Arakül

Arakül (also Aragül) or Arakel (Armenian: Առաքել) is a village in the Khojavend District of Azerbaijan, in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The village had an ethnic Armenian-majority population prior to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, and also had an Armenian majority in 1989.[3]

Arakul / Arakel
Arakül / Առաքել
St. Mariam Astvatsatsin Church in the village
Arakul / Arakel
Arakul / Arakel
Coordinates: 39°26′16″N 46°59′51″E
Country Azerbaijan
 Republic of Artsakh (claimed)[1]
DistrictKhojavend
Population
 (2015)[2]
 • Total134
Time zoneUTC+4 (AZT)

Etymology
Village gate

According to local tradition, Arakel is named so because Thaddeus, the patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church, stayed here whilst preaching to the Armenians.

History

During the Soviet period, the village was a part of the Hadrut District of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.

The village was controlled by Armenian forces during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1993 and was administrated as part of the Hadrut Province of the de facto independent Republic of Artsakh. The village was captured by Azerbaijan in 9 November 2020 during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.[4]

In January 2021, according to the Public Radio of Armenia, Azerbaijani soldiers destroyed an Armenian cross-stone (khachkar) monument in the village, as shown in the footage posted by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.[5]

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. Андрей Зубов. "Андрей Зубов. Карабах: Мир и Война". drugoivzgliad.com.
  4. "Ильхам Алиев объявил об освобождении сел между Шушой и Ханкенди - Обновлено".
  5. Ghazanchyan, Siranush (12 January 2021). "Azerbaijanis destroy Armenian cross-stone in occupied Artsakh village". Public Radio of Armenia.
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