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Stepanakert

January 01, 1970

"Xankəndi" redirects here. For other uses, see Xankəndi (disambiguation).

Stepanakert (Armenian: Ստեփանակերտ, romanized: Step'anakert, Eastern pronunciation: [stɛpʰɑnɑˈkɛɾt]) or Khankendi (Azerbaijani: Xankəndi, pronounced [xɑnkænˈdi] ⓘ) is a ghost city[a] in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The city was under the control and the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in the region. The city is located in a valley on the eastern slopes of the Karabakh mountain range, on the left bank of the Qarqarçay (Karkar) river.[8]

Stepanakert / Khankendi
Ստեփանակերտ
Xankəndi
City
From top left:
Holy Mother of God Cathedral
Renaissance Square • Downtown Stepanakert
Stepanakert Airport • Stepanakert skyline
Park Hotel Artsakh  • We Are Our Mountains
Artsakh University  • Stepanakert Memorial
Stepanakert / Khankendi
Location of Stepanakert/Khankendi in Azerbaijan and its Karabakh Economic Region.
Stepanakert / Khankendi
Stepanakert / Khankendi (Karabakh Economic Region)
Coordinates: 39°48′55″N 46°45′7″E / 39.81528°N 46.75194°E / 39.81528; 46.75194
CountryAzerbaijan
RegionKarabakh
City status1940[1]
Area
 • Total29.12 km2 (11.24 sq mi)
Elevation
813 m (2,667 ft)
Population
 (2021)[2]
 • Total75,000
 • Density2,600/km2 (6,700/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+4 (GMT+4)
Area code+994 26
Sources: Stepanakert city area and population[3]

The area that would become Stepanakert was originally an Armenian settlement named Vararakn.[9] During the Soviet period, the city was made the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, becoming a hub for economic and industrial activity.[1] In addition, the city became a hotbed for political activity, serving as the center for Armenian demonstrations calling for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. Stepanakert suffered extensive damage following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the outbreak of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War and passed into the hands of local Armenians with the establishment of the Republic of Artsakh.

During the control by the Armenians, the city was a regional center of education and culture, being home to Artsakh University, musical schools, and a palace of culture. The economy was based on the service industry and had varied enterprises, food processing, wine making, and silk weaving being the most important.[8] As of 2021, the population of Stepanakert was 75,000.[10]

On 29 September 2023, Azerbaijani authorities took control of the city, with almost the entire Armenian population fleeing to Armenia ahead of their advancing forces.[11]

Etymology

Medieval Armenian sources attest to a settlement in the locale called Vararakn (Armenian: Վարարակն, lit. 'rapid spring').[12][1] In 1847, the village was officially renamed from Vararakn to Khankendi by the Russian authorities;[13] however, Vararakn remained the local Armenian name for the town until 1923.[14]

Most Azerbaijani sources claim that the settlement was built in late 18th century, as a place of rest for the heads of the Karabakh Khanate. In the first years, it was known as "Khan's village" (Azerbaijani: Xanın kəndi) because only the khan's family and his relatives lived there. By the 19th century, the settlement was renamed Khankendi ("village of the khan" in Azerbaijani).[15]

The town was renamed Stepanakert ("city of Stepan") in 1923, after Armenian Bolshevik revolutionary Stepan Shahumian. The name is formed from the words Stepan (Armenian: Ստեփան) and kert (Armenian: կերտ, lit. 'created').[1]

History

Founding and Soviet era

 
19th century Russian postcard of Shusha with the garrison of Khankendi in the distance.

