Gorbachev again refused to make any changes to the status of Nagorno Karabakh , which remained part of Azerbaijan . Instead he sacked both Republics ' Communist Party Leaders : On May 21 , 1988 , Karen Demirchian was replaced by Suren Harutyunyan as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia . However , Harutyunyan quickly decided to run before the nationalist wind and on May 28 , allowed Armenians to unfurl the red-blue-orange First Armenian Republic flag for the first time in almost 70 years . On June 15 , 1988 , the Armenian Supreme Soviet adopted a resolution formally approving the idea of Nagorno Karabakh joining Armenia . Armenia , formerly one of the most loyal Republics , had suddenly turned into the leading rebel republic . On July 5 , 1988 , when a contingent of troops was sent in to remove demonstrators by force from Yerevan 's Zvartnots International Airport , shots were fired and one student protester was killed . In September , further large demonstrations in Yerevan led to the deployment of armored vehicles . In the autumn of 1988 almost all of the 200,000 Azerbaijani minority in Armenia was expelled by Armenian Nationalists , with over 100 killed in the process – this , after the Sumgait pogrom earlier that year carried out by Azerbaijanis against ethnic Armenians and subsequent expulsion of all Armenians from Azerbaijan . On November 25 , 1988 , a military commandant took control of Yerevan as the Soviet government moved to prevent further ethnic violence
Sumgait pogrom
Sumgait pogrom
Dissolution of the Soviet Union