Fallen into oblivion, but not broken down: Today marks 28 years from  the day of Shahumyan`s occupation by Azerbaijan

ArmInfo. Fallen into oblivion, but not broken down- June 13 marks the 28th anniversary of the occupation of the Shahumyan region by Azerbaijan. After almost three decades, the inhabitants of Shahumyan did not lose hope of returning to their homes from where they were expelled in 1992 and praying in  their churches.

Thus, the representative of the Shahumyan-Getashen Union Zinavor  Meghryan believes that the time has come to bring the issue of the  occupation of Shahumyan on the agenda of the negotiation process to  resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "We believe that the time has  come, and even belatedly it is necessary to voice the issue of  occupation of the Shahumyan region at all platforms. No one today  speaks about the Shahumyan inhabitants who were expelled from their  homeland, their homes, were subjected to deprivation. For some reason  no one has raised this issue during the negotiations. Nobody speaks  of hundreds of civilians - from young to adults, brutally murdered  during those events," said Meghryan.

In this context, he regretted that the Azerbaijani state propaganda  is trying to advance the issue related to the Khojaly tragedy at all  platforms, although these two issues are not even comparable, since  the incident in Khojaly has controversial interpretations, and it is  known that the tragedy was caused by certain Azerbaijani forces in  the context of the domestic political struggle. Meanwhile, the  representative of the Union continued, there is more than enough  factual evidence of the forcible expulsion of Armenians from  Shahumyan, as well as facts proving the scale of this tragedy.  In  this context, he recalled that the Shahumyan people participated at  all stages of the struggle for their rights and liberation. "They  never left the battlefield, and even when the Shahumyan area fell and  was occupied by the enemy, the Shahumyan people created partisan  units that played a significant role in the formation of the northern  borders of Artsakh, in the form in which they are today. Although we,  the the inhabitants of Shahumyan did not manage to achieve our final  goal - the liberation of our homeland, but we are united in our  desire to return to our native places, "he said.

In this regard, Meghryan regretted that there is no consistent state  policy on voicing the problem of the Shahumyan, and the issue of the  occupation of the Shahumyan region is being hushed up. "For the past  28 years, the whole Armenian region has been under the occupation of  Azerbaijan. There is no consistent state policy in this matter,  however, we are determined in the struggle for our rights, for  returning to our homes, for getting compensation for damages. This  issue is not as much territorial, it has a significant humanitarian  aspect. We will fight to ensure that this issue is put on the agenda  of the negotiations on the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict. Our task is to  draw the attention of the Armenian Foreign Ministry to this issue, so  that it contributes to the inclusion of this issue in the agenda of  negotiations aimed at the final settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh  conflict, "said the representative of Shahumyan-Getashen Union,  adding that their efforts will be aimed at internationalizing this  issue, bringing it outside of Armenia, to various international  platforms.  He added that due to the coronavirus pandemic, a number  of public events were postponed, however, in some countries,  inhabitants of Shahumyan will hold commemorative events, including on  the territory of the Armenian Church in Moscow.

In turn, inhabitant of Shahumyan Rubik Aydinyan, who was forced to  leave his native home, believes that they should get the opportunity  to return to their homes. "We must return to our homes, this is our  homeland. But, this should not be a military route. Our sons should  not again go to the line of fire. Our children should never feel what  we have felt when bombs were dropped on us from planes. Then they  killed everyone indiscriminately, putting no difference between a  one-year-old or five-year-old child, "Aydinyan noted.

He added that before the liberation struggle in the Shahumyan region  there were several villages populated by Azerbaijanis, and the  Armenians and Azerbaijanis lived in peace, there were no problems.  "But, when the war began, we were expelled from Shahumyan, we were  forced to leave.

Another Shahumyan inhabitant, Vitaliy Mayranyan, who currently lives  in Russia, expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the  occupation of his historic homeland has fallen into oblivion. "We  want our voices to be heard. Today, when you follow the negotiation  process to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, you get the feeling  that everyone has forgotten about the occupation of Shahumyan. It's  clear that Azerbaijan is not interested in this issue. But Armenia  and Artsakh need voice it, and pursue a consistent policy in this  direction. We are scattered around the world, but continue to be  united and will fight for our lands. We all want to visit the graves  of our ancestors and pray in our churches. There is a whole layer of  Armenian cultural heritage in Shahumyan ", said Vitaliy.

Moreover, he complained about the fact that this issue is not given  due attention at the state level in Armenia, and in this context he  expressed bewilderment by this circumstance. According to him, for  all time only the incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has raised  the issue of Shahumyan at a meeting with President of Azerbaijan  Ilham Aliyev.   To recall, on June 13 marks the 28th anniversary of the occupation of  Shahumyan- the ancient Armenian region - the inextricable part of  Artsakh, by Azerbaijan. Historically, the territory of the Shahumyan  region was one of the five large Armenian principalities of Artsakh,  known in archival and other documents as Gulistan. On July 5, 1921 by  the decision of the plenum of the Bureau of the Central Committee of  the RCP (B), despite the protests of the Armenian population, which  at that time was 95% of the region's inhabitants, Artsakh, and its  part Gulistan, was transferred to newly-minted Azerbaijan. 

