Azykh ( az, Azıx) or Azokh ( hy, Ազոխ) is a village in the Khojavend District of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, in the

disputed Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The village is situated on the river of Ishkhanchay ( az, İşxançay) or Ishkhanaget ( hy, Իշխանագետ), near the Azykh Cave. The village had an ethnic

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

-majority population prior to the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of ...

, and also had an Armenian majority in 1989. The village was part of the Hadrut Province of the breakaway

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a list of states with limited recognition, breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan ...

between 1992 and 2020.

Etymology

According to the "Encyclopedic Dictionary of Azerbaijani Toponyms", the name ''Azykh'' originates from Old Turkic, meaning "bear den". According to the book "Historical-Architectural Monuments of Nagorno-Karabakh" by Shahen Mkrtchyan, the name ''Azokh'' originates from the

word Ազոխ, ''Azokh'', meaning "unripe grapes".

History

The Azykh Cave, located near the village, is a six-cave complex, known as a habitation site of prehistoric humans. The ancient layers of the

Middle Paleolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleoli ...

have yielded

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...

fossil remains that may date from around 300,000 years ago. During the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

period, the village was part of the Hadrut District of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within the

Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

. After the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...

, the village was administrated as part of the Hadrut Province of the

. The village came under the control of Azerbaijan on 9 November 2020, during the

. Subsequently,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

and

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

reported that Azerbaijani forces committed a war crime by decapitating Yuri Asryan, an 82-year-old Armenian man who remained in Azokh despite the Azerbaijani offensive towards the village.

Historical heritage sites

Azykh contains a number of historical heritage sites, two of which are registered by the

as immovable cultural heritage sites. The registered sites are the Azykh Cave, dating back to the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

, located 700 m to the southeast, as well as the 13th-century bridge of ''Tsiltakhach'' ( hy, Ծիլտախաչ), located 1 km to the southeast. In addition, the village contains the 17th-century church of ''Surb Astvatsatsin'' ( hy, Սուրբ Աստվածածին, ) - a 14 m long and 8 m wide stone building built on two arches, and a historical cemetery dating from between the 10th and 19th centuries. Amarkhatun Monastery, Tsitskar Fortress, and Melik Sagam's battlement are also located near the village.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Geography Populated places in Hadrut Province Populated places in Khojavend District Nagorno-Karabakh Former Armenian inhabited settlements