Karkijahan, Nagorno-Karabakh

Krkjan (Armenian: Քրքջան) or Karkijahan (Azerbaijani: Kərkicahan) is a settlement near the city of Stepanakert. The village had an Armenian-majority population prior to the Khaibalikend massacre in 1919 and subsequently an Azerbaijani-majority population prior to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 1988.

Krkjan / Karkijahan
Քրքջան / Kərkicahan
Krkjan / Karkijahan is located in Azerbaijan
Krkjan / Karkijahan
Krkjan / Karkijahan
Coordinates: 39°48′12″N 46°44′16.3″E
Country Azerbaijan
 • DistrictKhankendi
Elevation
997 m (3,271 ft)
Time zoneUTC+4 (AZT)

History

Pre-Soviet period

In 1886, the village had an Armenian-majority population, consisting entirely of farmers.[1]

In June 1919, the village and the neighboring villages of Ghaibalishen (Khaibalikend), Jamilli, and Pahlul were looted and destroyed in the Khaibalikend massacre with 600-700 ethnic Armenians being killed by armed Kurdish irregulars and Azerbaijani soldiers.[2][3]

Soviet Union

During the early Soviet period, the village was a district within the city of Stepanakert in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan SSR, known as Karkijan (Azerbaijani: Kərkican). In 1988, the district was given the status of an urban-type settlement, after Azerbaijani IDPs from Stepanakert settled in the village.[4] Tensions steadily grew between Azerbaijanis of Karkijahan and Armenians of Stepanakert. In one incident on 5 May 1989, three locals and four soldiers were wounded.[5] Similar incidents were recorded in July 1989,[6] and November 1991.[7]

First Nagorno-Karabakh War

The settlement had an Azerbaijani-majority population of 1,796 inhabitants prior to the outbreak of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 1988.[8][9] Following the expulsion of ethnic Azerbaijanis from the city of Stepanakert in 1988, most of them settled in Karkijahan.[4] Armenian troops entered Karkijahan on 29 December 1991, and established full control over it the following day.[9] By the time of its capture, most of the village's Azerbaijani population had already left the village.[10] According to Azerbaijan, 34 people, including 3 women and 2 minors, were killed during the battles.[9] During the hostilities in Karkijahan, a journalist of Radio Mayak, Leonid Lazarevich, was killed.[11] Azerbaijani forces recaptured the village by 31 December, however it was finally retaken by Armenian forces in late January - early February 1992.[12] The village was subsequently burned to the ground by Armenian forces.[10]

Republic of Artsakh

Since the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the settlement has been administrated as part of the city of Stepanakert by the Republic of Artsakh. It was renamed Krkjan (Armenian: Քրքջան).[13]

  • Old image of Karkijahan
    Old image of Karkijahan
  • View of Karkijahan
    View of Karkijahan
  • View of Karkijahan
    View of Karkijahan

References
  1. Свод статистических данных о населении Закавказского края, извлеченных из посемейных списков 1886 г. Тф. 1893. p. 271.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. Hovannisian, Richard. The Republic of Armenia: Vol. I, The First Year, 1918-1919. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971, pp. 176-177, notes 51-52.
  3. (in Armenian) Vratsian, Simon. Հայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն (The Republic of Armenia). Paris: H.H.D. Amerikayi Publishing, 1928, pp. 286-87.
  4. ДМИТРИЙ ЛЕОНОВ (23 September 1990). "КАРАБАХ: путевые заметки времен чрезвычайного положения". panorama.ru (in Russian). Панорама. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  5. "7 Wounded in New Violence In Disputed Azerbaijan Area". The New York Times. 10 May 1989. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  6. "К событиям в Нагорном Карабахе" (PDF). aei.pitt.edu (in Russian). Бакинский рабочий. 9 July 1989. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  7. "1991 - сорок восьмая неделя". old.russ.ru (in Russian). Правда. 26 November 1991. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  8. "Карта 33. Зона конфликта в Нагорном Карабахе (1988–1994...)". iriston.com (in Russian). Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  9. "Xankəndinin ermənilər tərəfindən işğalından 24 il keçir". trend.az (in Azerbaijani). Trend. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  10. Юрий Романов. «Я снимаю войну»: Школа выживания. Москва, «Права человека», 2001 — p. 50
  11. "Леонид Павлович Лазаревич (1943—1991)". evg-rumjantsev.ru (in Russian). Космический мемориал. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  12. Жирохов М. А. Семена распада: войны и конфликты на территории бывшего СССР. Санкт-Петербург, БХВ-Петербург, 2012 — p. 247—248.
  13. "Karkicahan". fallingrain.com. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
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