Mkhitarashen () or Mukhtar () is a village located in the

Khojaly District Khojaly District () is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country in the Karabakh Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Kalbajar, Lachin, Shusha, Agdam and Khojavend. Its capital and larg ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, in the disputed region of

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

. Until 2023 it was controlled by the breakaway

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh cont ...

. The village had an ethnic

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

-majority population until the exodus of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh following the

2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh Between 19 and 20 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive against the political status of Nagorno-Karabakh, self-declared breakaway state of Republic of Artsakh, Artsakh, a move seen as a violation of the 2020 Nago ...

Toponymy

The village was known as ''Mkhitarikend'' (; ; ) during the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

period.

History

During the Soviet period, the village was part of the Askeran District of the

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was an Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union, autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its capital was the city of Stepanakert. The majori ...

. The village has been administrated as part of the

Askeran Province Askeran Province () was a province of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, ''de jure'' part of the Khojaly District of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It was in the center of Artsakh, surrounding the capital, Stepanakert. It was notable for containin ...

of the

after the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

. There was some initial confusion regarding control of the village after the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

, however, on 1 March 2021, the Armenian news organization CivilNet published a video report from the village, confirming continued Artsakh control.

Historical heritage sites

Historical heritage sites in and around the village include a 17th/18th-century cemetery and the 19th-century church of ''Surb Astvatsatsin'' (, ). A monument in honor of the 18th-century Armenian satirist and fabulist

Pele Pughi Pele Pughi (; 1731 – 1810) was an 18th-century Armenians, Armenian satirist and fabulist from Karabakh. Biography Pele Pughi was born in 1731 in either Chanakhchi, Khojaly, Avetaranots or Shosh, Nagorno-Karabakh, Shosh in the Melikdom of ...

was built in 1976 between Mkihtarashen and Shosh.

Economy and culture

The population is mainly engaged in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...

. As of 2015, the village has a municipal building, a house of culture, and a medical centre. Students study in the secondary school of the neighboring village of Shosh.

Demographics

The village has an ethnic

-majority population, had 90 inhabitants in 2005, and 91 inhabitants in 2015.

Gallery

Համայնապատկեր Մխիթարաշենում.jpg, A view of the village Մուտք դեպի Մխիթարաշեն.jpg, A sign reading "Mkhitarashen" in Armenian Մխիթարաշեն.jpg, Janapar Trail sign in the village Պըլը Պուղուն նվիրված հուշարձան,Մխիթարաշեն.jpg, Monument to

Առաջին բուժօգնության կայան Մխիթարաշենում.jpg, Aid station Հուշարձան, Մխիթարաշեն.jpg, WWII memorial

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Geography Populated places in Khojaly District