there are almost 200 official countries
in the world today but there are dozens
more breakaway states determined to be
separate but officially not recognized
some survive peacefully with their own
borders money and presidents but others
are a magnet for terrorists and weapons
smuggling and have armies ready for a
fight
welcome to places that don't exist
100 years ago Muslim Azerbaijan used to
supply half the world's oil in recent
years Western oil firms have invested
vast sums here but officially Azerbaijan
is still at war with neighboring Armenia
my guide to route took me to see the
frontline
when the Soviet Union broke up
Azerbaijan and Armenia got their
independence but a small mountainous
area called nagorno-karabakh triggered
war Stalin had given it to Azerbaijan
but historically it would be mainly
Armenian Christian so when it wanted to
break away and become independent
Armenia sent troops in and helped the
Karabakh army push these areas out go
out towards the hills here which
overlooked the frontline positions laid
ahead with the frontline trenches
between Azerbaijan and the breakaway
state of nagorno-karabakh get from here
to this trench we've gotta cross some
open ground so we're going to do it a
little bit quickly the frontline here is
still very dangerous it's been people
killed regularly in there was a guy
killed here just last weekend the
biggest threat here is from snipers
firing from the gore no Karabakh
a sniper could shoot you here within
range okay maybe I'll come down a bit
then could you come I feel really here
yes what about one and a half kilometers
away so a sniper could reach us easily
Terrell's family come from land now
occupied by care about soldiers they
were forced to leave when the conflict
started in the late eighties how do you
feel being so close to the front line I
feel our temptation here being so close
to my native land the sense of revenge
is growing in me a desire for vengeance
I have a desire to get my land back by
any means and if a warfare is one of the
powerful means is one of the real means
to get that land back I'm completely
ready to fight for the freedom of my
homeland we left the frontline and
headed back into Azerbaijan
we're just stopped at the kebab shop by
the side of the road and it's run by
some men from originally from the runner
Karabakh and hopefully they're going to
feed us Salam alekum the owners of the
restaurant were refugees forced to flee
their homeland a decade ago they said
they'd witnessed Armenian atrocities
what smells good it's a good sign can
you give me some examples of what you
claim the Armenians were doing to the as
Ares living in nagorno-karabakh they put
children women and elderly people
together inside a pipe and welded it
then they rolled those pipe down from
the mountains we've seen many savage
actions by the army needs we've seen
everything with our own eyes what kind
of torture our sisters our daughters our
mothers will pull through I can't
describe it or it makes me angry and I
want to explode we've seen them being
beheaded then they certainly asked us to
stop filming we chatted to the owners of
the kebab shop for a little bit but then
they got a bit nervous and so they said
well you gonna have some food because
they felt a bit tense talking to us
there's a lot of concern even amongst
refugees about talking about LaVon Oh
Kara back because it's such a
contentious issue even now 110 years
after the conflict is supposed to have
ended
it turns out the owners of the
restaurant weren't quite as worried
about the political nature of the
questions we were asking what they're
actually worried about was because
several years ago this place used to be
a cafe / brothel almost and there was a
news report on a very TV revealing this
and then we turned up with our cameras
and they started to wonder if we were
doing the same thing I've got here some
lamb and also some natural Yola I might
leave
ready the hosta
thank you very much for the performance
it was very unexpected do you know any
songs about Kara back about
nagorno-karabakh farrakhan there are
many songs about Kalibak Kalibak ease
our heart our land I promised myself not
to sing about Karabakh until we were
returned to that land we can't sing
songs about cholera because when you
sing about cataract tears come to your
eyes your heart aches I promise myself
to sing a song on the day we return to
our land almost all these areas living
on the corner Karabakh were forced to
leave during the war and found shelter
wherever they could in Azerbaijan
there's between 750,000 and perhaps a
million people in Azerbaijan who are
refugees from the nagorno-karabakh
conflict and we've come here to some
railway sidings where there's dozens of
families living in railway carriages
what are the conditions like for you
here I'll go check them d-block with it