According to medieval Armenian sources, the settlement was originally an Armenian village named Vararakn (Armenian: Վարարակն).[9] From the 10th–16th centuries, the settlement was a part of the Armenian Principality of Khachen. Over the centuries, it would successively pass into the hands of the meliks of Karabakh and the Karabakh khans before coming under the control of the Russian Empire in 1822.[8]

In the Russian Empire, the town was a part of the Shusha uezd of the Elizavetpol Governorate.[8] According to the 19th-century author Raffi, in 1826, the local Armenian meliks met with the Persian crown prince Abbas Mirza, who had invaded Karabakh with his army,[16] in the village to reconcile with the Persians and ensure the safety of the Karabakh Armenian population.[17] In 1847, Vararakn was a village of about 132 houses, consisting of 80 Armenian households, 52 Russian households, an Armenian church, and a cemetery.[18] That same year, the village was renamed from Vararakn to Khankendi.[13] By 1886, there were 52 houses in the settlement. The population of Khankendi consisted of retired soldiers and their descendants, who belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church. The population was engaged in agriculture, as well as various crafts, carriage, the renting of apartments (mainly to military personnel), and so on.[19] After 1898, the tsarist government turned Khankendi into a Russian military garrison.[15] The garrison consisted of barracks, hospitals, and a church, as well as several houses where officers' families and a small local population, who supplied the military units with food, lived. The local population consisted of Armenians and Azerbaijanis.[20]

 
The Presidential Palace, formerly the building of the Supreme Soviet of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.

In February 1920, after a body thought to be of an Azerbaijani soldier was found, an anti-Armenian riot took place in the village that claimed several hundred lives.[21][22] Following the massacre of the Armenian population of Shusha in March 1920, the city received an influx of Armenians; as a result, Armenians formed the majority of the population from that time onwards.[23] In the summer of 1920, the city was occupied by part of the Red Army.[8] In 1923, Khankendi was renamed Stepanakert by the Soviet government in honor of Stepan Shahumian, a fallen Bolshevik party member and leader of the 26 Baku Commissars. The former regional capital was Shusha. However, following the depopulation of Armenians in Shusha, the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was sited in Stepanakert.[1] At the time of the formation of the NKAO, Stepanakert was a dilapidated settlement, where the number of surviving buildings barely reached 10 to 15. Some of the buildings were completely destroyed, others lacked doors and windows, while only walls remained from a number of buildings. During the first years of the oblast, some of the buildings were restored and many were rebuilt, roads were improved, and electricity and telephone communications were installed in the city.[24] In time, Stepanakert grew to become the region's most important city (a status it received in 1940). Its population rose from 10,459 in 1939 to 33,000 in 1978.[1]

In 1926, municipal authorities adopted a new city layout designed by Aleksandr Tamanian; two additional designs for expansion were approved in the 1930s and 1960s, both of which retained Tamanian's initial plan.[12] Several schools and two polyclinics were established, and an Armenian drama theater was founded in 1932 and named after Maxim Gorky.[1] In 1960, the ensemble of the central square of Stepanakert was built with the building of the regional committee (now the NKR government).[25] This square, then named after Lenin, became the arena of many rallies demanding the transfer of the NKAO to the Armenian SSR. By 1968, the first outbreak of ethnic violence occurred in Stepanakert. In the city, a trial was held over an Azerbaijani director of the city school who was accused of murdering an Armenian girl. The Armenians, who considered the verdict of the Azerbaijani judge too lenient, gathered outside the court building and burned the car which the criminal and judge were in.[26]

Stepanakert served as Nagorno-Karabakh's main economic hub, and by the mid-1980s there were nineteen factories in operation in the city, including an electrical and asphalt plant.[12] By the end of the Soviet era, Stepanakert had an agricultural technical school, a pedagogical institute, a medical and music school, a local history museum, and a drama theater.[25]

First Nagorno-Karabakh War and Armenian control

Main article: Stepanakert in the Republic of Artsakh
 
Renaissance Square.
 
Freedom Fighters' Boulevard in central Stepanakert.

