Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan KARABAKH PRESIDENTIA L LIBRARY is AZERBAİJAN!

BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan is one of the oldest human settlements in the world. The name Karabakh is derived from the words "black" and "garden". "Black" is used in the meaning "large", "dense". The word "Karabakh" was first used in sources in the 7th century. Karabakh, as a geographical area consists of a unified territory connecting the mountains and foothills. The term "Nagorno-Karabakh" is the name given to a part of Karabakh in the first quarter of the twentieth century with the intention of separatism. Karabakh region was a part of Caucasian Albania in the 4th century BC - the 8th century AD. Uti, sovdey, gargar, sak, massaget and other ethnic groups lived here. Karabakh region was settled by Oghuz and Kipchak tribes as well. In the early Middle Ages, the territory of Karabakh covered the provinces of Uti, Arsak, Paytakaran and Sisakan located between the Kura and Araz rivers. After the establishment of the Arab caliphate in the region in the 7th century, a large part of the Albanian population accepted Islam and a small part retained Christianity. Later, the Karabakh region was under the power of the Sajis, Seljuks, Eldenizs, Elkhanis, Teymuris, Garagoyunlus, Aghgoyunlus, Safavids, Nadirshahs, Gajars, ruled by the Turkish- Muslim dynasties. As can be seen, since the ancient times until the conquest by the Russian Empire in the early 19th century, this region was part of various Azerbaijani states. In 1747, the independent Karabakh khanate was founded by Panahali khan from Karabakh. The residence of the khanate was located in Shusha fortress. Soon the city of Shusha had become one of the cultural centers of Azerbaijan. Ibrahim khan, the ruler of Karabakh, concluded “a solemn promise” with Russia, a treaty which in fact became the first legal document on the path to joining Karabakh to Russia. The treaty between the Karabakh Khanate and the Russian Empire on the transition of the khanate under the power of Russia was signed in the military encampment at Kurakchay on 14 May 1805, so it went down in history as the “Kurakchay Treaty”. The document consists of 11 articles. There is not a word about Armenians in that document. According to the Gulustan Treaty signed between Russia and Iran on October 18, 1813, the khanates of Northern Azerbaijan, with the exception of the Nakhchivan and Iravan khanates, were transferred to Russia. According to the Turkmanchay (10.02.1828) Treaty which ended the second Russian-Persian war of 1826-1828, the Nakhchivan and Iravan khanates passed to Russia as well. After the signing of the Gulustan and Turkmenchay Treaties, Armenians were resettled en masse to Azerbaijani lands. In 1828-1830, 130,000 Armenians (40,000 from Iran and 90,000 from Turkey) were resettled in Azerbaijan. Some Armenians moved from Iran were resettled in Karabakh. According to the results of the census conducted in Karabakh in 1832, the number of Armenians reached 34.8 percent, and the number of the Turkish-Muslim population decreased to 64.8 percent.

After the subordination of the Karabakh diocese to the Catholicos of Echmiadzin by the decree of Tsar Nicholas I on April 18, 1836, a large part of the local Christian but non-Armenian population of Zangazur and Karabakh was gradually armenialized. Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan KARABAKH PRESIDENTIA L LIBRARY is AZERBAİJAN!

After the suppression of the Armenian uprisings in Turkey in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, about one million Armenians came to the South Caucasus. In 1905-1906, Armenian armed groups committed massacres and seized more than 200 Azerbaijani settlements. Armenians made their first claims to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1918 during the first independent Republic of Armenia (Ararat) in history, which itself was established on the territory of the historical land of Azerbaijan - the former Iravan Khanate. On May 28, 1919, the Armenian parliament adopted a resolution on "United Armenia", declaring Karabakh, Nakhchivan and Kars provinces as Armenian territories. During the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the Armenian army's attack on Karabakh was resolutely prevented, the Armenian uprisings in Nagorno-Karabakh at the instigation of the Dashnak government were suppressed, and Azerbaijan's sovereign rights were reestablished throughout Karabakh. In 1919, the Armenian National Assembly of Nagorno-Karabakh officially recognized the government of Azerbaijan. After the establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan in 1920, the Armenians, who had already occupied the Zangazur region, wanted to unite the Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia in 1921. On July 5, 1921, the plenum of the Caucasus Bureau of the Russian Communist Bolshevik Party discussed the issue and decided to keep Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. On July 7, 1923, by the decree of the Central Executive Committee of Azerbaijan, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAR) was established within Azerbaijan, and the Armenian claims were satisfied. Nagorno-Karabakh had all the basic elements of governance. In September 1923, the city of Khankendi was renamed Stepanakert in honor of the Bolshevik leader Stepan Shaumyan. The status of Nagorno-Karabakh as an autonomous region within the Azerbaijan SSR was enshrined in the USSR Constitutions of 1936 and 1977. According to the Constitution of the former USSR, the NKAR was represented by 5 deputies in the Council of Nations of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and 12 deputies in the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR. The Armenian language was used in the work of all government, administrative and law enforcement agencies. Local television and radio programs were broadcast, newspapers and magazines were published and schools were set up in Armenian language. The standard of living and the economy in Nagorno-Karabakh were growing faster than in other regions of Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, the Soviet Armenia did not give up its territorial claims against Nagorno- Karabakh and periodically incited the ethnic separatism. When pro-Armenian M. S. Gorbachov came to power in 1985, the Armenian separatists became active again. On February 20, 1988, an extraordinary session of the Council of People's Deputies of Nagorno-Karabakh with the participation of only Armenian deputies decided to separate Nagorno-Karabakh from the Azerbaijan SSR and unite it into the Armenian SSR. Instead of preventing Armenian separatism, Moscow instigated it. By creating a special form of administration in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, the enterprises and industrial facilities of the autonomous region were removed from the subordination of Azerbaijan. 60,000 out of 180,000 people in Nagorno-Karabakh were Azerbaijanis, and they were soon expelled from their homes by force of arms and intimidation. At that time, 15,000 Azerbaijanis lived in Khankendi (Stepanakert) and about 20,000 in Shusha. Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan KARABAKH PRESIDENTIA L LIBRARY is AZERBAİJAN!

