Xərxan, Khojavend
Kherkhan (Armenian: Խերխան; Azerbaijani: Xərxan) is a village located in the Khojavend District of Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Until 2023 it was controlled by the breakaway Republic of Artsakh. The village had an ethnic Armenian-majority population until the exodus of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh following the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh. The village lost 10% of its population as a result of both Nagorno-Karabakh wars.
History
During the Soviet period, the village was a part of the Martuni District of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.
Historical heritage sites
Historical heritage sites in and around the village include the cemetery of Khacher (Armenian: Խաչեր, lit. 'Crosses') from between the 11th and 14th centuries, the 19th-century St. George's Church (Armenian: Սուրբ Գևորգ եկեղեցի, romanized: Surb Gevorg Yekeghetsi), and a 19th-century spring monument.
Economy and culture
The population is mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. As of 2015, the village has a municipal building, a house of culture, a school, and a medical centre.
Demographics
The village had 111 inhabitants in 2005, and 140 inhabitants in 2015.
Notable people
- Yakov Melkumov (1885 – 1962), Soviet military commander during the Russian Civil War's fighting against the Basmachi Movement on the Turkestan Front. He is known for commanding the unit that killed Enver Pasha.
References
- ^ Hakob Ghahramanyan. "Directory of socio-economic characteristics of NKR administrative-territorial units (2015)".
- ^ Андрей Зубов. "Андрей Зубов. Карабах: Мир и Война". drugoivzgliad.com.
- ^ Sauer, Pjotr (2 October 2023). "'It's a ghost town': UN arrives in Nagorno-Karabakh to find ethnic Armenians have fled". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
- ^ Mariam Avetisyan. "THE DESIRE TO LIVE: Kherkhan Episode 2 (Season 2)". Youtube.
- ^ "The Results of the 2005 Census of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" (PDF). National Statistic Service of the Republic of Artsakh.