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9УДК 94(479.24)
ON THE DEPORTATION OF THE TURKISH POPULATION OF NUVEDI VILLAGE FROM THE ARMENIAN SSR (WESTERN AZERBAIJAN) (1929-1991)
ASAD QURBANLI
Leading Researcher of the A.A.Bakikhanov institute of History of the NASA doctor of philosophy in history, associate professor
Annotation. The article is devoted to the transfer of Nuvedi village from Azerbaijan to the Armenian SSR by the Transcaucasian Federation in 1929, suppression and deportation of Azerbaijanis from the Armenian SSR in 1991. For the first time, the deportation ofAzerbaijanis from this village is shown in the article based on historicalfacts. The political events that took place in the region in these years and the plans of Armenian ethnic nationalists to relocate this village after the transfer to Armenia, the resistance of the population were extensively investigated, analyzed and reviewed.
Keyvords: Deportation, Azerbaijan, Soviet, Armenian, Nuvedi, Megri
After the establishment of the Soviet power in Armenia, the Armenians who captured Zangezur and achieved the autonomy of Upper Karabakh did not give up the plan of amalgamation of the Azerbaijani lands to the Armenia SSR and used all means to resettle the aboriginal Turks (Azerbaijani) from their historical homeland, expanding their territories at the expense of Azerbaijani lands, wanted to achieve "Armenia without Turks".
The RC (b)P Transcaucasian Territorial Committee and the Transcaucasian SSRF CEC played a special role in giving the Azerbaijani lands to Armenia. The Azerbaijani lands were divided and part by part given to the Armenian SSR. When the Armenians failed to unite the Nakhchivan and Upper Karabakh provinces of Azerbaijan to Armenia, new plans were drawn, in particular, the conditions created for them by the Center and the "generosity" of the Azerbaijani authorities stimulated their opportunities of action in the direction of the future solution of the territorial issue.
In 1927, and especially on February 18, 1929, by the decision of the Transcaucasian CEC, 10 villages with total area of 657 square km from Nakhchivan AR of the Azerbaijan SSR, and lands belonging to Garchivan and Kilid villages from Ordubad district (was given to Megri) with its villages were transferred to the Armenia SSR [2, l.2]
Previously, when Lok (Vartanidzor), Maralzamisi, Lehvaz, Tey and others that were villages of Zangezur district, and the western part of Zangezur was given to Armenia in 1920. These villages came under the administrative management of Armenia. Aldere and Astazur belonging to Jabrayil uyezd of Azerbaijan, before 1926, Garchivan, Ernazir, Tugut and Nuvedi were given to Armenia in 1929, resulting in the creation of a 46 km long corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan and the isolation of these lands from each other.
By the decision of the the Transcaucasian CEC on February 18, 1929 (chairman of the meeting, M.Shkhakayan and members - D.Bunyadzadeh, M.C.Bagirov, A.Dolidze, V.Strua, I.Taghiyev, A.Shaverdov, S.Yagubov) 3 more villages - Nuvedi, Ernazir, Tugut from the Jabrayil uyezd of the Azerbaijan SSR were given to the Armenian SSR, and on the basis of these villages Megri district was created in 1930 [2, l.2; 9, p. 10].
After these afore-said villages were given to the Armenia SSR in 1939, Tugut and Ernazir villages were abolished by the Armenian government under the name of "unpromising" villages; Tugut was merged with Armenian village Shvanidzor, and Ernazir with Nuvedi village [9, p.10].
Before the transfer of these villages, ten kilometers separated Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan along the railway line, after the transfer of these three villages, the enclave expanded further, and a forty-six kilometers distance was created.
Speaking about these issues, the late President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.A.Aliyev, stated that unfortunately, at that time and later, not only the lands of Nakhchivan, but also lands from other parts of Azerbaijan, were lost. Now, the distance that separates us from Nakhchivan, if we go from the border by railway, about 46 kilometers - the distance that connects Armenia to Iran - has been lost. At that time, even when Zangezur was given to Armenia, its territory was not so large. Yesterday we were looking at the map. Its area leading to Araz was 10 kilometers. But afterwards, the villages that entered Nakhchivan from that side were torn from it. Armenians took a part from this side, that is, from Zangilan - at that time it was not called Zangilan, it was considered Jabrayil uyezd- and added it to Armenia, making the 10-kilometer distance now 46 kilometers. You know, these are all ongoing processes, but they are processes to our detriment. These are the process of gradual loss of our lands. The goal of the Armenians was to separate Nakhchivan from Azerbaijan, expand its enclave, and integrate it into the composition of Armenia in the future [8].
