Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic

This article is about the autonomous region; for its capital city see Nakhchivan (city)

Naxçıvan Muxtar Respublikası
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic

File:Nakhichevan-map.png
Administration type	Autonomous republic of Azerbaijan
Capital and largest city	Nakhchivan
Official language	Azerbaijani
Parliamentary Chairman	Vasif Talibov
Area  - Total  - % water	5,500 km² negligible
Population  - Total	365,000+
Time zone  - in summer	EET (UTC+4) EEST (UTC+5)

Momine Khatun Mausoleum in Nakhchivan.

The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (Azerbaijani: Naxçıvan Muxtar Respublikası, Armenian: Նախիջեվան, Turkish: Nahcivan Özerk Cumhuriyeti, Russian: Нахичеванская Автономная Республика), known simply as Nakhchivan is an exclave of Azerbaijan. Since it frequently changed kingdoms, empires, sultanates, and khanates, the name of Nakhchivan was altered many times, changing to: Nakshijahan, Nuhchikhan (the place where Noah landed), Nesheva, Nakhijevan, etc. As part of the Azerbaijan SSR of the Soviet Union, it was known as the Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The 5,500 km² region borders Armenia (221 km), Turkey (9 km) and Iran (179 km). Its capital is the city of Nakhchivan, home to the Nakhchivan State University.

History

The city of Nakhchivan was first mentioned in Ptolemy's "Geography" and other classical writers as Naksuana. The oldest material culture artifacts found in Nakhchivan date back to the Neolithic Age. The region was part of the states of Mannae, Urartu and Media in 8 – 7 BCE, Achaemenid state in 6 BCE, and later became part of the Armenian Kingdom. In the 5th century, Nakhchivan was conquered by Sassanid Persians, in 623 by the Byzantine Empire, and in the middle 7th century by Arabs. In the 11th century, Nakhchivan fell under control of Seljuks.

In 12th century the city of Nakhchivan became the capital of the Ildegezid Atabeks of Azerbaijan state. The magnificent 12th century mausoleum of Momine khatun, the wife of Ildegizid ruler, Great Atabek Jahan Pehlevan, is the main attraction of modern Nakhchivan. In 13 – 14 centuries the region was invaded by Mongols and Tamerlane. In the 15th century, the territory of Nakhchivan became part of the states of Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu. In the 16th century control of the region passed to the Turkic-speaking Safavid dynasty of Persia. Because of its geographic position, it frequently suffered during the wars between Persia and the Ottoman Empire in 14th – 18th centuries. In 1604, Shah Abbas I Safavi, concerned that the lands of Nakhchivan and the surrounding areas would pass into Ottoman hands, decided to institute a scorched earth policy. He forced most of the local population, regardless of ethnicity or religion, to leave their homes and move deeper into Persia. Many settled in a neighborhood of Isfahan that was named New Julfa since most of the residents were from the original Julfa (a predominately Armenian town which was looted and burned). The Nakhchivan khanate emerged in the region in 1747 after the death of Nadir Shah Afshar, the ruler of Persia. After the two Russo-Iranian wars and the Treaty of Turkmenchay, Nakhchivan khanate passed into Russian possession in 1828. With the onset of Russian rule, the tsarist authorities encouraged massive settlement of Armenians from Persia and Turkey to Nakhchivan and other areas of the Caucasus. Special clauses of the Turkmenchay and Adrianople treaties allowed for this. According to Russian envoy to Persia Alexandr Griboyedov, the number of Armenian population settled in Nakhchivan in 1828 exceeded all reasonable limits, and this resulted in tensions between the newcomers and local population. Griboyedov requested Russian army commander count Ivan Paskevich to give orders on resettlement of some of the arriving people further to the region of Daralayaz to quiet the tensions. Nakhchivan khanate was dissolved in 1828, its territory was merged with the territory of the Erivan khanate and the area became part of the new Armenian oblast (region), which in 1849 was renamed the Erivan governorate of the Russian Empire. Nakhchivan became the Nakhchivan uyezd of the Erivan governorate of the Russian empire.

After the February Revolution the region was under the authority of Special Transcaucasian Committee of the Russian Provisional Government. Musavat Party proclaimed in Nakhchivan the Republic of Araks, then as part of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), while the Armenian Republic claimed Nakhchivan for itself. In late 1918 Nakhchivan was occupied by British troops. After withdrawal of British troops Nakhchivan was occupied by 11th Red Army troops and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on 28 July 1920. In November 1920, on the verge of taking over Armenia, the Bolsheviks in order to attract public support, promised they would allot Nakhchivan to Armenia, along with Karabakh and Zangezur (a strip separating Nakhchivan from Azerbaijan proper). However, on March 1921 in the Treaty of Moscow and October 23, 1921, in the Treaty of Kars, it was agreed that Nakhchivan would remain part of Azerbaijan, thus retaining them a border with Turkey. On February 9, 1924 Nakhchivan Soviet Socialist Autonomous Republic was formed within the Azerbaijan SSR.

