NewsTracker Answers for week of Sep. 25, 2023

Q: Ethnic Armenian separatists in Azerbaijan’s region of Nagorno-Karabakh surrendered their arms last week after Azerbaijan reclaimed control of the breakaway region that has long been at the center of a conflict with neighboring Armenia. Where is Azerbaijan on the western shore of the Caspian Sea?

Circle the area on this map


Q: The Armenians turned in their weapons last Friday to peace-keeping forces from what country northeast of Azerbaijan?

A. Georgia

B. Iran

C. Russia

D. Turkey


C. Azerbaijan is bounded by Russia to the northeast, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, Iran to the south and the Caspian Sea to the east. Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia were part of the Russian Empire in the 19th Century and Soviet Union in the 20th Century. Iran and Ottoman Turkey ruled the three nations earlier.


Q: The Russian peacekeepers were unable to keep Azerbaijani troops from sweeping in to take control of the disputed area. Armenia is one of Russia’s closest authorities. What country has been the biggest supporter of Azerbaijan?

A. Georgia

B. Greece

C. Iran

D. Turkey


D. Turkey has supported Azerbaijan’s claims to Nagorno-Karabakh ever since ethnic Armenian majority in Nagorno-Karabakh broke away in 1994. Azerbaijan and Turkey share a common ethnic background and can usually understand each others’ language. They also are majority-Muslim nations, while Armenia was the first country to make Christianity its state religion.


Q: Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia are known are sometimes collectively known as the Caucasian States because of which geographic feature?

A. Isthmus

B. Mountain range

C. Peninsula

D. River Delta


B. Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia are in the South Caucasus region which spans the southern portion of the Caucasus Mountains and their lowlands. The mountain range stretches from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea and is considered a border between the continents of Europe and Asia.


Q: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said sovereignty over the breakaway region had been restored "with an iron fist" in a 24-hour offensive by troops backed by artillery strikes. What is the government of Azerbaijan considered?

A. Authoritarian regime

B. Hybrid regime

C. Flawed Democracy

D. Full Democracy


A. Azerbaijan was listed as an authoritarian regime in the 2022 Democracy Index compiled by the publishers of The Economist. Armenia rated a bit higher as a Hybrid regime, one plagued by some electoral fraud. In the Democracy Index, 59 nations are authoritarian, 48 are flawed democracies, 36 are hybrid regimes and 24 are full democracies.