Qazax
Qazax (
(listen), transliterated as Gazakh, Kazakh or Qazakh) is a city in and the capital of the Qazakh District of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 20,900.[2]
Qazax
Qazax | |
|---|---|
City & Municipality | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Qazax | |
| Coordinates: 41°05′36″N 45°21′58″E | |
| Country |  Azerbaijan |
| District | Qazax |
| Established | 1909 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 10 km2 (4 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 381 m (1,250 ft) |
| Population (2014)[1] | |
| • Total | 35,102 |
| • Density | 3,500/km2 (9,100/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+4 (AZT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+5 (AZT) |
| Area code(s) | +994 2229 |
History
In antiquity, Qazakh District was part of the province of Utik, a part of the Kingdom of Armenia until 387 AD. Greco-Roman historians from the 2nd century BC to the 4th century AD state that Utik was a province of Armenia, with the Kura River separating Armenia and Albania.[3][4][5]
In the 17-18th century, Qazax was the capital of the Kazakh sultanate. During the Russian Empire, the city was the administrative center of the Gazakh uezd of the Elisabethpol Governorate. It is situated 10 km from the Ağstafa station of the Transcaucasus Railway. At the cusp of the Armenian Genocide during the years 1905–1906, many Armenian homes were burned and looted as well as the Armenian school and church. Many Armenian inhabitants as a result fled to Tbilisi and other Armenian populated areas.[6]
In 1930, Qazakh became the administrative center of the Qazax Rayon of Soviet Azerbaijan as the region was awarded to Soviet Azerbaijan by the early Bolsheviks. Khazakh was passed to Azerbaijan SSR without much noise or resistance while it is hard to overestimate its strategic importance for the modern day Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey regional communication and energy projects.
During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenian troops took control of several villages of the Qazakh district. Though some of the Azeri inhabitants were able to flee, many of them were killed. In Baganis Ayrim village of Qazakh District, 4 members of Dadash Asliyev's family and 3 villagers were burnt alive by Armenian troops, similar to the events of the Khojaly massacre.[7]
In July 2020, Qazax became a site for clashes with Armenia.[8]
Economy
The economy of Qazax is partially agricultural, partially tourism-based, with some industries in operation.
Culture
Memorial Museum of Molla Panah Vagif and Molla Vali Vidadi is in the city.
Sports
The city has one professional football team, Göyazan Qazakh, currently competing in the second-flight of Azerbaijani football, the Azerbaijan First Division.
Transport
Public transport
Qazakh has a large urban transport system, mostly managed by the Ministry of Transportation.
Notable residents
Some of the city's many prestigious residents include: poets Samad Vurgun, Molla Panah Vagif, Mirvarid Dilbazi and Nusrat Kasamanli, scholar Molla Vali Vidadi, lieutenant-general of the Russian imperial army Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, writer Ismayil Shykhly and wrestler Hasan Aliyev.
Samad Vurgun, one of prominent poets in Azerbaijani literature.
Mirvarid Dilbazi, poet.
Farrukh Gayibov, considered to be the first Azerbaijani pilot.
Samad aga Agamalioglu, was a statesman and socialist revolutionary.[9]
References
- The state statistical committee of the Azerbaijan Republic Archived November 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- Strabo, Geography, 11.14.4, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0198&loc=11.14.1 Archived 2012-12-12 at Archive.today
- Pliny the Elder, "The Natural history ", 6.39: "..the tribe of Albanians settled on the Caucasian mountains, reaches ... the river Kir making border of Armenia and Iberia"
- Claudius Ptolemy, "Geography" 5.12: "Armenia is located from the north to a part of Colchida, Iberia and Albania along the line, which goes through the river Kir (Kura)"
- Ա-Դօ, Հայ-թուրքական ընդհարումները Կովկասում (1905-1906 թ.), Երևան, 1907, էջ 360
- "Ermənistan-Azərbaycan, Dağlıq Qarabağ münaqişəsi nəticəsində Qazax rayonunda hərbi təcavüzün nəticələri barədə MƏLUMAT". www.qazax-ih.gov.az. KAZAKH DISTRICT EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
Xocalı soyqırımında olduğu kimi Qazax rayonunun Bağanıs Ayrım kəndində Dədəş Əsliyevin 4 nəfərdən ibarət ailə üzvü və 3 nəfər kənd sakini ermənilər tərəfindən diri-diri yandırılmışdır.
- Harutyunyan, Sargis; Danielyan, Emil. "Armenia-Azerbaijan Border 'Calm' After Deadly Clashes". azatutyun.am. RFE/RL. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
...the border between Armenia’s northern Tavush province and the Tovuz district in Azerbaijan, the scene of the clashes.
- "Brian C. Collins, Historical dictionary of Azerbaijan, USA, Scarecrow Press, 1999". Archived from the original on 2017-04-06. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
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