what are you there's no electricity sure
there's no water visit there's no
heejun's object
their children's voices coming from
these colleges
here it's a school one of the school
children study here and unheated railway
carriages with hardly any equipment or
books how long have you been living here
dr. Nugent out on my couch we came from
AG dam in 1993 this video I'm she do you
remember leaving nagorno-karabakh does
anybody here remember nagorno-karabakh
nobody does everybody's grown up here
right barley leaves right away carriages
the younger generation might not
remember life in Kerouac but memories of
the war everywhere in Azerbaijan we just
spotted these signs on the hillside over
here on the left it says remember Kara
back and on the right I will give my
life for the motherland so no one's
gonna forget about nagorno-karabakh
around here everyone we met in
Azerbaijan talked about Karabakh
we'd been invited to me a young casts
him over Azerbaijan is number one pop
star she regularly sings about car by
hello my leg let's meet you how are you
very well thank you how are you and
we've come to watch your your V we come
to watch you singing my English very
very bad ah well my very much worse yeah
what would you be doing today then we
are recording my song called Vardhan
motherland and they're filming me it's
combat equipment that you're wearing and
you've got bullets here ready one minute
ring yeah sure I can shoot with an ak-47
and rather well
mr. face I said mmm-hmm so I fought in
Zangla and go badly for a month in 1993
did I had the set days you say
so you actually fought in the caribou
cool
I guess thing we're gonna be allowed to
stay here or she seems
I was just not going to ask me for
Juliet
harder are you Veeran angle ability you
sad are you sad Vendetta many is Cosima
hich Kamath
icky daddy you'll do a little dashes
have your experience is affected your
singing and the songs that you sing sort
of a major message every time I sing I
close my eyes and all I can imagine is
Cadillac we are facing this horrible
problem every time singers like me sing
songs all we can think of is car about
Karabakh stands in front of our eyes
that's all we can think of Yannick
karappa karappa you know the Carrabba
Azerbaijan's border with breakaway
nagorno-karabakh is closed so to get
there we had to take a huge detour we
drove over the mountains into
neighbouring Georgia and on into Armenia
it's a bit chilly out there
Armenia supports Kovac and it's the only
country from which you can enter the
breakaway state eventually we got
through and met our kara back guide
David we've been traveling quite a while
but now we've got to the crucial point
David what does this say
we are fucker Wilkins you and that means
exactly what exactly that our Turkish
Laguna army only full Karabakh and three
our tough will come soon we're in
nagorno-karabakh the capital of Kara
back is the small town of Stepanek kept
during Soviet Communist times it was a
provincial Azzurri town under Muslim
control now the only people here are
Christian Kara back Ian's with ties to
Armenia
although the Christians won the most
recent conflict they feel they've
suffered in the past armenians accuse
their Muslim neighbors of killing
millions of them in recent centuries
it means Armenians and the people of
care about fear new conflict and even
students at the local university must be
prepared
bang you think I'm not going to attack
anybody making them a man I'm just
preparing myself to defend my motherland
of them did you lose any relatives
during the conflict
no my cousin was he fighting or was he
defending or was he just a civilian
he was a civilian this is no boot camp
these are teachers who are training to
pass on the techniques of war to a
younger generation well the pro Salem
mr. agreement slaughter at school all
pupils must have military training for
three years is my signal
and we have to train the teachers who
run the course ambassador Jenkins
this is the main marketing step Anika
we're gonna see if we get any souvenirs
and just see what's on sale because care
about cannot trade with Azerbaijan most
of the goods have to come over the
mountains from the Armenian capital
Yerevan where are these ones from you
should come over the mountains as well
so this is a traditional carrot dish
what's in this the bread here David 3035
types of her
this is Armenian money this is a
thousand which is roughly a pound so I
paid two hundred for our piece of bread
here are her bread hmm very tasty during
the war Stepanek oh so heavy fighting
when it was besieged by the Azerbaijan
army so these areas had their guns up
here they have their guards that have
special type of machine were car which
you know launched missiles and actually
you know that it's like on palm of your
hand so you can even target individual