For a long time there was a misconception about the transfer of Nuvedi village to Armenia in 1929; ostensibly the village elders had a special participation in the annexation of Nuvedi village to Armenia, and the village population voluntarily came under the control of Armenia at their request. The documents show that these are not original and there is no basis for this. First of all, at that time, what wishes of the people were taken into account?
Secondly, by the decision of the meeting at the same time, on the same date not only Nuvedi, but three villages were given to Armenia.
Thirdly, the people of Nuvedi village has never come to terms with this historical injustice, they have always fought for it, they have always considered themselves a region of Azerbaijan, they have always been in conflict with Armenians, they have preserved their national identity and uniqueness, and they have never lost hope to be reunited with Azerbaijan.
The leaders of Armenia were constantly looking for ways to "get rid" of this village. Such an opportunity was a godsend for Armenian nationalists after the Second World War. Decision No. 4083 from December 23, 1949, issued by the Chairman of the Soviet of Ministers of the USSR I.V.Stalin "On relocation of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenia SSR to the Kur-Araz plain of the Azerbaijan SSR" led to the realization of the policy of the Armenians "Armenia without Turks". As a result of the implementation of this cruel relocation policy, more than 100.000 of our compatriots became victims of the Armenian insidiousness [4].
During the years of this extensive and unjust resettlement policy, the dwellers of Nuvedi village of Migri district were also on the focus of the Armenian leaders. Although the plan for the transfer of Azerbaijanis from the Armenia SSR to the Kur-Araz plain did not include the resettlement of Nuvedi village, Armenian leaders tried to relocate this big village and collective farm of the district.
The Party Committee of the Megri (Migri) district of the Armenia SSR, the District Executive Committee, and the Department of Internal Affairs of the District many times came to the village for this purpose, and they wanted to get the consent to relocate the village by involving the village elders in the process of relocating the village dwellers, but they did not want to be moved from their places of residence.
However, the unity and solidarity of the members of "Qirmizi Serhed" collective farm of the Nuvedi village, the chairman of the collective farm management staff Jabrayil Mammadov, the first party secretary of the collective farm Mammad Rustamov and the chairman of the village soviet Abili Babatov did not allow the implementation of the plan to relocate the village by the Armenians.
This document addressed to I.V.Stalin by the Nuvedi dwellers, which I obtained while working in the state historical archive, sheds light on many issues.
Although we did not find any documents in the archives regarding the response of the Chairman of the USSR Soviet of Ministers I.V.Stalin to this application of Nuvedi dwellers, this document shows the initiative of the dwellers of Nuvedi village in the direction of correcting this historical "mistake" under the conditions of the totalitarian regime, showing how strong the desire of the Nuvedi
village dwellers is to become part of Azerbaijan, as well as it was a rebellion, a protest to the "leaders" who signed the historical crime of handing over this village to Armenia.
On April 23, 1948, the letter addressed to the Chairman of the Soviet of Ministers of the USSR I.V.Stalin on behalf of the group of collective farmers of "Qirmizi Serhed" of the village of Nuvedi, Megri (Migri) district of the Armenia SSR, regarding the request to include the village of Nuvedi in the territory of the Zangilan district of Azerbaijan, stated: "Comrade I.V.Stalin! In April of this year, they told us that we should move to Azerbaijan, because Armenian Azerbaijanis should live in Azerbaijan. Our Nuvedi village is located on the border of these two republics. Until 1920 (until February 18, 1929-A.G.), this village was part of the Azerbaijan SSR. It belonged to the Zangilan district, but later it was included in the territory of the Megri district of the Armenia SSR. The railway line connected these two districts then. Based on this, we ask you very much to transfer our Nuvedi village to the Zangilan district of the Azerbaijan SSR, as it was until 1920. We hope that our dear leader will not reject our request". [1, l.48].
Although we did not find in the archive documents about the response of the head of the country to the letter of the villagers, the reaction caused by the letter was not long in coming.
