Operation Goranboy was a large-scale military offensive by
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 summer of 1992. Its aims were to take complete control of the entire territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked country, landlocked region in the Transcaucasia, South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik, and covering the southeastern range o ...
and put a decisive end to the secessionist
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
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 ...
(NKR). This offensive is regarded as a successful breakthrough by the
Azerbaijani Army
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 ...
and marked the peak of Azerbaijani success throughout the entire six years of 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 ...
.
After Azerbaijan's initial military successes, re-grouped Armenian forces repelled the attack, re-capturing most of the seized regions.
The offensive
On 12 June 1992, just five days after
Abulfaz Elchibey of the
Popular Front of Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP; az, Azərbaycan Xalq Cəbhəsi Partiyası, ) is a political party in Azerbaijan, founded in 1992 by Abulfaz Elchibey. After Elchibey's death in 2000, the party split into two wings, the ''reform'' wi ...
was elected the President of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani military first launched a large scale diversionary attack from the east, in the direction of the
Askeran region
Askeran Province ( hy, Ասկերան) is a province of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, ''de jure'' part of the Khojaly District of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It is in the center of Artsakh, surrounding the capital, Stepanakert. It is not ...
at the center of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijani troops attacked positions to the north and south of Askeran. As a result of fierce fighting the Azerbaijanis managed to establish control over several settlements in the Askeran region:
Nakhichevanik
Nakhichevanik ( hy, Նախիջևանիկ, Nakhijevanik) or Nakhchivanly ( az, Naxçıvanlı) is a village ''de facto'' in the Askeran Province of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, ''de jure'' in the Khojaly District of Azerbaijan, in the dispu ...
,
Dovşanlı,
Pirjamal
Vardadzor ( hy, Վարդաձոր) or Pirjamal ( hy, Փիրջամալ; az, Pircamal) is a village ''de facto'' in the Askeran Province of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, ''de jure'' in the Khojaly District of Azerbaijan, in the disputed regi ...
,
Dahraz
Dahraz ( hy, Դահրազ; az, Dəhrəz) is a village ''de facto'' in the Askeran Province of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, ''de jure'' in the Khojavend District of Azerbaijan, in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
History
During ...
, and
Agbulaq.
Goranboy
On 13 June 1992, Azerbaijan launched the main large-scale three-day offensive against the region of
Goranboy (the territory of the former Shahumyan rayon of Azerbaijan SSR) located north of Nagorno-Karabakh, which was defended by the Armenian volunteer detachments. This offensive was code-named ''Operation Goranboy'' (named after the rayon that lies to the north of former
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 ...
(NKAO)) and headed by
Surat Huseynov. As many as 4 tank battalions and 2 mechanized infantry battalions of the 23rd Division of the former Soviet Union Army, as well as 4 additional battalions of the Azerbaijan Army and various brigades from the neighboring regions, were joined in this operation. After 15 hours of fierce fighting against the Azerbaijani forces, the two Armenian detachments withdrew. Azerbaijan managed to capture several dozen villages in the Goranboy region originally held by the Armenian forces, and the entire Armenian civilian population of this region fled. According to a report by the
Memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...
human rights society, which sent its mission to Goranboy in the aftermath of the operation, there were no civilian casualties, as Armenians had fled the region before the Azerbaijani troops approached them. The population of the neighboring Azerbaijani and Russian villages remained unaffected.
Battle of Martakert
On July 4, 1992, after a long siege, Azerbaijani forces captured the largest town in the region,
Martakert
Martakert ( hy, Մարտակերտ, also , ) or Aghdara ( az, Ağdərə ) is a town ''de facto'' in the breakaway Republic of Artsakh as the administrative capital of its Martakert Province, ''de jure'' in the Tartar District of Azerbaijan, in ...
, also known as Aghdara. The Armenian forces left the town in panic, abandoning weapons and equipment.
The scale of the Azerbaijani offensive prompted the government of Armenia to openly threaten Azerbaijan that it would overtly intervene and assist the separatists fighting in Karabakh.
