Maragha, Azerbaijan

Maragha (Armenian: Մարաղա; Azerbaijani: Marağa, also Maraga) or Shikharkh (Azerbaijani: Şıxarx), formerly known as Leninavan (between 1954–1992), is a town in the Tartar District of Azerbaijan, in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The town had an ethnic Armenian-majority population in 1989, which had the status of a village at the time.[1] The town was the site of a large massacre of ethnic Armenians by Azerbaijani forces during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Maragha / Shikharkh
Մարաղա / Şıxarx
Maragha / Shikharkh is located in Azerbaijan
Maragha / Shikharkh
Maragha / Shikharkh
Maragha / Shikharkh is located in Republic of Artsakh
Maragha / Shikharkh
Maragha / Shikharkh
Coordinates: 40°19′48″N 46°52′48″E
Country Azerbaijan
DistrictTartar
Elevation
15 m (49 ft)
Time zoneUTC+4 (AZT)

History

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

First Nagorno-Karabakh War
Main article: Maraga massacre

On 10 April 1992, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the village, known as Leninavan by then, was the scene of a massacre of ethnic Armenians by Azerbaijani forces,[2] which has been described as an act of revenge after the Khojaly Massacre.[3]

Population
Year Armenians Azerbaijanis Russians Ukrainians Total
1970[4] 3,712 95.1% 109 2.8% 64 1.6% 7 0.2% 3,905
1979[5] 3,740 93.5% 172 4.3% 67 1.7% 7 0.2% 3,998
April 1992: Seizure by Azerbaijan. Massacre and Expulsion of Armenian population.

References
  1. Андрей Зубов. "Андрей Зубов. Карабах: Мир и Война". drugoivzgliad.com.
  2. De Waal, Thomas. Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. New York: New York University Press, 2003, p. 176.
  3. Melkonian, Markar (2005). My Brother's Road: An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia. I.B.Tauris. pp. 213–214. ISBN 1-85043-635-5. Khojalu had been a strategic goal, but it had also been an act of revenge. Monte knew that enemy fighters would retaliate in kind, and sure enough, when Azeri forces overran the Armenian village of Maragha the next month, they slashed and burned Armenian captives.
  4. "Result of the Soviet census of 1970 of the Martakert district". www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  5. "Result of the Soviet census of 1979 of the Martakert district". www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
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