Goranboy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Goranboy is a rayon of Azerbaijan. A very small strip in the south of the rayon is occupied by Armenian forces. The southern half is claimed by the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as the district of Shahumian. In antiquity the territory was a part of Artsakh, province in the Armenian kingdom; in the Middle Ages part of the Armenian principality of Khachen; in the 17-18th centuries the territory formed part of Armenian melikdom Giulistan, with its capital in the fortress of that name. The Melik-Abovian dynasty then ruled (Raffi. Melikdoms of Khamsa.). During Soviet times in the Shahumian rayon (district); there lived almost exclusively Armenians; however was not in structure of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomic Region. In the spring-summer 1991 Soviet Army under Gorbachev's order surrounded some of the Armenian villages (from them the largest - Getashen and Martunashen) and violently deported their inhabitants to Armenia (Operation Ring)[1]. In December 1991 Shaumian rayon been declared in structure of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic; in the summer 1992, during approach of Azerbaijan army, this region experienced extremely heavy damage, and all the Armenian population of the region is gone.