Editing Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (section)

=== In the Soviet Union ===
{{main|Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic}}
As a constituent part of the Soviet Union, tensions lessened over the ethnic composition of Nakhchivan or any territorial claims regarding it. Instead, it became an important point of industrial production with particular emphasis on the mining of minerals such as salt. Under Soviet rule, it was once a major junction on the Moscow-[[Tehran]] railway line<ref name="DeWaal03">De Waal. ''Black Garden'', p. 271.</ref> as well as the [[Baku]]-[[Yerevan]] railway.<ref name="GreatSoviet" /> It also served as an important strategic area during the [[Cold War]], sharing borders with both Turkey (a [[NATO member state]]) and Iran (a close ally of the West until the [[Iranian Revolution]] of 1979).

[[File:265nakhichevan-assr.gif|thumb|upright=1.3|Map of the Nakhchivan ASSR within the Soviet Union]]
Facilities improved during Soviet times. Education and public health especially began to see some major changes. In 1913, Nakhchivan only had two hospitals with a total of 20 beds. The region was plagued by widespread diseases including [[trachoma]] and [[typhus]]. [[Malaria]], which mostly came from the adjoining Aras River, brought serious harm to the region. At any one time, between 70% and 85% of Nakhchivan's population was infected with malaria, and in the region of Norashen (present-day Sharur) almost 100% were struck with the disease. This situation improved dramatically under Soviet rule. Malaria was sharply reduced and trachoma, typhus, and relapsing fever were eliminated.<ref name="GreatSoviet" />

During the Soviet era, Nakhchivan saw a great demographic shift. In 1926, 15% of the region's population was Armenian, but by 1979, this number had shrunk to 1.4%.<ref name="Armcountry2"/> Azeris made up 85% in 1926, but 96% in 1979 (leaving the small remainder mixed or other). Three factors were involved: the emigration of Armenians to the [[Armenian SSR]], the immigration of Azeris from Armenia, and the birth rate of Azeris being higher than that of Armenians.<ref name="Armcountry2"/>

Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh noted similar though slower demographic trends and feared an eventual "de-Armenianization" of the area.<ref name="NewStates-NewPolitics02"/> When tensions between Armenians and Azeris were reignited in the late-1980s by the [[Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]], Azerbaijan's [[Popular Front of Azerbaijan|Popular Front]] managed to pressure the Azerbaijan SSR to instigate a partial railway and air blockade against Armenia, while another reason for the disruption of rail service to Armenia were attacks of Armenian forces on the trains entering the Armenian territory from Azerbaijan, which resulted in railroad personnel refusing to enter Armenia.<ref>Thomas Ambrosio. Irredentism: Ethnic Conflict and International Politics. {{ISBN|0-275-97260-7}}</ref><ref>Stuart J. Kaufman. Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War. {{ISBN|0-8014-8736-6}}</ref> This effectively crippled Armenia's economy, as 85% of the cargo and goods arrived through rail traffic. In response, Armenia closed the railway to Nakhchivan, thereby strangling the exclave's only link to the rest of the Soviet Union.

December 1989 saw unrest in Nakhchivan as its Azeri inhabitants moved to physically dismantle the Soviet border with Iran to flee the area and meet their ethnic Azeri cousins in northern Iran. This action was angrily denounced by the Soviet leadership and the Soviet media accused the Azeris of "embracing [[Islamic fundamentalism]]".<ref name="DeWaal04">De Waal, ''Black Garden'', p. 88–89.</ref>

==== Declaring independence ====
On Saturday, January 20, 1990,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Vogt-Downey|editor-first=Marilyn|title=The USSR 1987–1991: Marxist Perspectives|date=1993|publisher=Humanities Press|location=London|page=190|isbn=9780391037724|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1FpAAAAMAAJ&q=nakhchivan+declared+independence}}</ref> the [[Supreme Soviet]] of the Nakhchivan ASSR issued a declaration stating the intention for Nakhchivan to [[secede]] from the USSR to protest the Soviet Union's actions during [[Black January]].<ref>{{cite news |last=William|first=Nick B. Jr.|title= Soviet Enclave Declares Independence|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-21-mn-1001-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 21, 1990|access-date=April 22, 2022}}</ref> Iranian Press Agency, [[Islamic Republic News Agency|IRNA]], reported that upon its independence, Nakhchivan asked Turkey, Iran, and the [[United Nations]] to come to its aid.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Gwertzman|editor-first1=Bernard M.|editor-last2=Kaufman|editor-first2=Michael T.|title=The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Empire|date=1992|publisher=Times Books|location=New York|page=229|isbn=9780812920468|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzhpAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> It was the first part of the Soviet Union to declare independence,<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Asian Event/USSR|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEQnAAAAMAAJ&q=nakhchivan+declared+independence|magazine=Asian Bulletin|location=Taiwan|publisher=APACL Publications|page=73|volume=15|issue=1–6|date=1990|access-date=April 22, 2022}}</ref> preceding [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuania]]'s declaration by only a few weeks.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Kanet|editor-first=R.|title=Russia:Re-Emerging Great Power|series=Studies in Central and Eastern Europe|date=2007|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|page=140|isbn=9780230590489|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jriDDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA140}}</ref> Subsequently, Nakhchivan was independent from Moscow and Baku but was then brought under control by the clan of [[Heydar Aliyev]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://jamestown.org/program/iranian-influence-in-nakhchivan-impact-on-azerbaijani-armenian-conflict/|title=Iranian Influence in Nakhchivan: Impact on Azerbaijani-Armenian Conflict|website=Jamestown}}</ref>