leave all occupied territories have been ignored. They add that Armenia's president has claimed the disputed area as part of Armenia.

Azerbaijan has been modernizing⁹ its army since 2016. The country appears to have strengthened its military with the help of Turkey. It has bought $10 billion in weapons from foreign companies in recent years.

Zaur Shiriyev is an expert on the South Caucasus area. He works for the Belgium-based International Crisis Group. He says the morale¹⁰ of Azerbaijani forces is high. He also said there was little interest among civilians for returning to peace talks.

Laurence Broers is with the research group Chatham House. He notes that Azerbaijani forces are flying Turkish and Israeli drone aircraft over land controlled by Armenian forces. He said they have made gains through the "Line of Contact, particularly along the southern flank."

Any gains are expected to make it harder for Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, to return to his country's positions before the offensive.

Words in This Story

flare⁶ up –v. when violence or disease suddenly becomes worse

breakthrough – n. a sudden and important development

frustrated – adj. getting angry because of not being able to do something or complete something

morale – n. a feeling of happiness or loyalty¹¹ that a person or group has about a job

drone –n. a kind of small aircraft that flies without a pilot can be used for war

flank –n. a side of a military formation

1 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

2 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

7 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

8 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

10 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

11 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。