houses individually no Street there were
even snipers who could shoot nearby
houses oh there is my home what was it
like for you were you coming under
constant bombardment no it was terrible
for example in our building around 14
missiles heat our building Hey just your
building just why building the Azzurri
stronghold of shushei bore the brunt of
the armenian counter-attack the Azaria's
fled when the city fell and much of it
now lies in ruins
during the war I only building every
single building who was a kind of photos
and seeing if I think took place here
what happened to the people who were
living here actually fill in population
I left Russia before it was taken by
Armenian forces by Karabakh forces so
only military personnel was here no one
no signal philosophy suffered because
Karabakh army
I left the corridor for them so they
left two latching from latching tobacco
the truth of what happened here is hotly
disputed by both sides but thousands of
his areas clearly fled in fear of their
lives
the karabük authorities are quite happy
with us showing this sort of devastation
because it's the area from which the
Azaria's bombs to pan occurred during
the war but they're refusing to allow us
to see villages that were as eerie
before the conflict and were completely
destroyed by the Armenian forces the
population was forced to leave or left
of its own accord and they're very
worried about the image it creates of
the of the conflict and the image it
creates of karabük some international
observers have said that the Karabakh
Ian authorities have destroyed Azari
villages deliberately to prevent anybody
returning so there's no chance of people
from Azerbaijan coming back in the
center of the city stands an Azeri
mosque one a few reminders of the past
oh it's an empty shell the authorities
in Karabakh say they're protecting this
mosque preventing anybody from damaging
you
it's quite miraculous that it's still
standing given the level of the ferocity
of the fighting and the hatred between
both sides but the fact remains this
mosque is in a Christian caravan town
and there's no Muslims left who can
worship it both sides suffered during
the war this city is now home to
Armenian refugees who left Azerbaijan
during the fighting along with their
children for kids who live around here
this is their playground
I've been invited to a wedding so we're
just going to go to carpet shop and time
find the bride and groom of present
Danny what's this picture of this is it
regardless are all of the most important
spiritual centers in the Gordon caliber
and it's real common to depict you know
symbols of Carbajal carpets some carpets
serve as reminders of the war well
that's a rocket-propelled grenade ah
thank you big uns shingle over here tank
here anti-aircraft guns here another
thank you what does it say they say that
you have to be powerful for home right
you fight from a position of strength
I've got my carpet I'm gonna give us a
gift thank you look same good before the
wedding we left the capital for a couple
of days and headed out to the country
left Stepanek er and driven north
through nagorno-karabakh heading towards
an area where there's some demining
going on trying to get rid of some
anti-personnel and land mines that have
been left over from the conflict
the demining operation is run by the
halo trust a British based charity which
works around the world I don't know how
you operate in these I get used to it
you get used to how many hours will
people have to work wearing this they do
the D miners do seven shifts of 45
minutes each depending on the weather
today's a great day brilliant day for D
my knees not too hot in the summer it
gets very hot but today's a great day
that you know I love my hair it's a
lovely sunny day let's go to a minefield
have you seen the pitch going figs a
cattle dog we've got no control where
they go
none of the accidents have happened to
animals so what we do is we stop all
demining soon as an animal goes into the
area we stop the mining move away from
the area try and get the animals out or
wait till they've actually left the
minefield the farmers also followed
their cattle and livestock into
minefields yeah they do so you found a
mine here this this one here in Russian
says p.m. n 2 p.m. n 2 is a Russian
anti-personnel mine nasty very it's just
been sitting here or the mind that was
here was just sitting here for 10 years
just waiting to find a victim yep yeah
and as you can see I mean if you look to
your left hand side we've got a football
pitch relatives have been playing and
this is one of the areas where we had an
accident one of the human accidents
occurred here it's safe for us to walk
up to the line here as far as the the
red stake yeah you've cleared where
we're standing now handing we've played
we have played so this is this is a