The political and economic reforms that General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev undertook in 1985 saw a marked decentralization of Soviet authority. Armenians, in both the Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh, viewed Gorbachev's reform program as an opportunity to unite the two together. On 20 February 1988, tens of thousands of Armenians gathered to demonstrate in Stepanakert's Lenin Square (now Renaissance Square) to demand that the region be joined to Armenia. On the same day, the Supreme Soviet of Nagorno-Karabakh voted to join the Armenian SSR, a move strongly opposed by the Soviet Azerbaijani authorities.[27]

Relations between Stepanakert's Armenians and Azerbaijanis, who supported the Azerbaijani government's position, deteriorated in the following years. Inter-ethnic strife in the city in September 1988, encompassing physical attacks and burning of property, forced nearly all Azerbaijanis to flee the city. The Soviet Army took up positions in the city and announced a curfew three days later.[28][29] In 1990 the army dispatched special forces units and various other elements to Stepanakert in order to prevent its takeover by Azerbaijani forces.[30]

After Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Stepanakert was renamed Khankendi by the Azerbaijani government. Fighting broke out over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, which, after three years of war, resulted in Armenian control of the region and a connecting corridor to Armenia to the west. Prior to the conflict, Stepanakert was the largest city of the NKAO, with a population of 70,000 out of a total 189,000 (Armenians at the time comprised 75% of the region's total population).[31] By early 1992, that figure had dropped to 50,000.[32]

 
A T-72 tank memorial from the First Karabakh War.

During the war, the city suffered immense damage from Azerbaijani bombardment, especially in early 1992 when the Azerbaijanis positioned BM-21 Grad rocket artillery in Shusha and rained down missiles over Stepanakert. A journalist for Time noted in an April 1992 article that "scarcely a single building [had] escaped damage in Stepanakert."[32] It was not until 9 May 1992, with the capture of Shusha, that the ground bombardment ceased. The city, nevertheless, continued to suffer aerial bombardment until the end of the war. As a result, the majority of the city was in a severely damaged state.[33] As of 2016, the city had not been completely restored from the war.[8]

The city came under intense bombardment once again during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020. Residential areas were continuously hit by the Azerbaijani Army with cluster munitions throughout the war, starting on the first day of fighting, and residents were urged to use the city's bomb shelters.[34][35][36] As Azerbaijani forces advanced on the city of Shusha, the Lachin corridor was shut down by Artsakh authorities.[37]

With Azerbaijani forces 15 km (9.3 mi) from the capital, a ceasefire agreement was signed on 10 November. As part of the agreement, Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region.[38] Following the war, the population of Stepanakert swelled to 75,000 residents as a result of some 10,000 to 15,000 displaced people who lost their homes elsewhere in the Republic of Artsakh during the war.[10]

Control by Azerbaijan

 
President Ilham Aliyev raised the Flag of Azerbaijan over the city on 15 October 2023

On 19–20 September 2023 Azerbaijan launched a new offensive in the region, which ended in a ceasefire and led to a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians a few days later. By 29 September 2023, police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Artsakh left all their weapons in Stepanakert and completely abandoned the region.[39] Azerbaijani police vehicles began patrolling the area on 29 September and the Azerbaijani flag was placed on the city's We Are Our Mountains monument.[40][41][11] From 1 October, Azerbaijani officials began working from the former Artsakh police headquarters,[42] Azerbaijan took over responsibility for medical services in the city[43] and its area was covered by the Azerbaijani mobile networks.[44][45] An Al Jazeera news crew reported from the city later that day, showing deserted streets in what the reporter described as "A ghost town with no soul left".[46]

After the offensive and Armenian exodus, sources reported that Azerbaijani authorities issued a map of Stepanakert renaming one of the streets after Enver Pasha, one of the main perpetrators of the Armenian genocide.[47][48] An Azerbaijani official disputed this during a case at the International Court of Justice, saying that "No streets in Khankandi have been renamed".[49]

President Ilham Aliyev visited the city on 15 October and officially raised the flag of Azerbaijan at the building that was previously used as the Artsakh Presidential Palace.[50]

In the following months, Azerbaijani authorities dismantled monuments symbolizing Artsakh, including the Giant Cross and the Eagle Monument,[51][52] and statues of prominent Armenians in the city, among them, Stepan Shahumyan (after whom Stepanakert is named),[53] Charles Aznavour[54] and Alexander Myasnikyan.[55]

In early March 2024, Azerbaijani authorities demolished the National Assembly of Artsakh Building and the Artsakh Freedom Fighters Union Building.[56][57]