According to
Robert Kocharyan
Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( hy, Ռոբերտ Սեդրակի Քոչարյան ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from ...
, by this time Azerbaijan had captured more than 48% of the territory of the former
NKAO
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 ca ...
, creating a situation of panic among Armenians.
Stalemate
On June 18, 1992, a
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
was announced throughout the NKR. On August 15, the State Defense Committee of the NKR was created, headed by
Robert Kocharyan
Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( hy, Ռոբերտ Սեդրակի Քոչարյան ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from ...
. Partial mobilization was called for, which covered sergeants and privates in the NKR, NKR men available for military service aged 18–40,
officers
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
up to the age of 50 and women with previous military training.
[Жирохов М. А]
Авиация в Нагорном Карабахе
The newly conscripted men now numbered 15,000.
The thrust made by the Azerbaijanis ground to a halt when their armor was driven off by helicopter gunships.
It was claimed that many of the crew members of the armored units in the Azerbaijani-launched assault were Russians from the 104th Guards
Airborne
Airborne or Airborn may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis
* ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film
* ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...
Division based out of
Ganja
Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.
Etymology
''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: aːɲd ...
and, ironically enough, so were the units who eventually stopped them. According to an Armenian government official, they were able to persuade Russian military units to bombard and effectively halt the advance within a few days. According to Russian General
Lev Rokhlin, Russian effectively supplied Armenians with
T-72
The T-72 is a family of Soviet/Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks ha ...
tanks and fifty
BMP-2
The BMP-2 (''Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty'', , literally "combat machine/vehicle (of the) infantry") is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s.
Development hist ...
infantry fighting vehicles from its military base in
Mozdok
Mozdok (russian: Моздо́к; os, Мæздæг, ''Mæzdæg''; Kabardian: Мэздэгу) is a town and the administrative center of Mozdoksky District of North Ossetia – Alania, Russia, located on the left shore of the Terek River, n ...
in the summer of 1992. Most of the ammunition was flown to Armenia by
Antonov An-124
The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (; russian: Антонов Ан-124 Руслан, , Ruslan; NATO reporting name: Condor) is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrain ...
military cargo planes.
Armenian counter-offensive
After the reorganization of the NKR Defense Army, the tide of Azerbaijani advances was stopped. By September–December 1992 Azerbaijan's army was exhausted and suffered heavy losses. Faced with an imminent defeat, Surat Huseynov moved what was left of his army out of Martakert and back to
Ganja
Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.
Etymology
''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: aːɲd ...
, where it could be recuperated and restocked by the 104th Guards Airborne Division of the Soviet Airborne Troops.
However, after recuperating Huseynov did not march on Aghdara, but on
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
, intending to overthrow President
Abulfez Elchibey in a
military coup
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...
. In February 1993, direct evidence of treason by Azerbaijani Minister of Defense
Rahim Gaziyev
Rahim Hasan oglu Gaziyev ( az, Rəhim Həsən oğlu Qazıyev; born 1943, in Shaki) was Azerbaijani Defense Minister in 1992–1993, in the turmoil of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, and later a political prisoner.
Prior to the war
Gaziyev gradu ...
and
Surat Huseynov was found in recorded conversation where Gaziyev was telling Huseynov about deliberate abandoning of Azerbaijani soldiers encircled in
Hasanriz village by Armenians to their fate.
See also
*
Battle of Aghdam
The Battle of Aghdam (June – July 1993) took place on 23 July 1993 during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, during which Armenian forces captured the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam, which they considered a main staging area of Azerbaijani forces for ...
*
Battle of Kelbajar
The Battle of Kalbajar took place in March and April 1993, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. It resulted in the capture of the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan by Armenian military forces.
Kalbajar lies outside the contested enclave of t ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Operation Goranboy
First Nagorno-Karabakh War
Goranboy
Goranboy
Goranboy
1992 in Azerbaijan
Goranboy
20th century in Azerbaijan