Two Peoples, One Nightmare

In 1992 the only way in and out of Stepanakert was by small plane, standing room only. Inbound passengers, mostly armed, leaned against ammunition boxes and leaking fuel containers; on the return flight to the Armenian capital of Yerevan people sat on coffins to stop them sliding as the plane corkscrewed up to avoid anti aircraft fire. Stepanakert, the capital of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno Karabakh, an Armenian enclave that had broken away from Azerbaijan in 1991, had an alpine feel, with crisp air and pine trees, but was terribly disfigured by near-constant Azeri...