Page "Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic" Paragraph 23

Mikhail Gorbachev's introduction of the policies of Glasnost and Perestroika in the 1980s also fueled Armenian visions of a better life under Soviet rule.

The Hamshenis who were deported by Stalin to Kazakhstan began petitioning for the government to move them to the Armenian SSR.

This move was denied by the Soviet government because of fears that the Muslim Hamshenis might spark ethnic conflicts with their Christian Armenian cousins.

However, another event that occurred during this time made an ethnic clash between Christian Armenians and Muslims inevitable.