cleared area everything behind these red
sticks is an uncleared area we found one
mined by the tree there already to the
yellow stop there's a man walking
walking through the minefield what are
they doing this ask her to stop there
garland a low on can you stop there do
you realize you're walking in a
minefield yes I understood why do you
walk in the minefield but you're moving
alleged use me in there Paula
oh no no no no no no no go back go and
in a shortening mother give the control
yet kidnap
fucking ugly so she could detonate a
mine now possibly killing herself
doesn't this make your guys angry yeah
yeah we say the same thing every day
and it's the same response I have to
come here I'm busy I need to do my job
do you know you're walking through a
minefield
it's very dangerous where you are that's
why we're all wearing these jackets
please and if you come if you come over
here there could be mines here despite
landmines and Wars the people of
nagorno-karabakh say there's something
special about this area which encourages
a long life they claim that if
nagorno-karabakh was recognized as an
independent country it would have the
highest rate of longevity in the world
few outsiders have been able to check
the claim because of the threat of
conflict but to illustrate the point
David suggested we stop at a graveyard
look at these two this couple what my
first one lived from 1877 to 1975 filled
with the IgG at 78 to 101 and then 1880
to 1975 so both of them were nearly a
hundred in Tula is a photo a picture of
them just there then we were saying that
he found a grave here once indicating
that the person lived to be 136 years
old so we're just trying to find it now
it's a hope so that's 120 that person
this one 1822 to 1937 yeah I'm didn't 15
the man lived hundred years 1875 1975 at
the home on 1885 to now she's alive the
wife she can't be still alive well come
on lie well as I told you
nagorno-karabakh occupied the first
place in formosa driven by number of
people aging 100 and more years of
thought first place informal soldier do
you seriously think that the the wife
the wife could still be a student she
would merely be 120 years old yeah but
you think she could be alive yo people
from all over nagorno-karabakh are
buried here so even if she was alive she
could be anywhere the karevik army
agreed to take us to see their frontline
with Azerbaijan
there was destruction everywhere
hundreds of homes owned by Azaria's Lyon
ruins we weren't allowed to tour these
villages but filmed them as we went past
we arrived at trenches opposite
Azerbaijan Army positions like those
we've been in many days earlier this is
the start of the trench these trenches
are much more professionally made than
once we saw and elsewhere
there's points all along here where you
can take breaks out the wall and then
see what's happening on the other side I
just pulled quite a large stone out not
just relax I've left quite a large gap
here but I think we're in a distance in
which it will be quite hard for a sniper
to get us see maybe it wouldn't maybe
I'm not gonna take the risk I'll pop it
back like that the bunkers am and
round-the-clock by young conscripts
watching the opposing trenches their
officers told us they expect in azaria
attack at any time they're 150 200
metres away maybe you can clearly see
trenches fortifications and see a little
bit of movement as well how old are you
okay very good
20 20 and old are you 18 18 do you ever
see any Azuri soldiers moving around on
the other side we can see them moving
but we can't tell how old they are
it's too far away
you can see here there's a little
calendar that's been screwed up on this
graffiti by one of the soldiers he's
serving started serving 2003 and is
serving to 2005 yeah and they're halfway
through now the coloring in as they go
it's taken us many days to get from the
Azzurri side of this border all the way
around to the Kara backside on the way
we've heard so many stories from people
about how they've suffered and what
happened to them during the conflict and
you are left feeling that there's no
natural end
to this conflict feels as if it could go
on for many years to come we left the
frontline and returned to the capital
for the wedding but when we arrived to
give our carpet things weren't going to
plan
the electricity's failed so their
candles on the tables we can see there's
scores of people here I don't know how
they're gonna have the wedding by
candlelight and how the bride and the
groom must be feeling their biggest the
biggest day of their lives
when the lights went on it was seen as a
good omen for Marigny the bride and
Alexander her groom but few are
optimistic about the future of their
country nagorno-karabakh says it wants
to remain independent
but Azerbaijan has vowed to take it back
neither side looks ready to compromise
you