Gülüstan or Gulistan ( hy, Գյուլիստան, lit=rose garden, translit=Gyulistan) is a village in the
Goranboy District
Goranboy District ( az, Goranboy rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the Ganja-Dashkasan Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Kalbajar, Tartar, Yevlakh, Samu ...
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 ...
. It is a part of the municipality of Buzluq.
The village had an Armenian majority prior to 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 ...
and
Operation Ring
Operation Ring (russian: link=no, Операция «Кольцо», translit=Operatsia Kol'tso; hy, «Օղակ» գործողություն, ), known in Azerbaijan as Operation Chaykand ( az, Çaykənd əməliyyatı) was the codename for th ...
.
Geography
The village is located on an elongated hilltop in a forested area on the northern side of the Murov/Mrav mountain range, on the right bank of the Injachay (İncəçay) River.
History
Between the 16th and the 18th century, the fortress of Gulistan (3 km from the village) was the one of the seats (the other was Talish) of the Principality of Gulistan ruled by the Armenian Melik Beglarian family, one of the Five Melikdoms of Karabakh. A ruined church dating to 1659 and another newer church were located in the village. A monastery called ''Surb Amenakpʻrkichʻ'' (Holy Savior) was located in the vicinity of the village.
Gülüstan is historically significant as the village near the site where the
Treaty of Gulistan
The Treaty of Gulistan (russian: Гюлистанский договор; fa, عهدنامه گلستان) was a peace treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and Iran on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gulistan (now in the Goranboy Distri ...
was signed between the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
and
Qajar Iran
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
on 12 October 1813, concluding the nine-year-long Russo-Persian War. According to the agreement, Qajar Iran was forced to recognize Russian rule over territories north of
Arax River
, az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras
The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...
(i.e. the present-day territory of
Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...
,
Eastern Georgia
Eastern Georgia ( ka, აღმოსავლეთ საქართველო, ''aghmosavlet' sak'art'velo'') is a geographic area encompassing the territory of the Caucasian nation of Georgia to the east and south of the Likhi and Meskhet ...
, Northern
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
and most of present-day
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 ...
without
Talysh Talysh may refer to:
*Talysh people
* History of Talysh
*Talysh language
*Talysh Khanate, in existence from 1747 to 1828
*Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic, a self-declared autonomy, which existed briefly in the south of Azerbaijan in 1993
*Talysh ...
) with the exception of the Khanates of
Erivan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and in ...
and Nakhchivan.
In the Soviet times, the village was part of the Shaumian District, an administrative unit outside the
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), DQMV, hy, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Ինքնավար Մարզ, ԼՂԻՄ was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its cap ...
with an ethnic Armenian majority. Until 1992, the village was inhabited by ethnic Armenians, who fled when it was captured by Azerbaijani forces during
Operation Goranboy
Operation Goranboy was a large-scale military offensive by Azerbaijan in the summer of 1992. Its aims were to take complete control of the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and put a decisive end to the secessionist Nagorno-Karabakh Republic ...
. The Shaumian District was then incorporated into the Goranboy District. Currently, Gülüstan is located in close proximity to the line of contact between the
Artsakh Defense Army
The Artsakh Defence Army ( hy, Արցախի Հանրապետության պաշտպանության բանակ, Artsakhi Hanrapetut’yan pashtpanut’yan banak) is the defence force of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Est ...
and the
Azerbaijani Armed Forces
The Azerbaijani Armed Forces ( az, Azərbaycan Silahlı Qüvvələri) were re-established according to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the Armed Forces from 9 October 1991. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) had originally formed ...
. The village is claimed by the
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 ...
as a part of the
Shahumyan Province
Shahumyan Province ( hy, Շահումյան, Shahumyan, also spelled ''Shaumyan'' and ''Shahumian'') is a claimed province of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, ''de jure'' part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The capital of the province was ...
.
On 3 March 1992, an Armenian transport helicopter Mi-26 carrying around 50 women and children from Gülüstan on board was shot down with a
MANPADS
Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.
Overview
MANPADS were developed in the 1950s to provide military ...
rocket fired from Azerbaijan-controlled territory, killing 16 people.
Notable natives of the village include Garegin Balayan (1912–1943, Hero of the Soviet Union)"Навечно в строю": Гарегин Шегиевич Балаян /ref> and
Treaty of Turkmenchay
The Treaty of Turkmenchay ( fa, عهدنامه ترکمنچای; russian: Туркманчайский договор) was an agreement between Qajar Iran and the Russian Empire, which concluded the Russo-Persian War (1826–28). It was second o ...