First Nagorno-Karabakh War
Then the Azerbaijan SSR as well as the Soviet Union condemned this decision. According to Erick Melander's "The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Revisited: Was the War Inevitable?” (2001), the Soviet Union was concerned that similar desires would emerge and resultant disruptions would prevail in other parts within the state. With regard to this, Thomas de Waal reveals in "Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War" (2013) that the Soviet Union had nineteen potential territorial disputes and Mikhail Gorbachev did not want to make concession to any of those since it would provide a precedent to energize such territorial conflicts. Gorbachev decided to intervene the affairs of Nagorno-Karabakh and sent a large delegation to the region. The Moscow delegation replaced Kevorkov with his deputy, Genrikh Pogosian, who, however, started to support the unification with Armenia because of greater respect he enjoyed from the Armenians living in the region.