Armenians in Azerbaijan are the Armenians who lived in Azerbaijan and had to flee the republic during the 1988-1994 Armenian-Azeri conflict. Pogroms directed against the Armenian population have taken place in Sumgait (February 1988), Ganja (Kirovabad, November 1988) and Baku (January 1990).

According to the statistics, about 400,000 Armenians lived in Azerbaijan in 1989[1][2], great majority of them fled the country.

In Azerbaijan, the status of Armenians, is shaky at best. Those married to or even are perceived to be sympathetic to Armenians, is considered as extremely grave[3].

Armenian churches remain closed, because of the large outmigration of Armenians and fear of Azeri attacks[4]. The Armenian church in Baku was burned down in 1990.

Armenians still remaining in Azerbaijan have continued to complain that they remain subject to harassmant and human rights violations.[5].

Armenians in Baku and other areas in the Azerbaijani Republic

Nationalism and anti-Armenian feelings is considered as the leading force in Baku and has undoubtedly contributed to the conflict with the Armenians in the post-Armenian Genocide period[6]. The Anti-Armenian feelings were further aroused because of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting in the exodus of most Armenians from Baku and elsewhere.

Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territories

Main article: Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Map of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

In April 1992, Azerbaidjani and Soviet military forces jointly started "a campaign of violence to disperse Armenian villagers from areas north and south of Nagorno-Karabakh, a territorial enclave in Azerbaidzhan where Armenian communities have lived for centuries"[7]. The official pretext was to examine passports and find the members of Armenian paramilitary groups. "However, the unstated goal was to "convince" the villagers half are pensioners to relocate permanently in Armenia."[8] This military action was officially called "Operation Ring," because its basic strategy consists of surrounding villages (included Martunashen and Getashen) with tanks and armored personnel carriers and shelling them. Azerbaijani villagers were allowed to come and loot the empty Armenian villages, while more than ten thousand Armenian villagers have been forced to leave Azerbaijan, some of them were jailed. "Forty people have died, more than half Armenian civilians. Helsinki Watch has documented several instances of brutality, including rape, by the armed forces (especially Azerbaidzhani OMON troops) while Soviet army units stood by passively".[9]

Armenians in Nakhchivan

The Armenians had a long term presence in Nakhcivan for hundreds of years. The Armenian population saw a great reduction in number throughout the years. With the establishment of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and the inclusion of Nakhchivan in the new republic set the final blow to the Armenian presence in Nakhcivan. But huge Armenian religious and cultural remnants are witness of the historic presence of Armenians in the Nakhcivan region.

According to the IWPR report, the Medieval Armenian cemetery of Jugha in Nakhijevan, regarded by Armenians as the biggest and most precious repository of medieval headstones marked with Christian crosses – khachkars (of which more than 2,000 were still there in the late 1980's), has completely vanished in 2006. The European Parliament have taken an interest in the fate of the cemetery and passed a resolution in February 2006, condemning the destruction of the cemetery, but its delegation has not been allowed to visit the site itself.[10]

Famous Armenians

References

  1. ^ Memorandum from the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights to John D. Evans, Resource Information Center, 13 June 1993.
  2. ^ "Implementation of the Helsinki Accords: Human Rights and Democratization in the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union" (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, January 1993), p. 118.
  3. ^ Azerbaijan: The status of Armenians, Russians, Jews and other minorities, report, 1993, INS Resource Information Center, p. 10
  4. ^ United States Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1992 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, February 1993), p. 708
  5. ^ "Implementation of the Helsinki Accords: Human Rights and Democratization in the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union" (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, January 1993), p. 118
  6. ^ Assessment for Armenians in Azerbaijan, Minorities At Risk Project
  7. ^ http://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/HSW-05.htm HRW Report on Soviet Union Human Rights Developments, 1992
  8. ^ http://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/HSW-05.htm HRW Report on Soviet Union Human Rights Developments, 1992
  9. ^ http://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/HSW-05.htm HRW Report on Soviet Union Human Rights Developments, 1992
  10. ^ Azerbaijan: Famous Medieval Cemetery Vanishes, Institute for War & Peace Reporting, 2006
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