Geography and climate

Stepanakert is located on the Karabakh plateau, at an average altitude of 813 m (2,667 ft) above sea level.[58]

The city has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) according to the Köppen climate classification system[59] and an oceanic climate (Do) according to the Trewartha climate classification system.[60] In the month of January, the average temperature drops to 1 °C (34 °F). In July, it averages around 23 °C (73 °F). Extreme temperatures ranged from −15.0 °C (5 °F) on January 8, 1974, to 37.0 °C (99 °F) on July 11, 1978.[61]

Climate data for Stepanakert (1961–1990 normals, extremes 1959–1991)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 16.1
(61.0) 		19.0
(66.2) 		22.8
(73.0) 		30.3
(86.5) 		30.0
(86.0) 		37.0
(98.6) 		37.0
(98.6) 		36.0
(96.8) 		31.0
(87.8) 		25.0
(77.0) 		21.2
(70.2) 		21.0
(69.8) 		37.0
(98.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 4.7
(40.5) 		5.2
(41.4) 		9.0
(48.2) 		16.1
(61.0) 		19.5
(67.1) 		24.5
(76.1) 		28.1
(82.6) 		27.1
(80.8) 		23.2
(73.8) 		16.4
(61.5) 		11.4
(52.5) 		7.3
(45.1) 		16.0
(60.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 1.1
(34.0) 		1.4
(34.5) 		5.1
(41.2) 		11.6
(52.9) 		15.3
(59.5) 		19.8
(67.6) 		23.3
(73.9) 		22.3
(72.1) 		18.7
(65.7) 		12.6
(54.7) 		7.7
(45.9) 		3.7
(38.7) 		11.9
(53.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −2.6
(27.3) 		−2.5
(27.5) 		1.1
(34.0) 		7.0
(44.6) 		11.0
(51.8) 		15.1
(59.2) 		18.4
(65.1) 		17.4
(63.3) 		14.2
(57.6) 		8.7
(47.7) 		4.0
(39.2) 		0.1
(32.2) 		7.7
(45.8)
Record low °C (°F) −15.0
(5.0) 		−11.0
(12.2) 		−12.7
(9.1) 		−1.0
(30.2) 		4.0
(39.2) 		6.6
(43.9) 		11.3
(52.3) 		10.9
(51.6) 		6.0
(42.8) 		−2.0
(28.4) 		−6.0
(21.2) 		−8.6
(16.5) 		−15.0
(5.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 19
(0.7) 		25
(1.0) 		42
(1.7) 		49
(1.9) 		102
(4.0) 		79
(3.1) 		41
(1.6) 		27
(1.1) 		34
(1.3) 		39
(1.5) 		35
(1.4) 		13
(0.5) 		505
(19.9)
Average precipitation days 6 6 10 10 14 10 4 4 6 6 5 4 85
Source: NOAA[62][61]

Politics and government

During the period of the USSR, Stepanakert served as the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, between 1923 and 1991. With the self-declared independence of Artsakh in 1991, Stepanakert continued with its status as the political and cultural centre of the newly established republic, being home to all the national institutions: the Government House, the National Assembly, the Presidential Palace, the Constitutional Court, all ministries, judicial bodies and other government organizations.[8]

Under the Republic of Artsakh, the city of Stepanakert was governed by the Stepanakert City Council and the mayor of Stepanakert. The last local elections took place in September 2019.[63] The most recent mayor was Davit Sargsyan.[64]

Government buildings

  •  
    The National Assembly
  •  
    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  •  
    Government building, 20 February Street

