Kərkicahan

Kərkicahan (Karkijahan) or Krkjan (Armenian: Քրքջան) is a settlement near the city of Stepanakert, de jure in Azerbaijan, but de facto part of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh.

Kərkicahan
Քրքջան
Kərkicahan
Coordinates: 39°48′12″N 46°44′16.3″E
Country Azerbaijan (de jure)
 Artsakh (de facto)
CityStepanakert (Khankendi)
Elevation
997 m (3,271 ft)
Population
 (2008)
 • Total1,764
Time zoneUTC+4 (AMT)

History

Pre-Soviet

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

In July 1919, the village was looted as part of the Khaibalikend Massacre by armed Kurdish irregulars and Azerbaijani soldiers.[2][3]

Soviet period

During the early Soviet times, the village was a district within the Stepanakert city in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of 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] The village had an Azerbaijani-majority population prior to their expulsion on 28 December 1991 during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.[8]

First Nagorno-Karabakh war

Armenian troops entered Karkijahan on 29 December 1991, and established full control over it the following day.[9] By that time, most of the village's original Azerbaijani population had already left the village,[10] however, 34 civilians, including 3 women and 2 minors, were killed as a result of the capture, according to Azerbaijan.[9] During the hostilities in Karkijahan, a journalist of Mayak radio, Leonid Lazarevich was killed.[11] Azerbaijani forces managed to recapture the village by 31 December, however Armenians captured the village again in late January - early February 1992.[12] The village was subsequently burned to ground by Armenian forces.[13]

Armenian control

Since its capture by Armenian forces, the village has been administrated as part of the Stepanakert city by the Republic of Artsakh and was renamed Krkjan (Armenian: Քրքջան).[14]

Population

The village had an Azerbaijani-majority population prior to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[15]

Following the expulsion of ethnic Azerbaijanis from the city of Stepanakert in 1988, most of them settled in Karkijahan.[4] The population consisted of 1,796 people prior to the outbreak of the hostilities due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[9]

  • Old image of Kərkicahan
  • View of Kərkicahan
  • View of Kərkicahan

References
  1. Свод статистических данных о населении Закавказского края, извлеченных из посемейных списков 1886 г. Тф. 1893. p. 271.
  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. Юрий Романов. «Я снимаю войну»: Школа выживания. Москва, «Права человека», 2001 — p. 50
  14. "Karkicahan". fallingrain.com. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  15. "Карта 33. Зона конфликта в Нагорном Карабахе (1988–1994...)". iriston.com (in Russian). Retrieved 6 March 2021.
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