Professor: Azerbaijanis live on modern-day Armenia’s territory since ancient times

Head of the scientific and organisational department of the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, Doctor of Philology, Professor Ibrahim Bayramov has written that 499 Azerbaijani settlements were liquidated, 704 settlements were renamed, 231 oronyms (names of mountains), 116 hydronyms (names of lakes, rivers, canals, etc.) were changed, 137 pastures and villages were renamed by Armenians in Western Azerbaijan or the territory of modern-day Armenia.

He noted that modern-day Armenia not only is the historical land of Azerbaijan, but also the historical ethnic land of the Azerbaijani Turks, Azertag reports, citing the professor’s article entitled “To return to Western Azerbaijan and live there is the right of our compatriots”.

“The Armenians massively moved to this territory after the signing of the Turkmenchay Treaty in 1828 and began to oust the native inhabitants, the Azerbaijani Turks, and deport them from their historical homeland through the Russians’ support,” Bayramov noted.

“Azerbaijanis lived on the territory of present-day Armenia from ancient times until the late 1980s - early 1990s. This land is the homeland of the Azerbaijani Turks. Periodically, they were subjected to Armenian aggression and deportation. Moreover, Azerbaijanis were deported from the territory of present-day Armenia four times - in 1905-1906, 1918-1920, 1948-1953, 1988-1991,” he said.

“Armenians and their ideologists, as well as their patrons from near and far abroad, fighting for "Armenia without Turks", completed the ethnic cleansing operation on August 8, 1991. On that day, one of the biggest villages in the Meghri region - Nuvadi village was subjected to genocide, the indigenous inhabitants of the village, the Azerbaijanis, were deported from their historical and ethnic lands. Thus, there is not a single Azerbaijani in Western Azerbaijan, which is now called "Armenia",” the professor added.

Bayramov said 7,331 Azerbaijanis and 2,369 Armenians were living in Irevan (modern-day Yerevan) in 1828, while 5,413 Azerbaijanis and 603 Armenians in Zangibasar, 4,176 Azerbaijanis and 145 Armenians in Garni-Basar, 3,449 Azerbaijanis and 15 Armenians in Vedibasar, 1,004 Azerbaijanis in Saatli, 1,754 Azerbaijanis and 28 Armenians in Seyidli and Ahsahli, 1,837 Azerbaijanis and 3,214 Armenians in Sardarabad, 1,300 Azerbaijanis and 552 Armenians in Derechichek, 5,607 Azerbaijanis and 90 Armenians in Goyche, and 4,583 Azerbaijanis and 288 Armenians in Dereleyaz of the Nakhchivan Khanate.

He noted that 3,691 Azerbaijanis were deported from the Abaran region in 1919-1920, 1,666 from the Allahverdi region (present-day Tumanyan), 8,053 Azerbaijanis from the Akhta region (present-day Hrazdan), 13,645 Azerbaijanis from Aghbaba (present-day Amasia, Akhuryan and Gukasyan regions, 11,313 Azerbaijanis from Ashtarak region, 26,238 Azerbaijanis from Basarkechar region (present-day Vardenis), 1,429 Azerbaijanis from Gorus region, 512 Azerbaijanis from Krasnoselsk region, 7,688 Azerbaijanis from Talin region, 3,410 Azerbaijanis from  Leninakan region (present-day Spitak and Gugark), 9,436 Azerbaijanis from  Abovyan, 24,149 Azerbaijanis from  Gamarli (present-day Artashat), 12,657 Azerbaijanis from Gafan, 8,490 Azerbaijanis from Gurdugulu, 3,190 Azerbaijanis from Garanlig (present-day Martuni), 8,508 Azerbaijanis from Meghri region, 4,077 Azerbaijanis from Yeni Bayazid (present-day Kamo), 17,880 Azerbaijanis from Sisian region, 1,868 Azerbaijanis from Stepanavan (present-day Jalaloglu), 27,750 Azerbaijanis from Vagharshapat (present-day Etchmiadzin), 8,933 Azerbaijanis from Vedi (present-day Ararat),  14,837 Azerbaijanis from Keshishkend (present-day Yeghegnadzor), and 8,933 Azerbaijanis from Pashali present-day Vayk). 

The professor said that the Armenians began to massively settle in Irevan in 1828-1830 from Iran and Türkiye.  Armenian chronologist Z.Gorgodyan writes that 9,889 Azerbaijanis and 2,174 Armenians lived in Irevan in 1829, 7,331 Azerbaijanis and 4,484 Armenians in 1831, 5,805 Azerbaijanis and 5,959 Armenians in 1873, 7,228 Azerbaijanis and 7,192 Armenians in 1886, 12,516 Azerbaijanis and 12,529 Armenians in 1897,  5,124 Azerbaijanis and 40,396 Armenians in 1922, 4,968 Azerbaijanis and 57,295 Armenians in 1926, 5,620 Azerbaijanis and 80,327 Armenians in 1931.

“These figures testify that from the beginning of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, Armenians settled in Irevan and other lands of Azerbaijan through the support of tsarist Russia, while from the beginning of the 20th century, from 1918, under the auspices of Soviet Russia. As a result, the Azerbaijani Turks, who were the indigenous inhabitants of the city were deported. Azerbaijanis were completely deported from the city by Armenia in November-December 1988,” he added.