The years 1987–1988 marked a critical transition in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Despite Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika policies promoting openness and reform, the Soviet leadership maintained strict control over nationalities policy. In summer 1987, Soviet Union’s Communist Party Central Committee Politburo member Yegor Likhachev delivered a tough speech in Tbilisi warning against spreading “nationalist and religious ideas” and “spreading irresponsible demagogy hostile to the interests of the working people” under the guise of democracy. The Karabakh movement, beginning with petitions in 1987 demanding the reunification of NKAO with Soviet Armenia, gained momentum following decades of perceived discrimination. The crisis dramatically escalated in February 1988 after the NKAO Soviet voted to transfer to Soviet Armenia, followed by the brutal Sumgait pogrom, where at least 32 Armenians were slaughtered, prompting a mass exodus of Armenians and shattering illusions of a peaceful resolution. Moscow’s subsequent decision in November 1989 to abolish its special administration and return NKAO to Soviet Azerbaijani control effectively abdicated its responsibility. The conflict then spiraled into widespread ethnic violence, including the 1990 Baku pogrom and the militarized Operation Ring in 1991. On 2 September 1991, NKAO proclaimed the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), and the Soviet Union’s dissolution in December 1991transformed the internal dispute into an international conflict, fueled by the uncontrolled transfer of Soviet military equipment to both sides. Keywords: Perestroika/Glasnost, Constitutional crisis, Soviet dissolution, Law on Secession, Sumgait pogrom, Population displacement, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, popular movements.