During the establishment of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region  (NKAR) in July 1923, Gulistan and a number of other areas of Artsakh  - Khanlar, Dashkesan, Shamkhor - with far-reaching goals were  included not in the Autonomy, but in the Azerbaijan SSR. All the  years of the existence of the Azerbaijan SSR a policy of pressing the  Armenian population was carried out in relation to these areas -  repeated redrawing of the borders of the regions, blocking of  Armenian villages, artificial inhibition of their economic  development, etc..

Since the beginning the Karabakh movement in 1988, all Armenian  regions of Artsakh began to be subjected to massive attacks by  Azerbaijani OMON, state and party bodies. The first open armed  clashes between residents of Artsakh and Azerbaijan occurred  precisely in the northern part of Nagorno-Karabakh.  January 13,  1990, when the armed detachments of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan  and the Azerbaijani police tried to occupy the villages of Kamo,  Azad, Getashen and Martunashen of the Khanlar region and the villages  of Erkech, Manashid, Buzlukh of the Shahumyan region. On January 15,  1990 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR a  state of emergency is introduced in the NKAR and adjacent areas,  incl. Shahumyan.

In January-March 1990 with the help of internal troops of the USSR  Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Armenian population of the villages  of Azad and Kamo of the Khanlar region was deported. In April 1991  Operation OMON of the Azerbaijan SSR, the Ministry of Internal  Affairs of the USSR, and units of the Soviet army launched the  operation "Ring" on the deportation of the Armenian villages of the  NKAR and the surrounding areas. In April-July, 24 villages were  deported in Khanlar, Shahumyan, Hadrut and Shushi regions. On July 4,  1991 by decree of the President of the USSR M. Gorbachev, the state  of emergency was canceled in the Shahumyan region. After the  withdrawal of the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the  USSR, the OMON of Azerbaijan attacked the villages of Erkech,  Manashid and Buzlukh, but was repelled by local self-defense units.  During July-August 1991 the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the  Azerbaijan SSR, together with units of the 23rd Division of the 4th  Soviet Army (deployed in Ganja) conducted military operations in the  region with the aim of expelling the Armenian population using  military equipment, including combat aircraft. In July, the residents  of the villages of Erkech, Manashid, Buzlukh, whose population went  deep into the region, were deported. Self-defense units provided  armed resistance.

On September 2 (after the declaration of the Armed Forces of the  Azerbaijan SSR on August 30 by the independence of Azerbaijan), a  joint session of the Regional Council of the NKAR and the district  council of the Shahumyan region proclaimed the Nagorno-Karabakh  Republic and in December 10, 1991, decided to hold a referendum on  the issue of NKR independence in accordance with Article 3 of the Law  of the USSR of 04.04.1990. "On the procedure for resolving issues  related to the exit of the Union Republic from the USSR>. In  September 1991, the Shahumyan region was the first of the NKR regions  to become an arena of open hostilities between the NKR self-defense  units and the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the  national army of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijanis used heavy artillery, tanks  and armored vehicles , which had already been transferred to them by  the command of the 23rd division of the 4th army, but the Shaumyan's  self-defense forces managed to storm the control of the border  villages of Erkech, Buzlukh and Manashid.

In September-December 1991 positional battles continued. On  December  10 in the NKR, including in the Shahumyan region, a referendum was  held, during which the vast majority of residents supported the  independence of the NKR. On December 30, elections of MPs of the NKR  Supreme Council were held in the region and throughout NKR. And  January 13, 1992 for the first time in the territory of the former  USSR, weapons of mass destruction were used against civilians -  Azerbaijan fired the Shahumyan region center from the BM-21 Grad  multiple launch rocket system.

In May-June 1992, the equipment and weapons of units and subunits of  the former 4th Army of the Transcaucasian Military District were  transferred to Azerbaijan - 4 divisions, a third of the ships and all  the bases of the Caspian flotilla, a helicopter squadron, more than  100 combat aircraft, etc., not counting captured ones. Using this  weapon and a significant number of military mercenaries, Azerbaijan  launched a large-scale attack on the NKR in June 1992. It began with  the Shahumyan region, which is extremely important strategically and  is closest to the largest military bases of the former USSR in  Azerbaijan in Kirovabad (Ganja). June 15, 1992 the entire Shahumyan  region was captured by Azerbaijan. In the summer of 1992 Azerbaijanis  also captured most of Martakert, part of Martuni, Askeran and Hadrut  regions of the NKR. In a few days, 17,000 Armenians were deported  from Shahumyan by force, several hundred residents were killed or  gone missing.