Lachin ( az, Laçın, , ; hy, Բերձոր, translit=Berdzor; ku, Laçîn) is a town in
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 ...
and the administrative center of the
Lachin District
Lachin District ( az, Laçın rayonu, ku, Navçeya Laçînê, script=Latn) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the East Zangezur Economic Region. The district borders the districts ...
.
It is located within the strategic
Lachin corridor
The Lachin corridor ( hy, Լաչինի միջանցք, Lachini mijantsk; az, Laçın dəhlizi or ; ) is a mountain road that links Armenia and the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Being the only road between these two territories, it is has been oft ...
, which links the
disputed region of
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik, and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is m ...
with
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 ...
.
The town was
occupied by Armenian forces in 1992, during the
First Nagorno-Karabakh War, and its local
Azerbaijani and
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
population was expelled, while
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
settled in. The town came under the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' control 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 ...
, administrated as part of its
Kashatagh Province
Kashatagh Province ( hy, Քաշաթաղի շրջան) was a province of the Republic of Artsakh. It was the largest province by area (3,376.60 km2). The population as of 2013 was 9,656. Its capital was Berdzor.
Territorial entities
Kashata ...
. It came under the supervision of the
Russian peacekeeping force following the
ceasefire agreement
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
that ended the
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Lachin and the villages of
Sus and
Zabukh
Zabukh ( az, Zabux) is a village in the Lachin District of Azerbaijan. The village came under the control of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh after 1992 and was renamed Aghavno ( hy, Աղավնո) and settled by Armenians. Following the 2020 Nago ...
returned under Azerbaijan's control on 26 August 2022.
History
Early history
Cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...
inscriptions dating back to the
Urartian
Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushpa, ...
period have been found in the caves surrounding the town. The area was first mentioned by Armenian sources as ''Berdadzor'' (), a canton of the historic
Artsakh province of
Greater Armenia
Greater Armenia ( hy, Մեծ Հայք, translit=Mets Hayk) is the name given to the Armenian state that emerged on the Armenian Highlands during the reign of King Artaxias I at the turn of the 2nd century BC. The term was used to refer princ ...
;
[Hewsen. ''Armenia'', pp. 100–103.] it was alternatively transcribed as ''Beradzor'', ''Berdzor'', or ''Berdzork''. The reputed author
Movses Kaghankatvatsi Movses Kaghankatvatsi ( hy, Մովսէս Կաղանկատուացի ''Movses Kaġankatvac’i''), or Movses Daskhurantsi ( ''Movses Dasxuranc’i'') is the reputed author (or authors) of a tenth-century Classical Armenian historiographical work on C ...
mentions a so-called ''Berdzor horse'' purportedly indigenous to the region, as does
Makar Barkhudaryan, an
Apostolic
Apostolic may refer to:
The Apostles
An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission:
*The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles
*Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...
bishop, traveler,
polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
, and
ethnographer
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
from
Shusha
/ hy, Շուշի
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg
, image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govha ...
. During the medieval period, the town ''Berdzor'' was mentioned as being a part of the Artsakh province within the domain of the
Armenian Bagratid Kingdom.
Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu's private secretary Shihab ad-Din an-Nasawi referred to the settlement as both Berdadzor and a new name, ''Kaladara''.
Berdzor had its own local
Melik
Мelik (also transliterated as ''Meliq'') ( ''melikʿ''; from ar, ملك '' malik'' (king)) was a hereditary Armenian noble title, in various Eastern Armenian principalities known as ''melikdom''s encompassing modern Yerevan, Kars, Nakhic ...
s during the 15th-17th centuries and fell under the jurisdiction of the Armenian
Melikdom of Kashatagh
The Melikdom of Kashatagh ( Armenian: Քաշաթաղի մելիքություն) was an Armenian melikdom (principality) which existed in the 15th–18th centuries. It was located along the Hakari River, on the southeastern section of the mod ...
.