With the rise of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan's Popular Front, in the summer of 1989, managed to pressure the Azerbaijan SSR to instigate a partial railway and air blockade against Armenia, effectively crippling Armenia's economy as 85% of the cargo and goods arrived through rail traffic. In response, Armenia closed the railway to Nakhchivan, thereby strangling the exclave's only link to the rest of the Soviet Union. During the Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenia also managed to occupy the Nakhchivan exclave of Karki (Kerki), but did not advance into the main territory of the region because doing so could have brought intervention from Turkey.

In January 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Nakhchivan ASSR issued a declaration stating the intention for Nakhchivan to secede from the USSR to protest suppression of the national movement in Azerbaijan. It was the first part of the Soviet Union to declare independence, beating Lithuania's declaration by only a few weeks. However, this was short-lived and soon Nakhchivan joined the rest of Azerbaijan when it became independent in 1991 as the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. It now exists and is internationally recognized as a constituent part of Azerbaijan governed by its own elected parliament.

Administrative Subdivisions

Subdivisions of Nakhchivan.

Main article: Subdivisions of Azerbaijan

Nakhchivan is subdivided into eight administrative divisions. Seven of these are rayons. Its capital, the city (şəhər) of Nakhchivan is treated separately.

1. Babek (Babək)
2. Julfa (Culfa)
3. Kangarli (Kəngərli)
4. Nakhchivan (city; Naxçıvan)
5. Ordubad
6. Sadarak (Sədərək) (includes the Karki enclave in Armenia)
7. Shakhbuz (Şahbuz)
8. Sharur (Şərur)

Geography

Nakhchivan is an atmospheric, semi-desert region that is separated from the main portion of Azerbaijan by Armenia. A range of mountains make up the border with Armenia while the Araks River defines its border with Iran. It is extremely arid and mountainous and contains large salt deposits. Major industries in the region include the mining of minerals such as salt, molybdenum, and lead, cotton ginning/cleaning, silk spinning, fruit canning, meat packing, tobacco producing, growing of grain and market garden produce, and, in the dryer regions, sheep farming. The Republic contains very basic facilities and lacks heating fuel during the winter.

Demographics

As of 1990, Nakhchivan's population was estimated to be 350,000. 98% of the population are Azeris. Ethnic Russians constituted the remaining population. The Armenians remaining were expelled by Azerbaijani forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War as part of the forceful exchange of population between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

File:Heydar.jpg

Former Azerbaijan President Heydar Aliyev was born in Nakhchivan.

Famous people from Nakhchivan

Throughout history, Nakhchivan has brought up many prominent people. These include:

• Hindushah ibn Nakhchivani
• Abdurrakhman en Neshevi
• Ekmouladdin Nakhchivani
• Ajami Nakhchivani
• Ehsan Khan Nakhichevanski
• Kelbali Khan Nakhichevanski
• Ismail Khan Nakhichevanski
• Hussein Khan Nakhichevanski
• Jamshid khan Nakhichevanski
• Heydar Aliyev
• Abulfaz Elchibey

Disputes

Examples of Armenian khachkars from Julfa.

• The Armenian Revolutionary Federation claims that Nakhchivan belongs to Armenia. The programme of the party states: The borders of United Armenia shall include all territories designated as Armenia by the Treaty of Sevres as well as the regions of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Javakhk, and Nakhchivan. In the heat of the Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenian government officials denied these claims.

• Nakhchivan Parliament issued a non-binding declaration in the late 1990's recognizing the sovereignty of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and calling upon Azerbaijan to do so. While sympathetic to the TRNC, Azerbaijan has not followed suit because of Greek Cypriot threats to recognize the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Armenian-controlled Azeri territory).

• Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of embarking on campaign between 1998 and December 2005 to completely demolish the cemetery of finely carved Armenian khachkars in Julfa. Numerous Armenian organizations and authorities, including the Foreign Ministry, have sent official protests to the UNESCO and the United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan denies there has been destruction despite a confirmation by the IWPR. According to the Azerbaijani Ambassador to the US Khafiz Pashayev, the videos and photographs that have surfaced show some unknown people destroying some mid-size stones and is not clear of what ethnicity those people are. Instead, the ambassador asserts that the Armenian side started a propaganda campaign against Azerbaijan to divert attention from the destruction of Azerbaijani monuments in Armenia. On May 30, 2006, Azerbaijan barred the European Parliament from inspecting and examining the ancient burial site. According to its resolution regarding cultural monuments in the South Caucasus, the European Parliament "condemns strongly the destruction of the Julfa cemetery as well as the destruction of all sites of historical importance that has taken place on Armenian or Azerbaijani territory, and condemns any such action that seeks to destroy cultural heritage."

External links

• Official website of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic
• History of Nakhchivan

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