These just demands of the villagers and such a sharp presentation of the issue before the state authorities not only prevented the implementation of this insidious and unjust plan of the Dashnak leaders of the Armenia SSR, but also resulted in the failure of their anti-human policy of relocating this Turkish (Azerbaijani) village. The dwellers of Nuvedi village were saved from resettlement in these years...
In 1927-1929, these villages and a number of lands we talked about were given to the Armenian SSR, but these territories between the two republics are considered "disputed" and were not recognized by the government of the Azerbaijan SSR.
At the end of the 60s of the 20th century, the Armenian leadership took the initiative to recognize and approve the lands given to Armenia in 1927-1929. The issue of approving these lands was repeatedly discussed at the Central Committee.
At the meeting held on November 5, 1968 by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR with the participation of D.Polyansky, First Secretary of the Central Committee of Azerbaijan V.Akhundov, First Secretary of the Central Committee of Armenia A.Kochinyan and Minister of Agriculture of the USSR V.Maskevich was discussed the issue "about the results of the inspections and the adopted decisions between the separate disputed collective farms of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR".
I would also like to point out one more issue: to blame V.Akhundov, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, for the approval of these lands, and to give these lands to the Armenian SSR in exchange for his supposed defense of a doctoral dissertation in Yerevan, is absurd and unfounded, and at the same time, it is far from the truth. .Thus, the archival documents obtained at the time of our investigation prove that these considerations have no scientific basis.
In its collegium meetings, the CPSU discussed the settlement of the issue of disputed lands given to the Armenian SSR by the Transcaucasian Central Committee in 1927-1929 once and for all, at the same time, I would even say, it put some pressure on the Azerbaijani leadership in relation with this.
In accordance to the order of the Central Committee of the CPSU from June 23, 1968, the Soviet of Ministers of the USSR considered a number of measures on the issue of the land dispute between the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR on June 10 and 20, 1968. In the decision adopted by the Soviet l of Ministers of the USSR, the immutability of the borders between the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR established in 1927-1929 by the Transcaucasian CEC is recognized, as well as were ordered to be reviewed and approved again by the Presidiums of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR and Azerbaijan SSR the reconsideration of the borders of the Transcaucasian CEC drawn between the two republics in 1927-1929. [3, l. 245-246].
ОФ "Международный научно-исследовательский центр "Endless Light in Science"
In accordance with this decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet of Ministers of the USSR, on November 26, 1968, the bureau of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijan Communist Party adopted a decision considering the issue of "borders between the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR". It examined the issue of disputed borders between the Azerbaijan SSR and Armenian SSR, between the collective farms of the two republics, and ordered the submission of the relevant documents to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR for the approval of the decisions passed by the Transcaucasian CEC in 1927-1929 [3, l. 241].
According to the decision of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan dated November 26, 1968, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR by decree dated May 7, 1969, ratified the lands taken from Azerbaijan and given to Armenia by the Transcaucasian CEC in 1927-1929 [10, p. 21].
Thus, with the instruction of the CPSU Central Committee to Azerbaijan, this desire of the Armenian government was realized and the issue of "disputed" lands was resolved in these years. As a number of territories and villages, on February 18, 1929, the village of Nuvedi, which was given de facto to the Megri district of the Armenian SSR by the Transcaucasian CEC, along with the land area of 19.000 ha, legally passed under the subordination of Armenia.
Later, in his report dated January 14, 1998, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan H.A.Aliyev said about this matter: "... in 1968, 1 protocol was signed. Armenians claimed a part of the land from the Sederek district of Nakhchivan, the land bordering Megri from the Ordubad side, the Taglar village of Gedabey, the lands of Gazakh, Gubadly and Lachin...
After I was elected first secretary in July 1969, these issues were put before me. They were putting a lot of pressure from Moscow to order the execution of the decision. I said, you know, the decision was made in May; if it hasn't been implemented by July, let me investigate it. Undoubtedly, after investigating, I saw that I could not agree to this. I did not agree. As long as I worked in Azerbaijan, that decision was not implemented. In 1985, the Armenian side managed to implement that decision..." [8].
On November 17, 1969, by the order and decision of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, H.Aliyev, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, A.Kochinyan, First Secretary of the Central Committee of Armenia, and V.Maskevich, Minister of Agriculture of the USSR, a document related to the "dispute" was signed [6, l. 132].
