Stepanakert

Stepanakert
Ստեփանակերտ
Khankendi
(Xankəndi)
—  City  —
A skyline view of Stepanakert.
Stepanakert is located in Azerbaijan
Stepanakert
Location of Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Coordinates:
Unrecognized country Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Province Stepanakert (City)
Government
 - Mayor Eduard Aghabekian
Elevation 813 m (2,670 ft)
Population (2010)[1]
 - Total 53,000

Stepanakert (Armenian: Ստեփանակերտ), called Khankendi (Azerbaijani: Xankəndi) by Azerbaijan, is the largest city and capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a de facto independent republic, though is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan.[2] The city population comprises about 53,000 ethnic Armenians.

Contents

History

Founding and Soviet era

Soviet-era apartment buildings in Stepanakert seen from the Nairi Hotel.

According to medieval Armenian sources, the settlement was first mentioned as Vararakn (Վարարակն, meaning "rapid spring" in Armenian) which it remained until it was renamed Khankendi in 1847.[3] Azerbaijani sources generally say that the settlement was founded in the late 18th century by a Karabakh khan, and was thus called Khankendi (Turkic for "the khan's village").

In 1923 Khankendi was renamed Stepanakert by the Soviet government to honor Stepan Shahumyan, leader of the 26 Baku Commissars, and, after the Shusha pogrom had resulted in major destruction at Shushi, the former regional capital, Stepanakert was made the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. During the Soviet era Stepanakert grew to become the region's most important city.

In 1926, Soviet authorities adopted a new city layout designed by the prominent Armenian architect, Alexander Tamanian; two additional designs for expansion were approved later on in the 1930s and 1960s, both of which retained Tamanian's initial plan.[3] Stepanakert served as the region's main economic hub, and by the mid-1980s there were nineteen production facilities in the city.[3]

Independence

Armenian children standing next to the rubble of a building in Stepanakert after a shelling barrage.

The political and economic reforms that General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev had initiated in 1985 saw a marked decentralization of Soviet authority. Armenians, in both Armenia proper and Nagorno-Karabakh, viewed Gorbachev's reform program as an opportunity to unite the two together. On February 20, 1988, tens of thousands of Armenians gathered to demonstrate in Stepanakert's Lenin (now Renaissance) Square to demand that the region be joined to Armenia. On the same day, the Supreme Soviet of Nagorno-Karabakh voted to join the Armenian SSR, a move staunchly opposed by the Soviet Azerbaijani authorities.[4] Relations between Stepankert's Armenians and Azerbaijanis, who supported the Azerbaijani government's position, deteriorated in the succeeding years and as a result, nearly all of the Azerbaijanis fled the city.

After Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Stepanakert was renamed by the Azerbaijani government back to Khankendi as part of a campaign against Communism and of Azerification. Fighting broke out over control of Nagorno-Karabakh which eventually resulted in Armenian control of the region and a connecting corridor to Armenia to the west. Prior to the conflict, Stepanakert was the largest city of the (NKAO), with a population of 70,000 out of a total 189,000 (Armenians at the time comprised 75% of the region's total population).[5] By early 1992, that figure had dropped to 50,000.[6]

During the war, the city suffered immense damage from Azeri bombardment, especially in early 1992 when the Azeris used the town of Shusha as an artillery firebase to fire GRAD missiles against it. So destructive was the damage caused by the incessant bombardment, that an April 1992 report by TIME Magazine noted that "scarcely a single building [had] escaped damage in Stepanakert."[6] The Azerbaijani military staged several ground attacks against the city; however, they were repulsed each time. It was not until May 9, 1992, with the capture of Shusha, that the ground bombardment ceased. The city, nevertheless, continued to suffer aerial bombardment for the remainder of the war.

There has been an unofficial cease-fire observed since 1994.

Economy

Prior to the war, Stepanakert's economy revolved mostly around food processing, silk weaving, and winemaking.[3] The city's economy was greatly damaged during the war, but in recent years, largely due to the investments of the Armenian diaspora, economic activity, and thus tourism in the NKR, has picked up in Stepanakert. Several hotels have been opened up by diasporan Armenians, including the Nairi Hotel, which was opened by Jack Abolakian, an Armenian Australian, in 2000.[7]

Buildings and structures

Stepanakert is the home of the Artsakh State Museum.