[Карагезян А. К локализации гавара Кашатаг // Вестн. обществ. наук АН АрмССР. 1987. No. 1. С. 44—45.] The Armenian settlement of Berdzor was eventually abandoned. Following the displacement of the Armenian population, the area was then repopulated with
Kurdish tribes
The following is a list of tribes of Kurdish people, an Iranic ethnic group from the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan in Western Asia.
Iraq
Baghdad Governorate
The following tribes are present in Baghdad Governorate:
* Feyli tribe
Diyala Gover ...
. The modern settlement was built using the stones from the ancient Armenian settlement.
The town was formerly also known as ''Abdallar'', named after the Turkic
Abdal tribe.
[Pospelov, p. 23][ Karapetian, Samvel. ''Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabagh''. Yerevan: Gitutiun Publishing House, 2001, p. 169.] In 1914, Abdallar was a small relatively insignificant village of about 124 Kurds.
It was granted town status in 1923 and then renamed ''Lachin'' (a Turkic first name meaning ''falcon'') in 1926.
In the early 1920s,
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
's letter to
Nariman Narimanov
Nariman Karbalayi Najaf oghlu Narimanov ( az, Nəriman Kərbəlayi Nəcəf oğlu Nərimanov, russian: Нарима́н Кербелаи Наджа́ф оглы Нарима́нов; – 19 March 1925) was an Azerbaijani Bolshevik revolutionary, w ...
"had implied that Lachin was to be included in Azerbaijan, but the authorities in Baku and Yerevan were given promises that were inevitably contradictory."
Red Kurdistan
On 7 July 1923, the town of Lachin became the administrative centre of
Kurdistansky Uyezd
Kurdistan uezd,, ku, Кӧрдӧйәзд, Kurduyezd also known colloquially as Red Kurdistan,, ku, Кӧрдьстана Сор, Kurdistana Sor was a Soviet administrative unit that existed for six years from 1923 to 1929 and included the distr ...
of the
Azerbaijan SSR, often known as Red Kurdistan. It was dissolved on 8 April 1929:
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
schools and newspapers were closed.
On 30 May 1930, the Kurdistan Okrug replaced the uyezd. It included the territory of the former Kurdistansky Uyezd, as well as
Zangilansky District and a part of
Dzhebrailsky District. The okrug, like the uyezd before it, was founded to appeal to Kurds beyond Soviet borders in Iran and Turkey, but the
Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs would ultimately protest this policy due to its negative effect on relations with Turkey and Iran. Due to these concerns, the okrug was abolished less than a month after its foundation, on 23 July 1930.
In the late 1930s, Soviet authorities deported most of the local Kurdish population as well as much of the Kurds elsewhere in
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 ...
and
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 ...
to
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
.
To its Kurdish population, the city was known as ''Laçîn''.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
First Nagorno-Karabakh War
The town and hinterland of Lachin was the location of severe fighting during the
First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1990–1994).
During May 1992, an Armenian offensive captured the town; as a result, Lachin became a strategic link between Armenia and the
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik, and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is m ...
region -the
Lachin corridor
The Lachin corridor ( hy, Լաչինի միջանցք, Lachini mijantsk; az, Laçın dəhlizi or ; ) is a mountain road that links Armenia and the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Being the only road between these two territories, it is has been oft ...
. The disfigured bodies of Armenian civilians killed by Azerbaijani soldiers in 1992 were discovered near Lachin on May 28, 1993. The civilians had attempted to flee Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and were reportedly massacred by the Gray Wolves.
Following the town's capture by Armenian forces, it was looted and burned.
The mainly Azerbaijani population fled and became
internally displaced people
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
...
. British reporters witnessed looting and burning in Lachin, with trucks and cars piled high with looted furniture and household utensils moving to Armenia, and big convoys blocking the road. Looters took everything of value, including livestock, before setting houses on fire. An Armenian sergeant said to the British journalists that the looting was done because the Azerbaijanis had previously pillaged 23 villages. Among the Armenian looters there also were civilians from
Stepanakert, which had
been shelled by the Azerbaijanis for eight months and had been without light and water for several weeks.