Taking into account that the borders established in 1927-1929 between the Armenia SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR by the Central Committee of Transcaucasia in accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of Azerbaijan, the Central Committee of Armenia and the Central Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture of the USSR, will lead to incidents between the two republics in the future, the resolution of Heydar Aliyev, who met with the First Secretary A.E.Kochinyan, caused the Armenian side to agree not to raise any territorial claims.
Although Heydar Aliyev's suspension of the implementation of the decision to transfer Azerbaijani lands to the Armenian SSR created despair in Armenian circles for a while, they took the initiative in this direction whenever possible, and used insidious methods to realize the territorial claim to Azerbaijan [4, l.3].
During the years of reconstruction, at a time when centrifugal tendencies were strengthening in all regions of the country, Armenians felt that the empire was falling and collapsing, wanted to get out from under the ruins of the collapsing empire with a large territory.
I would like to note one more thing that during the years when H.Aliyev was in power, not even an inch of Azerbaij ani land was given to Armenia. H.Aliyev was the biggest obstacle to the realization of territorial claims of all Armenians.
Mainly, after Heydar Aliyev resigned as a member of the Political Bureau and the post of First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Soviet of Ministers at his own request, the Armenians, who saw this
ОФ "Международный научно-исследовательский центр "Endless Light in Science"
as an opportunity, became very active, and for this purpose, they began to make territorial claims to Nagorno-Karabakh, which is a historical part of Azerbaijan, and to fight for its annexation to Armenia.
In parallel with this, on February 20, 1988, the Armenians separated from Azerbaijan by the session of the Soviet of Peoples Deputies of NKAR, and after the decision to join Armenia, they began to expel Azerbaijani Turks from the Armenian SSR, and from the beginning of 1988 to December 5, more than 250.000 Azerbaijani Turks were deported from the territory of Armenia.';
Although all Azerbaijanis from the Armenian SSR were expelled from their ancestral lands, the village of Nuvedi, the only Turkish village in the republic with a population of 1.500 people, did not leave their place of residence, fought bravely against the Armenian fascists, and defended themselves. In 1929, on February 19, by the decision of the Central Executive Committee of Transcaucasia, this village was taken from Azerbaijan and joined to Armenia. On November 26, 1988, Armenian armed forces attacked the village in order to expell the dwellers of the village, which was separated from Azerbaijan and merged with Armenia by the decision of the Executive Committee, but the self defense units of the village pushed them back and did not allow the Armenians to enter the village. [9, p. 21]
After all this, the district leaders began to pressure the village, cut the electricity line, and stopped sending food to the population. On October 10, 1989, the collective farm chairman and five collective farm workers were taken hostage by Armenians in the district center. The hostages were released as a result of the intervention of General Smyslov, the military commandant of Baku city. The chairman of the collective farm, M.Amanov, was demand edto give up his position as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of Armenia, and and by placing explosives on the trucks, the vehicles were seized as loot under this pretext [9, p. 22].
On October 11, 1989, the general meeting of Nuvedi village dwellers adopted a decision to transfer the village under the control of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as in the past, and although appeals were received to the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Zangilan district Soviet of Peoples Deputies to legalize this decision, the appeals remained unanswered, necessary measures for the defence of the village were not taken by the Azerbaijani government [9, p.22].
On March 20, 1990, Armenian armed units attacked the village and conducted a 6-hour combat operation with the self-defense units of the village and Soviet soldiers. On April 24, 1990, Armenians started heavy battles again for the village, and soldier Yevgeny Yurchenko was killed by Armenians. Armenians lost 13 people in this attack and retreated to their positions [9, p. 23].
The leadership of the republic, the Armenians do not want to reconcile with the remaining of the only village in Armenia, and the villagers did not want to leave their homeland easily. Hazi Musayev, the deputy director of the village secondary school, wrote in an open letter to Megri district prosecutor Zohrab Harutyunyan: "The main reason why we did not leave the village is our strong attachment to the Motherland and the land. You and your leadership know well that Nuvedi is really the land of Azerbaijan. Simply, with the decision dated May 7, 1969, our leaders "gifted" this land to you. It is pointless for you to worry about our living in Nuvedi. Nuvedi belongs to the Nuvedi people both before and now". [9, p. 26].
