Yukhari Askipara ( az, Yuxarı Əskipara, lit=Upper Askipara; hy, Վերին Ոսկեպար, lit=Upper Voskepar, translit=Verin Voskepar) is a destroyed Azerbaijani village in an exclave of the

Qazakh District Qazax District (; az, Qazax rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north-west of the country and belongs to the Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region. The district borders the district of Aghstafa, and the Tavush Province ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, currently under control by

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

and surrounded by the Tavush Province of Armenia. The exclave has been under control by Armenian forces since the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 t ...

which also included fighting in Qazakh. Today, the village is destroyed, with only the foundations and some lower portions of the houses remaining.

History

There are three medieval bridges, a fortress and the ruins of a church in the village. According to the 1915 publication of the ''Caucasian Calendar'', Yukhari Askipara (Аксибара Стар., ''Aksibara Star.'') had a predominantly Tatar (later known as

Azerbaijani Azerbaijani may refer to: * Something of, or related to Azerbaijan * Azerbaijanis * Azerbaijani language See also * Azerbaijan (disambiguation) * Azeri (disambiguation) * Azerbaijani cuisine * Culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ...

) population of 278 in 1914. The village was captured by Armenians in 1990 and its Azerbaijani inhabitants (some 500 people comprising around 100 families) were expelled, becoming

internally displaced person An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. ...

s in other villages of Azerbaijan's Qazax district. The village is now administered as part of Tavush Province of Armenia.

Notable people

Locally born Firudin Musayev rose from a peasant background to become a brigadier, then state farm director before becoming a deputy of the 8th convocation of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

References

External links

* Enclaves and exclaves Populated places in Qazax District Former populated places in the Caucasus {{Qazakh-geo-stub