On December 1, 1989, violating the Constitution of the USSR, the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR adopted a resolution "On Unification of the Armenian SSR and Nagorno- Karabakh". On September 2, 1991, the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" was proclaimed. On November 26, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted a law on the abolition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. After that, the Armenian armed forces began to seize the settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh and its environs, committing massacres against the Azerbaijani population. Since 1992, the geography of military operations carried out by Armenian armed forces in the territories of Azerbaijan has expanded and the regions of the republic have been occupied one after another. Armenians committed genocide in Khojaly in 1992. In May 1992, Shusha was occupied by the Armenian invaders. On May 17-18, the Lachin region, located between Armenia and the Nagorno- Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, was seized by enemy. A direct military-transit corridor has been established between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. A ceasefire agreement was achieved on May 12, 1994. Up to that time, as a result of the Armenian military aggression, 20 percent of the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan – city of Khankendi, Khojaly, Shusha, Lachin, Khojavand, Kalbajar, Agdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli, Zangilan regions, as well as 13 villages of Tartar region, 7 villages of Gazakh region and one village of Sadarak region of Nakhchivan was occupied by the Armenian army. As a result of the attacks of the Armenian armed forces, more than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and more than 50,000 were disabled. Up to one million Azerbaijanis have become refugees and internally displaced persons. In 1988-1993, a total of 900 residential settlements, 150,000 houses, 7,000 public buildings, 693 schools, 855 kindergartens, 695 medical institutions, 927 libraries, 44 temples, 9 mosques, 473 historical monuments, palaces and museums, 40,000 museum exhibits, 6,000 industrial and agricultural enterprises, 160 bridges and other infrastructure facilities were destroyed. UN Security Council Resolution 822 adopted on April 30, 1993 calling for the immediate withdrawal of Armenian troops from the Kalbajar region and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan; UN Security Council Resolution 853, calling for the immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from Agdam and all other occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and UN Security Council Resolution 874 adopted on October 14, 1993, calling for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from all recently occupied territories in accordance with the adjusted timetable of CSCE Minsk Group. UN Security Council Resolution 884, adopted on November11, 1993, condemned the occupation of Zangilan region and Horadiz district of Azerbaijan, attacks on civilians and bombardments of the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, demanded immediate withdrawal of occupying Armenian forces from all recently occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Over the past 26 years, along with the UN, other international organizations have also adopted resolutions on settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and in accordance with international law. However, due to the nonconstructive position of Armenia, no steps have been taken to resolve the Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan KARABAKH PRESIDENTIA L LIBRARY is AZERBAİJAN!

conflict. Armenia has always tried to maintain the status quo. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement “Karabakh is Armenia and the point” put an end to the negotiation process. The armed attack carried out by the Armenian armed forces in the direction of Tovuz region of Azerbaijan in July of this year was resolutely prevented by the Azerbaijani Army. Since then, Armenia concentrated its troops along the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and committed acts of sabotage. On September 27, 2020, the Azerbaijani army started to conduct defensive warfare along the entire front in order to prevent the enemy's attack and restore its territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. Because of the successful counter-offensive of the Azerbaijani Army from the occupation were liberated 5 cities, 4 villages and 286 villages. On November 10, the President of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Russia signed a trilateral statement on a complete ceasefire and all military operations in the conflict zone. In fact, it was an act of a surrender signed by Armenia. A few hours before the signing of the declaration were liberated - 71 villages, 1 settlement and 8 strategic heights. According to this trilateral statement, Aghdam region passed under the control of Azerbaijan on November 20, Kelbajar region on November 25, and Lachin region on December 1. Thus, the process of the peaceful return of the Aghdam, Kelbajar and Lachin regions has come to the end. The day of the liberation of the city of Shusha from the Armenian occupation forces - November 8 will be celebrated annually as a Victory Day. September 27 will be celebrated annually as a Remembrance Day as a sign of the deep respect for all the martyrs who heroically fought in the Great Patriotic War and gave their lives for the territorial integrity of our country.