Hadrut is a town in the Khojavend Rayon of Azerbaijan. The town was liberated by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on October 9, 2020 during the fighting in Karabakh after 3 decade long illegal occupation.
The recent history of Karabakh.
Before the Russian Tsarist Empire occupied the Caucasus including the northern part of Azerbaijan, both upper and lower parts of Karabakh were parts of the Azerbaijani Turkic Karabakh Khanate where both the rulers and the majority of the population were Azerbaijani.
In 1828, the Russian Imperial army conquered the Karabakh Khanate along with other Azerbaijani khanates such as the Baku, Nakhichevan, Sheki, Irevan, Quba, Lenkoran, and other khanates. Russia signed the Treaty of Turkmenchay with the Qajars in Iran (the Qajars were an Azerbaijani dynasty as well) whereas all the Azerbaijani khanates to the north of the Arax River became part of the Russian Empire. In the treaty, there is no mention of the Armenians, let alone any Armenian administrative units in this part of the Caucasus.
Immediately after the treaty was signed, the Russian administration began settling Armenians from the Ottoman Empire and Iran on the Azerbaijani lands, primarily in Irevan, Nakhichevan, and Karabakh. For example, in 1828, the population of Irevan was 75% Azerbaijani, while after the Armenian immigration their numbers dropped to 50%. Overall, 900,000 Armenians were resettled in different parts of northern Azerbaijan (today's Azerbaijan Republic).
In 1836, at the behest of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Russian Tsar abolished the Church of Caucasian Albania (the pre-Islamic name of Azerbaijan) and transferred all its assets, including the churches in Karabakh and beyond to the Armenian church. Thus, began a massive armenianization of the area, including cultural cleansing of the Albanian legacy.
In 1918, after the Russian Revolution, the largest nations of the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia declared their independence. Armenia immediately presented its territorial claims to all its neighbors and began a war against the Ottoman Empire, Georgian and Azerbaijani republics. It was defeated on all three fronts.
In 1920, Soviet Russia occupied all three countries and incorporated them into the USSR.
In 1921, the Soviet authorities transferred Zangezour, the strip of land that separates the mainland Azerbaijan from Nakhichevan to Armenia, thus cutting Nakhichevan off. The same year, Armenia demanded that the upper part of Karabakh be given to Armenia as well. After the heated debates, the decision was made to leave Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. It is very important to note that the Armenian histories distort this fact by saying the Soviet authorities decided to give it to Azerbaijan. It is totally false as it was decided to leave NK as part of the Azerbaijan SSR.
In 1947, over 100,000 Azerbaijanis are resettled from Armenia to Azerbaijan to make room for thousands of Lebanese and Syrian Armenians immigrating to Armenia. There was no reciprocal resettlement of the Armenians from Azerbaijan.
In 1988, the authorities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan begin a movement to merge with Armenia. Both the Soviet authorities in Moscow and the Azerbaijani government reject this demand. The Armenians start an armed insurrection, killing Azerbaijani police and civilians in Karabakh while expelling the remaining 350,000 Azerbaijanis from Armenia.
In 1992-94, a full-fledged war Armenia waged against the Azerbaijani Republic ends in occupying not only Nagorno Karabakh but also 7 districts around Nagorno Karabakh that were populated only by the Azerbaijanis.
In 1992-95, the UN Security Council passes four resolutions demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from all the occupied lands of the Azerbaijan Republic. Armenia has refused to comply with any of these resolutions. As a result of the occupation, over 800,000 Azerbaijani civilians were expelled from their ancestral lands. The Armenian forces perpetrated not only full ethnic cleansing but also cultural cleansing by destroying or damaging Azerbaijani mosques, medieval shrines, cemeteries let alone civil infrastructure causing billions of dollars of damage. 30,000 people were killed. The Armenian armed forces have committed war crimes and atrocities against the Azerbaijani civilians in 1992-94, including the Massacre of Khojaly on February 26, 1992, condemned by the international community.
Despite the efforts of the mediators of the so-called Minsk Group, Armenia refused to leave the occupied lands and began resettling Armenians from other countries on the occupied Azerbaijani lands. Azerbaijani appeals to the international community to put an end to this 30-year-long occupation have fallen on deaf ears. This action is in full compliance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
30 сен 2024
