Azykh

Azykh (Azerbaijani: Azıx) or Azokh (Armenian: Ազոխ)[3] is a village in the Khojavend District of Azerbaijan, in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The village is situated on the small river Ishkhanchay (Azerbaijani: İşxançay) or Ishkhanaget (Armenian: Իշխանագետ), near the Azykh Cave.

"Azokh" redirects here. For the cave in Azykh, see Azykh Cave.
Azykh / Azokh
Azıx / Ազոխ
A view of the village
Azykh / Azokh
Azykh / Azokh
Coordinates: 39°37′14″N 46°58′42″E
Country Azerbaijan
 Republic of Artsakh (claimed)[1]
DistrictKhojavend
Elevation
686 m (2,251 ft)
Population
 (2015)[2]
 • Total741
Time zoneUTC+4 (AZT)

From 1992 to 2020 the village was de facto in the Hadrut Province of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh. The village had an ethnic Armenian-majority population prior to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, and also had an Armenian majority in 1989.[4]

Etymology
Entrance to the Azykh Cave

According to "Encyclopedic Dictionary of Azerbaijani Toponyms", the name Azykh originates from Old Turkic, meaning "bear den".[5]

According to "Historical-Architectural Monuments of Nagorno-Karabakh", the name Azokh comes from the Armenian word, azokh, meaning "unripe grapes".[6]

History

The Azykh Cave, located near the village of Azykh, is actually a six-cave complex, known as a habitation site of prehistoric humans.[7] The ancient layers of the Middle Paleolithic have yielded Neanderthal fossil remains that may date from around 300,000 years ago.[8]

During the Soviet period, the village was a part of the Hadrut District of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. In 1993, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the village came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces.

On 9 November 2020, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev announced that the village was under Azerbaijani control.[9] Subsequently, The Guardian and Der Spiegel reported that Azerbaijani forces had committed a war crime by decapitating Yuri Asryan, an 82-year-old Armenian man who did not leave the village on 20 October despite the advance of Azerbaijani forces.[10][11]

Historical heritage sites

Azykh contains a number of historical heritage sites, two of which are registered by the Republic of Artsakh as immovable cultural heritage sites.[12] The registered sites are the Azykh Cave, dating back to the Stone Age, located 700 m to the southeast, as well as the 13th-century Tsiltakhach bridge, located 1 km to the southeast.[13][14][15] In addition, the village contains the 17th-century St. Astvatsatsin Church - a 14 m long and 8 m wide stone building built on two arches,[13][14] and a historical cemetery dating from between the 10th and 19th centuries.[13] Amarkhatun Monastery, Tsitskar Fortress, and Melik Sagam's battlement are also located near the village.[14]

References
  1. "Արցախի տարածքները համարվում են օկուպացված Ադրբեջանի կողմից. ԱՀ ԱԺ հայտարարությունը" [The territories of the Artsakh Republic, which are under the control of Azerbaijan so far, are considered to be occupied by the Republic of Azerbaijan]. armenpress.am (in Armenian). 1 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  2. Hakob Ghahramanyan. "Directory of socio-economic characteristics of NKR administrative-territorial units (2015)".
  3. "Azix, Azerbaijan". Falling Rain.
  4. Андрей Зубов. "Андрей Зубов. Карабах: Мир и Война". drugoivzgliad.com.
  5. "Azərbaycan toponimlərinin ensiklopedik lüğəti" ("Энциклопедический словарь азербайджанских топонимов" в 2-х томах). — 2007. — Баку: "Şərq-Qərb" ("Восток-Запад"), 2007. — С. Том 1.
  6. Mkrtchyan, Shahen (1980). Historical-Architectural Monuments of Nagorno-Karabakh (PDF). Yerevan,Armenia. p. 91.
  7. Stepʻan Tigrani, Melikʻ-Bakhshyan (1979). Hayotsʻ patmutʻyan aghbyuragitutʻyun (hnaguyn zhamanakneritsʻ minchʻev XVIII dari verjě). Yerevan: University of Michigan; Yerevan University Publishing House. p. 323.
  8. Fernández-Jalvo, Y; King, T; Yepiskoposyan, L; Andrews, P (2016), "Introduction: Azokh Cave and the Transcaucasian Corridor", Azokh Cave and the Transcaucasian Corridor, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–26, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-24924-7_1, ISBN 978-3-319-24922-3, retrieved 2021-05-16
  9. "Daha 23 kənd işğaldan azad edildi". report.az (in Azerbaijani). 9 November 2020.
  10. Two men beheaded in videos from Nagorno-Karabakh war identified. The Guardian. 15 December 2020
  11. Zwei Zivilisten in Bergkarabach enthauptet – mutmaßlich durch aserbaidschanische Soldaten. DER SPIEGEL. 15 December 2020
  12. List of immovable cultural monuments of the history of the Artsakh Republic, published by the Department of Tourism, Historical Environment Protection under the Government of the Artsakh Republic.
  13. "Տեղեկատու ԼՂՀ վարչատարածքային միավորների սոցիալ-տնտեսական բնութագրերի". Արցախի Էլեկտրոնային Գրադարան (in Armenian). Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  14. Այվազյան, Հովհաննես Մնացականի; Բալայան, Զորի Հայկի (2004). Ղարաբաղյան ազատագրական պատերազմ 1988-1994: Հանրագիտարան 1 հատորով (in Armenian). Հայկական հանրագիտարան հրատարակչություն. ISBN 978-5-89700-023-4.
  15. "ԱՀ Ազգային ժողով | Պաշտոնական կայք | nankr.am". www.nankr.am. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
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