In 1978, the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh celebrated the 150th anniversary of their immigration to Azerbaijan by constructing a monument in the village Maragashen of Leninavan Mardakert – Agdara area. The village was named Maragashen because its first inhabitants were immigrants from Maragha, a village in Iran. The monument had a legend “150 years of the transfer”. (See Photo 1).
Photo 1. The monument with the legend “150 Years of the transfer” in Aghdara (Mardakert), 1978
This monument was destroyed by Armenians in 1988, during the initial period of the Karabakh war. Since Armenian nationalists claimed that Karabakh was their historical land, they had to remove all evidence demonstrating that the Armenians of Karabakh were in fact descendants of those who had immigrated to Karabakh over a hundred years ago. The monument was completely changed and the inscription referring to “150 years of the transfer” of Armenians to Karabakh was erased (see Photo 2).
This monument was destroyed by Armenians in 1988, during the initial period of the Karabakh war. Since Armenian nationalists claimed that Karabakh was their historical land, they had to remove all evidence demonstrating that the Armenians of Karabakh were in fact descendants of those who had immigrated to Karabakh over a hundred years ago. The monument was completely changed and the inscription referring to “150 years of the transfer” of Armenians to Karabakh was erased (see Photo 2).
Photo 2: The monument to the Armenian transfer in Aghdara (Mardakert) in 1987. The commemorative legend “150 Years of the transfer” is missing.
Afterword: A short history of the relocation of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh under Russian rule.
According to Russian archives, Armenians started to immigrate to Nagorno-Karabakh after the Gulistan (1813) and Turkmanchay (1828) treaties, when the Azerbaijan khanates had been included in Russia.
In 1828, “Armenian oblast” was created by Russia within the borders of Azebaijan khanates (the Irevan and Nakhchivan khanates, specifically), where three-quarters of the population consisted of Muslims, according to a letter of Russian General Paskevich (Potto, V.A. (1993) Kavkazskaya Voyna. Persidskaya Voyna 1826-1828 gg, in Russian, Stavropol, vol. 3, pp. 594-595).
In spring 1828, a directive from the Russian general Paskevich was issued to resettle the poorest Armenians in Karabakh (Glinka, S. N. (1831) Opisaniye Pereseleniya Armyan Adderbidzhanskikh v Predely Rossii, in Russian, Moscow, pp. 90-91).
To encourage the Armenians’ resettlement in Nakhichevan and Erivan in 1829, a special committee was formed and Armenian immigrants were granted financial aid from Russia. Moreover, for the first six years after immigration they were exempted from taxes and military service. New villages were created in Karabakh for Armenian immigrants with money from the Russian government.
As a result, in 1832 Armenians formed 31.6 percent of the population of Karabakh, with Muslims still retaining their majority of 68.4 percent. [Obozreniye Rossiyskikh Vladeniy za Kavkazom v Statisticheskom, Etnograficheskom, Topograficheskom I Finansovom Otnosheniyakh, in Russian, Tiflis, 1836, p. 267.]
The Armenians’ resettlement into the Muslim provinces of the South Caucasus was regulated by Paragraph XV of the Turkmanchay Treaty. The relocation of thousands of Armenians to Karabakh was well planned and comprehensively supported by the Russian government.
Below is a copy of the original Treaty between the Khan of Karabakh and the Russian empire on the transfer of power over the khanate to Russia (1805). The content clearly shows that there were no Armenian lands in Karabakh before 1805. There is only a reference to a Muslim khanate and its unification with Russia. (see Photo 3)
According to Russian archives, the immigration of Armenians to Azerbaijan was followed by an ethnic cleansing of the local population, the majority of which were Azeri. The Russian diplomat and writer of that time, Griboedov, described this in his report: "the Armenians have for the most part been settled on the lands of Muslim landowners... The settlers... are forcing out the Muslims... We also discussed at some length the work of persuasion to be done with the Muslims in order to reconcile them to their present hardships, which would not continue for a long time, and to rid them of the fear that the Armenians would maintain permanent possession of the lands to which they had once been allowed to move" (see Griboyedov, A.S. Too Clever by Half. Letters and Notes. Baki, 1989, p. 387. )
The process of ethnical de-Azerization of historically Azerbaijani regions of Irevan and Karabakh, which began after the 1828 Russo-Persian treaty of Turkmanchay, was initiated by resettlement of ethnic Armenians from Persia to these provinces. By the time of signing the treaty the population of Karabakh was for 80% Azeri. Today as a result of the state-sponsored policy of ethnic cleansing conducted by Armenia, there is no single Azeri left there, and the Azerbaijani regions of Irevan and Karabakh are populated by the descendants of the first Armenian immigrants who falsely call themselves “autochthonic” and re-write history by forging well-documented facts and destroying historical monuments.
For more sources about the resettlement of Armenians to Karabakh, see here
Hilarious, Karabakh AND Irevan were Azerbaijani territories? Oh, so the Armenians the invaders, and they have a blood thirsty feud with the Azerbaijani for no reason? Ha, such a weak and silly claim. The Melikdoms of Karabakh extended to the early 15th century. Where was the presence of an Azerbaijan then? The Melikdoms were Armenian Feudal states who had control of land from Irevan to Karabakh. What about the Kingdom of Artsakh in 1000 C.E. You see, the land of Karabakh was always disputed between Armenians, Iranians and Russians. The oldest of which who claim the land are the Armenians, who controlled the land since the Urartu Kingdom, roughly 832 B.C.E. But today the Russians are to the North, the Armenians are where they always claimed to be, and to the right is Azerbaijan...Where did this come from? They don't even speak Persian, they are Turks... You see, they changed their identity from Iranians to Turk to gain leverage from the Ottomans, and after that, they joined their Turkish master to exterminate the Armenians out of their own lands. We are still here, and we will continue to fight and protect our families.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to congratulate Azerbaijan with the great victory over the bloodthirsty armenian establishment. Azerbaijan has been going for this day for almost 33 years starting with first ethnic cleansings of 1987 from Kafan in Armenian SSR. So first refugees fled Armenian SSR... As no response from Mikhail Gorbachev - Aleksandr Yakovlev was seen by the aggressors, they continued assaulting the Azeri population of Armenia, Mountainous (Nagorno) Karabakh, then regions outside Armenia and Karabakh. 1 million refugees that fled and survived were accommodated in refugee camps across Azerbaijan republic. Today we may start talking about returning at least 450 thousand of them after three decades of misery back to the ruins left by the barbarians, that they call HOME. Now the government of Azerbaijan is obliged to invest in revival of the destroyed infrastructure, rebuilding towns and villages. I'd like you all using Google Maps to find Agdam, a large city outside Mountainous Karabakh. How about Fizuli? Jebrail and the others? How about 300 villages? Do you see the ruins? The foe occupied vast areas, not living there, not cultivating the lands. Let the real landowners return and restore their homes and farms. First of all that's a very good news for the refugees that 26-33 years live in misery in the refugee camps far from their homes that are left in ruins. Second - as the refugees will return to their farms and facilities earn themselves for living and become taxpayers - that will relief the Azerbaijan state budget. Third - rebuilding the infrastructure, industry and towns will boost the economy and involvement of the foreign companies in these projects. Next - the tension between the nation caused by the occupation of 20% of the Azerbaijani territory by the aggressors stop/delay most of the regional projects and influence the international co-operation and trade. Also in Armenia. So this victory id win-win situation for all!
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