Religious

During the Soviet era, there were no traditional churches in Stepanakert, although most of the population of the city were Christians. The believers attended the church that is in the building of the House of Culture. There is also one ancient church in the city that was built in the 18th century, but it is not operating. On September 15, 2006 the foundation stones of St. James Church in Stepanakert were laid. The church's benefactor, Vache Yepremian, from Los Angeles sponsored the construction of the church and on May 9, 2007, the church of St. James was consecrated in honor of the 15th anniversary of the capture of Shushi.[8]

Education

A secondary school in Stepanakert

There exist five schools for higher educational learning in Stepanakert: Artsakh State University and four private universities. Artsakh State was originally established in 1969 as a branch of the Baku Pedagogical Institute. In 1973, it was renamed Stepanakert Pedagogical Institute and following the end of the war, in 1995, it received its current name. The university offers courses spread across seven departments and has an attendance level of 4,500.[9]

Climate

The temperature in Stepanakert typically varies depending on season. In the month of January, the average temperature drops to 0.5 °C. In August, it averages around 22.6 °C. The level of the city's annual precipitation is relatively low, amounting to about 560mm.[3]

Ethnic groups

According to national composition, Armenians form 99.6% of Stepanakert's population (49,840), whereas other ethnic groups comprise the remaining 0.4% (160).

Sister cities

On September 25, 2005, the city of Montebello, California, inaugurated Stepanakert as a sister city. This prompted a complaint by the ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States, Hafiz Pashayev, who sent a letter to California leaders, stating that the decision jeopardized peace talks between his country and Armenia.[10] The letter was sent to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who deferred the letter to Montebello mayor Bill Molinari since it concerned a local, not a state, issue. Molinari responded to Pashayev that the city would go ahead with its plans to inaugurate Stepanakert under the sister city program.[10]

Stepanakert's relationship with Montebello is concentrated in revitalizing the capital's economic infrastructure and to build cultural and educational ties as well as enhance trade and health care between the two cities. Azerbaijan has charged this as a contradictory foreign policy of the United States in supporting the NKR government and Armenian "aggression" against Azerbaijan.[11]

Notable individuals

Gallery

The main route from Goris to Stepanakert.

Cloudy Stepanakert

The central office of Artsakh Bank, which was opened in 2004 in Stepanakert.

Peace Mural in Stepanakert.

We Are Our Mountains, on the outskirts of Stepanakert, is widely recognized as the symbol of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The city's main boulevard.

The city's new stadium.

The city's parliament.

References

  1. ↑ Results of 2005 census of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
  2. ↑ Regions and territories: Nagorno-Karabakh. BBC News. May 13, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 (Armenian) Mkrtchyan, Shahen. «Ստեփանակերտ» (Stepanakert). Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. vol. xi. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1985, pp. 124-125.
  4. ↑ Kaufman, Stuart (2001). Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War. New York: Cornell Studies in Security Affairs. p. 61. ISBN 0-8014-8736-6. 
  5. ↑ Lobell, Steven E.; Philip Mauceri (2004). Ethnic Conflict and International Politics: Explaining Diffusion and Escalation. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. p. 58. ISBN 1-4039-6356-8. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Carney, James. "Former Soviet Union: Carnage in Karabakh." TIME Magazine. April 13, 1992. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
  7. ↑ Hayrumyan, Naira. "Recovery and Concern: Regional Unrest Reminds of NKR's Years of Progress While Raising Anxiety." AGBU Magazine. Vol. 18, № 2, November 2008, pp. 34-37.
  8. ↑ Grigorian, Laura. "ST JAMES CHURCH WAS OPENED IN STEPANAKERT." Armtown. May 10, 2007.
  9. ↑ (Armenian) Anon. "ԱՐՑԱԽԻ ՊԵՏԱԿԱՆ ՀԱՄԱԼՍԱՐԱՆ (Artsakh State University)." Armtown. August 26, 2006. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Wright, Pam. "Montebello's newest Sister City program has come under fire from an ambassador for the Republic of Azerbaijan." Whittier Daily News. November 19, 2005. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
  11. ↑ Wire report to the BBC News. "Azeri pressure group appeals to US envoy over twinning reports." BBC News in BBC Monitoring Central Asia. November 24, 2005. Retrieved August 2, 2007.

External links