According to witnesses, the soldiers of the Russian army, who "protected" the village dwellers from the Armenians, also shot the village themselves. Colonel Shiropoyas and lieutenant colonel Merkulov came to the village almost every day and showed zeal for the population to leave the village. Armenians acting in concert with the Russian army, often freely came to the military barracks where the Russian soldiers were stationed, studied the defense points of the village, and together with the Russian soldiers prepared a plan to evacuate the population from the village [9, p. 12].
In the appeal addressed to the Nuvedi dwellers was said: "...They are trying to remove us from our ancestral land by all means. However, we do not go to any provocation. We do not break our restraint and we hope that our people will hear our voice" [9, p. 18-19].
Unfortunately, the Azerbaijani leadership did not understand the strategic importance of this village and helped it, but on the contrary, the Azerbaijani leadership also played certain role in the removal of the village. V. Polyanichko, the Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, came to Nuvedi on August 7, 1991, and representatives of the village met with and said that their (villagers') safety will be ensured by the Azerbaijani government, but the operation to evacuate the village was carried out that night.
On August 8, 1991, with the help of Russian soldiers Nuvedi was forcibly evacuated. In this case, the Russian military operated together with the Armenian armed forces.
In the information of "Azerinform" with reference to the Azerbaijan SSC, the evacuation of the village was reported and it was also noted that on the night of August 8-9, military servicemen were forced to leave the village and left it defenseless in front of Armenian bandits. The representatives of the command of the special regiment of Armenia demanded the villagers to leave the territory of Armenia immediately, because they do not guarantee their safety. In the report, it was stated that the Armenian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, G.Grigorian, was in charge for the evacuation operation in Nuvedi. [7]
During the forced resettlement of the villagers, 65-year-old Hatamkhanov Hatamkhan was shot dead by Armenians.
After the deportation of the Nuvedi dwellers, who fought for their lives with the Armenians until August 8, 1991, who for this put up a real resistance for three years, the only railway line connecting Nakhchivan with Azerbaijan became narrower, and due to the events occurring around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, for many years population of Nakhchivan has been forced to live under blockade until today.
Thus, 26 km of the 46 km corridor separating Nakhchivan from Azerbaijan was included in the territory of this village and was very important and safe from a strategic viewpoint. After the occupation of the village, the Baku-Sharur passenger train passing through here was kept under constant fire by Armenian terrorists, and the lives of the dwellers of this region were under threat.
So, finally we can come to this conclusion:
1) With the deportation of Azerbaijanis from the Armenian SSR, including the village of Nuvedi, in 1988-1991s of the 20th century, the ethnic cleansing policy of Armenians ended at the beginning of the 90s of the 20th century.
2) In the implementation of this policy, Megri district party soviet bodies, chauvinist-nationalist circles showed special activity;
3) In 1920-1929, the enclave of Nakhchivan, which was connected with the deportation of the Azerbaijani population from Megri, which was taken from the Azerbaijan SSR and given to Armenia by an unjust decision by the Transcaucasian FSSR, expanded further.
4) With the deportation of the Turkish population of the last Nuvedi village in Armenia, Armenia turned into a mono-ethnic republic and a new wave of aggression and crimes against our people began;
5) With the deportation of Azerbaijani Turks, Armenia became a monoethnic republic, in 19881993, 20% of our territory was occupied by the Armenian armed forces, and 1 million Azerbaijanis were displaced from their historical lands.
REFERENCES
1.Azarbaycan Respublikasi DA: f 411,siy 26,i§ 34
2. Azarbaycan Respublikasi DA: f.379,siy.3, i§ 2035
3. Azarbaycan Respublikasi PiiSSA: f 1. siy 55, i§ 69
4.Azarbaycan Respublikasi PiiSSA: f 1. siy 33, i§ 24
5. Azarbaycan Respublikasi PiiSSA: f.1, siy. 56, i§ 49.
6. Azarbaycan Respublikasi PiiSSA: f.1,siy.56, i§ 72
7.Nuvadi hadisalarina dair." Hayat" qaz., 10 avqust, 1991, №153
8."Xalq" qaz., Baki, 1991. №15
9.Karimli A. Zangazurun qeyrat qalasi - Nuvadi. Baki: Azarbaycan, 1996, 76 s.
10.Musayev Н.Э. Nuvadi ornak darsidir. Baki: Xatira kitabi, 2000, 21 s.