A Canadian journalist who visited the town a few months later noted that "the destruction is absolute. No building, no home, no school, not a bus shelter has been left unscarred".
From 1992, Lachin was administrated 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 part of its
Kashatagh Province
Kashatagh Province ( hy, Քաշաթաղի շրջան) was a province of the Republic of Artsakh. It was the largest province by area (3,376.60 km2). The population as of 2013 was 9,656. Its capital was Berdzor.
Territorial entities
Kashata ...
. Artsakh repopulated the city by attracting
ethnic Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora o ...
from Armenia and
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
.
According to journalist Onnik Krikorian, although the official statistics claimed that the number of Armenian residents in Lachin was 2200, the actual figure was around fifty per cent less. While some settlers were refugees from Azerbaijan and Karabakh, as well as from the diaspora, Krikorian wrote that most were poor families from Armenia, attracted by the promise of land, livestock and social benefits that averaged 4,000 Armenian drams (about ten US dollars) per child. Krikorian also wrote that the Armenian population was leaving the region due to decreased government funding and the uncertainty of region's status.
The
OSCE
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
Minsk Group
The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), now Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), to encourage a peace process, peaceful, negotiated resolution to the Nagorno ...
co-chairs had noted that "Lachin has been treated as a separate case in previous negotiations." The Lachin corridor and the Kalbajar district had been at the centre of Armenian demands during the Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks with Azerbaijan.
On 16 June 2015
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
passed a judgement in the case of "
Chiragov and Others v. Armenia", which concerned the complaints by six Azerbaijani ethnically-
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
refugees that they were unable to return to their homes and property in the district of Lachin, in Azerbaijan, from where they had been forced to flee in 1992 during the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. The Court confirmed that Armenia exercised effective control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories and thus had de facto jurisdiction over the district of Lachin. The Court also found that the denial by the Armenian government of access to the applicants’ homes constituted an unjustified interference with their right to respect for their private and family lives as well as their homes.
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war
Following the
ceasefire agreement
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
that ended the
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, the
Lachin District
Lachin District ( az, Laçın rayonu, ku, Navçeya Laçînê, script=Latn) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the East Zangezur Economic Region. The district borders the districts ...
was returned to Azerbaijan on 1 December. Today, Russian peacekeepers continue to secure safe passage through the
Lachin corridor
The Lachin corridor ( hy, Լաչինի միջանցք, Lachini mijantsk; az, Laçın dəhlizi or ; ) is a mountain road that links Armenia and the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Being the only road between these two territories, it is has been oft ...
.
However, the unclear and unstable situation in the region have caused many Armenians to evacuate from the city.
The Artsakh mayor of Lachin, Narek Aleksanyan, first called on the ethnic Armenian population of the town to evacuate. However, later Aleksanyan stated that the agreement had been changed and that Lachin,
Sus, and
Zabukh
Zabukh ( az, Zabux) is a village in the Lachin District of Azerbaijan. The village came under the control of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh after 1992 and was renamed Aghavno ( hy, Աղավնո) and settled by Armenians. Following the 2020 Nago ...
which are located inside the
Lachin corridor
The Lachin corridor ( hy, Լաչինի միջանցք, Lachini mijantsk; az, Laçın dəhlizi or ; ) is a mountain road that links Armenia and the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Being the only road between these two territories, it is has been oft ...
would not be handed over to Azerbaijan, urging the Armenian population to stay in their homes. Despite Aleksanyan's calls, the vast majority of Armenians in Lachin, as well as Lebanese-Armenians in Zabukh fled the region.
Azerbaijani MP Zahid Oruj
Zahid Maharram oglu Orujov ( az, Zahid Məhərrəm oğlu Orucov, commonly known as Zahid Oruj; born 1 February 1972) is an Azerbaijan politician and chairperson of the Azerbaijani Social Research Center (2019).
