Azat, Armenia

Azat (Armenian: Ազատ, also Romanized as Azad; Azerbaijani: Ağkilsə, Aghkilsa lit. 'White Church') is a small village in the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia. The village had an Azerbaijani-majority prior to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It also has a heavily ruined 11th century church and a pair of medieval khachkars.[1]

Azat

Ağkilsə
Ազատ
Azat
Coordinates: 40°10′40″N 45°52′18″E
CountryArmenia
Marz (Province)Gegharkunik
Elevation
2,054 m (6,739 ft)
Population
 (2001)
  Total165
Time zoneUTC+4 (GMT+4)

The village was also the birthplace of the celebrated Azerbaijani ashik Ashig Alasgar (Azerbaijani: Aşıq Ələsgər) (1821-1926).[2] All of the ethnic Azerbaijani inhabitants of Azat fled to Azerbaijan in 1988-89 during the course of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Demographics

According to the "Caucasian calendar" of 1912, the village had 180 inhabitants, with most of them being ethnic Azerbaijanis.[3]

References

  1. Kiesling, Brady; Kojian, Raffi (2005). Rediscovering Armenia: Guide (2nd ed.). Yerevan: Matit Graphic Design Studio. pp. 82–83. ISBN 99941-0-121-8.
  2. Who is who (in Azerbaijani)
  3. "Caucasian Calendar. Tiflis 1912" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 October 2016.


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