Other republics began moving in the same direction. Among them were the republics of the South Caucasus—Armenia Azerbaijan, and Georgia. In these as in others, however, movements for national autonomy were complicated by the presence of other national minorities in the same republic, who often also pressed for greater rights. Perhaps the c conflict between nationalities occurred early in 1988, in the South Caucasus, where Armenians in the mountainous Karabakh region, part of Azerbaijan, took to the streets to agitate for a merger with Armenia. The Azerbaijanis responded with demonstrations in defense of their territorial integrity. Tensions escalated; violence broke out with Azerbaijanis massacring Armenians in the towns of Sumgait and Baku.