In 2018, he ran for president aga ...
, the chairman of the Center for Social Research, which is linked to the Azerbaijani government, denied that the Lachin District would not be handed over in its entirety.
On December 1, Azerbaijani forces, with tanks and a column of trucks, entered the district, and the Azerbaijani MoD released footage from the Lachin district.
On December 3, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence released video footage from the town of Lachin.
Following the ceasefire, only around 200 Armenians remained in the Lachin corridor
The Lachin corridor ( hy, Լաչինի միջանցք, Lachini mijantsk; az, Laçın dəhlizi or ; ) is a mountain road that links Armenia and the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Being the only road between these two territories, it is has been oft ...
, with 100–120 of them being in Lachin.
Return to Azerbaijan
According to the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, a new corridor was going to be built in the region as the Lachin corridor passes through the city of Lachin, and when this corridor is ready, the city will be returned to the Azerbaijani administration.
In August 2022, Azerbaijan built its part of the road around Lachin, while Armenia did not yet. On 2 August, the local Armenian authorities reported that the Azerbaijani side had conveyed to them a demand to organize communication with Armenia along a different route, bypassing the existing one. Following the renewed clashes around Lachin, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, stated that Azerbaijan's demand for the Lachin corridor was unlawful, since the Armenian side has not yet agreed to any plan for the construction of a new road. Azerbaijan accused Armenia of delaying the construction of its part of the road, while the part for which Azerbaijan was responsible had already been built. On 4 August, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia, Gnel Sanosyan, stated that the construction of an alternative road to Lachin was actively underway and would be completed the spring of 2023. On 5 August, local Armenian authorities told the residents of Lachin, as well as Zabukh
Zabukh ( az, Zabux) is a village in the Lachin District of Azerbaijan. The village came under the control of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh after 1992 and was renamed Aghavno ( hy, Աղավնո) and settled by Armenians. Following the 2020 Nago ...
and Sus, to leave their homes by 25 August, after which the towns would be handed over to Azerbaijan. Some of the Armenian inhabitants burned their houses down. As of 26 August, Azerbaijan regained control of the town and the villages Sus and Zabukh in the Lachin corridor.
Geography
The town is scenically built on the side of a mountain on the left bank of the river Hakari.
Economy and culture
As of 2015, the population is mainly engaged in different state institutions. The town has a municipal building, a regional hospital, four dental clinics, two secondary schools, the Berdzor Music School and the Berdzor Art and Sports School, and a kindergarten.
Demographics
Twin cities
Lachin is twinned with:
* Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
, California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
[Azerbaijan Protests California Town’s Recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh]
" '' RIA Novosti''. December 6, 2013.
Gallery
File:Berdzor058.JPG, View of the town
File:Berdzor057.JPG, Former WW2 memorial turned into Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbaij ...
memorial
File:Berdzor062.JPG, Playground in the town
File:Berdzor046.JPG, View of part of Lachin
File:Berdzor001.JPG, Road in Lachin
File:Berdzor049.JPG, Building of Armenian mobile operator company
File:Սուրբ Հարություն եկեղեցի, Բերձոր - Holy Resurrection Church, Berdzor.jpg, Holy Ascension Church in Berdzor, opened in 1998
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Е. М. Поспелов (Ye. M. Pospelov). "Имена городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь." (City Names: Yesterday and Today (1917–1992). Toponymic Dictionary." Москва, "Русские словари", 1993.
External links
Pictures of Lachin
* Onnik Krikorian
Armenia’s Strategic Lachin Corridor Confronts a Demographic Crisis
eurasianet.org, Sep 15, 2006.
More information about Lachin from Armeniapedia.com
*
*
*
{{Use mdy dates, date=January 2015
Populated places in Kashatagh Province
Cities and towns in the Republic of Artsakh
Populated places in Lachin District
Villages in Azerbaijan
Armenia–Azerbaijan border
First Nagorno-Karabakh War