The academic supervisor of the thesis is the Corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences, Research fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, President of the Armenian-Atlantic Association, Honorary Scholar of Armenia, Doctor of History, Professor Nikolay Hovhannisyan. The structure of the thesis covers the grounds and historical conditions of the ethnic-political conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, the development of the conflict under the crisis of the Soviet statehood and the proclamation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), the aggression of Azerbaijan and NKR’s victory. Having witnessed the origin of the problem, the author - with impartiality typical to the academician and founded source basis relevant to academic requirements - studied this critical period for Artsakh (Karabakh) people. He defended his position objectively and justly denying the distortions of the conflict’s dynamics circulated by the Azerbaijani academic and propaganda circles, particularly regarding the Khojali events. The research is also valuable because of the fact that the author paid much attention to the historical and political processes underlying the legitimate creation and development of the Artsakh statehood, especially to the holding of a nationwide referendum on self-determination as a legal basis for the establishment of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.