Khojaly (city)

Coordinates: 39°54′40″N 46°47′21″E / 39.91111°N 46.78917°E

Khojali
Ivanyan
Khojali
Coordinates: 39°54′40″N 46°47′21″E / 39.91111°N 46.78917°E
Country  Azerbaijan (de jure)
 Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (de facto)
Rayon
Province		 Khojali
Askeran
Population (2005)
 • Total 908
Time zone UTC (UTC+4)

Khojali (Azerbaijani: Xocalı) or Ivanyan (also Ivanian Armenian: Իվանյան), also, Ay-Khodzhaly, Khodgalou, Khodzhalv, Khodzhaly, Khojalu, and Khozhali, is a town in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, located some 10 km northeast of its capital Stepanakert. Internationally, it is still considered a de jure part of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan counts it as the capital of its Khojali Rayon.

History

During the Soviet period, Khojali was a village in the Askeran rayon of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. As the Karabakh conflict started, the Azerbaijani government began to implement a plan to create a new district center. From 1988 to 1990 the population of Khojali increased from 2135 to 6000 residents, mostly consisting of immigrants from Soviet Central Asia (including more than 2000 Meskhetian Turks) and Armenia (about 2000). In April 1990 Azerbaijan abolished the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and its internal divisions. Khojali was given city status and became the regional center for the newly created Khojali Rayon composed of the former Askeran rayon and part of Martuni.[1][2]

Khojaly was captured by ethnic Armenian forces on 26 February 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. The name became internationally notable after the Khojaly Massacre of February 1992.

In 2001 the settlement was renamed Ivanyan, after the late general of the Karabakh Defense Army, Kristapor Ivanyan.[3]

Sister cities (refuted)

In February 2010, media reported a claim by the Azeri-Czech Society that representatives of the Azeri administration of Khojaly in exile and the Czech town of Lidice were to sign an agreement making Khojaly and Lidice sister cities and that a street in Lidice was to be named "Khojali".[4][5][6] In March 2012, reports quoted the Mayor of Lidice, Veronika Kellerova, as officially stating that Lidice and Khojali had never been sister cities. She further repudiated reports that there exists a street named 'Khojaly' in Lidice.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Доклад общества «Мемориал» (Memorial). Независимая газета, 18 June 1992
  2. ↑ Карабахские депутаты: Ходжалу стал жертвой политических интриг и борьбы за власть в Азербайджане. ИА REGNUM, 25 February 2008
  3. ↑ Hrant Aleksanian: Karabakh Marks Ten Years Of ‘Independence’. azatutyun.am, 01.09.2001
  4. ↑ "Khojali to be twinned with Czech Lidice". Trend News Agency. 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  5. ↑ "A street in Lidice, Czechia to be named after Khojaly". Azerbaijan Press Agency. 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  6. ↑ Asya Chekanova (2010-03-09). "Лидице стали побратимами Ходжалы. Армения против" [Lidice twinned with Khojaly. Armenia is against]. Český Rozhlas. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  7. ↑ "Mayor Veronika Kellerova: Lidice, Khojaly not sister cities, no street named Khojaly in Lidice". Panorama.am. Retrieved 2 March 2012.

External links