Growing up, we are told that our future is controlled by no one but our own will. We are told that we are the masters of our own destiny. Is this still true Opposing armies are stationed fifty meters apart, ready for all out war at any moment. The smell of gunpowder, the sounds of firing drills keep the soldiers up and prepared bring an end to their enemy. The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute has been a frozen conflict for more than a decade, but artillery shelling and skirmishes between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops have caused the loss of countless lives. In 1988, ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh demanded the transfer of what was then the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) from Soviet Azerbaijan to Armenia. As the Soviet Union collapsed, tensions grew into an outright war. When fighting ceased in 1994, Nagorno Karabakh and seven adjacent districts were wholly or partially controlled by Armenian forces. More than a million people had been forced from their homes: Azerbaijanis fled Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent territories, while Armenians left homes in Azerbaijan. Intermittent deadly incidents, including the use of attack drones and heavy weaponry on the front lines and activities of special operations forces, demonstrated the ever-present risk that war would reignite and in April 2016, their worst nightmares would become a reality. Does anyone truly decide their destiny in the 21st century? Presenting to you, the United Nations Security Council.

Agenda: Discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict.

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