[1] The area of the Zangezur uezd corresponded to most of the contemporary Syunik province of Armenia, and Lachin, Gubadly, Zangilan, and the westernmost parts of Shusha districts of Azerbaijan.

[3] In the central subdistricts (Goris, Kapan, Meghri, and Sisian), Armenians formed the majority of the population, whereas Tatars[b] and Kurds were mainly concentrated in the "peripheral southeastern slopes".

[7] As these clashes occurred at the height of Ottoman dominance in the South Caucasus, General Halil Bey threatened the Armenian government, however, the latter claimed they had no control over Andranik.

The battle for Avdallar and its surrounds raged for 3 days, eventually resulting in the defeat of the local Tatars and Kurds led by Sultan bey Sultanov [az].

By this time however, the British had supplanted the Ottoman forces in the South Caucasus by virtue of the Mudros Armistice, therefore, Andranik was stopped from proceeding to Nagorno-Karabakh by Major-General William M. Thomson.

[10] In April 1919, the British command in Baku by appointing Khosrov bey Sultanov the Governor-General of Karabakh and Zangezur provisionally recognised the region as part of Azerbaijan pending the decision of the Paris Peace Conference.

[16] Following the British withdrawal from the South Caucasus, the Azerbaijani army and Kurdish local forces led by Sultan bey Sultanov and some Turkish officers launched a full-scale invasion into Zangezur on 4 November, confident in their ability owing to their victories over the Mughan Soviet Republic and subjugating the Karabakh Council.

[20] On 24 January 1920, British Chief Commissioner of Transcaucasia Oliver Wardrop notified Prime Minister Khatisian that he had evidence that the Armenian army was involved in attacks on 24 Muslim settlements in Zangezur.

[21] To placate Wardrop's complaints, Armenia recalled Colonel Shahmazian from Zangezur, replacing him with General H. Kazarov with instructions to investigate the Azerbaijani allegations of massacres against the Muslim population.

With the Karabakh ultimatum looming and the Azerbaijani army positioned to attack Zangezur again,[23] the Armenian government dispatched Arsen Mikayelyan to Nagorno-Karabakh to take measures to unite the region to Armenia.

[24] The abortive uprising beginning on 23 March 1920 though resulting in the massacre and expulsion of Shusha's Armenian population was successful in ousting the Azerbaijani administration from the rest of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Without awaiting an answer, the Red Army captured the city of Nakhichevan (present-day Nakhchivan) on 17 July, however, they were unsuccessful in seizing control of southern Zangezur due to the efforts of Nzhdeh.