Demographics

Year Armenians Azerbaijanis[b] Others Total
Number % Number % Number %
1897[66] 628 42.0 442 29.6 425 28.4 1,495
1926[65] 2,724 85.4 343 10.8 122 3.8 3,189
1939[65] 9,079 86.8 672 6.4 708 6.8 10,459
1959[65] 17,640 89.5 1,143 5.8 920 4.7 19,703
1970[65] 26,684 88.1 2,762 9.1 847 2.8 30,293
1979[65] 33,898 87.0 4,303 11.0 747 2.0 38,948
September 1988: First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Expulsion of Azerbaijani population[67]
2005[68] 49,848 99.7 2 0.0 136 0.3 49,986
2010[69] 52,900 52,900
2015[70] 55,309 55,309
September–November 2020:Second Nagorno-Karabakh War
2021[10] 75,000 75,000
September 2023: Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh
 
Saint James' Church

According to the data of the Transcaucasian Statistical Committee, extracted from the family lists of 1886, there were 71 houses and 279 residents registered in Khankendi (recorded as Ханкенды, Khankendy in Russian), of which 276 were Russians, 2 Armenians and 1 Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani), who were respectively Orthodox, Armenian Gregorian and Sunni Muslim by religion.[71] According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897, the village, labelled as Khan-kendy (Russian: Ханъ-кенды), had a population of 1,495 consisting of 801 men and 694 women; there were 628 Armenian Apostolics, 442 Muslims, and 394 Orthodox.[66]

According to the 1910 publication of the Caucasian Calendar—a statistical almanac published by the office of the viceroy—there were 362 residents in the village of Khankendy of the Shusha uezd of the Elizavetpol Governorate in 1908, predominantly Russians.[72] The 1912 publication of the Caucasian Calendar registered 1,076 residents, also predominantly Russians.[73] According to the 1915 publication of the Caucasian Calendar, there were 1,550 predominantly Tatar residents in Khankendi.[74] According to the Azerbaijani agricultural census of 1921, Khankendi had a population of 1,208 residents, mostly Armenians.[75] In 1973, Stepanakert had a population of 32,000.[76]

Religion

The late-19th-century church of Vararakn was destroyed in the 1930s to build the Stepanakert Drama Theatre. Throughout the rest of the Soviet era, there were no traditional churches in Stepanakert, although most of the population of the city were members of the Armenian Apostolic Church.[77]

The church of Surp Hakob (or Saint James) was opened in 2007; it remained the only open church in the city until 2019. The church was financed by Nerses Yepremian from Los Angeles. The church was consecrated on 9 May 2007, in honor of the 15th anniversary of the capture of Shusha by Armenian forces.[78]

The construction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral was launched on 19 July 2006. The cost of the project was expected to be around US$2 million and the architect of the church is Gagik Yeranosyan.[79] However, the construction process was slow due to a lack of financial resources. The inauguration of the church was expected to take place in September 2016.[80] Construction finished and the church was opened in 2019.[81]

There was small community of Armenian Evangelicals with around 500 members. The only Armenian evangelical church in Artsakh is located in Stepanakert. The Evangelical community supported many schools, hospitals and other institutions through the help of the Armenian Diaspora.[82]

Transport

 
A routed taxicab minibus in Stepanakert
 
Stepanakert Airport

Bus

Stepanakert was served by a number of regular minibus lines. Old Soviet-era buses have been replaced with new modern buses. Regular trips to other provinces of Nagorno-Karabakh were also operated from the city.[83]

Air

Stepanakert was served by the nearby Stepanakert Airport, north of the city near the town of Khojaly. In 2009, facilities reconstruction and repair work began.[84] Though originally scheduled to launch the first commercial flights on 9 May 2011, Karabakh officials postponed a new reopening date throughout the whole of 2011.[85] In May 2012, the director of the NKR's Civil Aviation Administration, Tigran Gabrielyan, announced that the airport would begin operations in summer 2012.[86] However, the airport still remains closed due to political reasons. The OSCE Minsk Group, which mediates the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, stated that "operation of [Stepanakert Airport] cannot be used to support any claim of a change in the status of Nagorno-Karabakh" and "urged the sides to act in accordance with international law and consistent with current practice for flights over their territory."[87]

Railway

Stepanakert used to be connected through a railway line with the Yevlakh station on the Baku-Tbilisi railway.[88] However, trips were discontinued due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[89]

Economy

 
Stepanakert Bazaar (Shuka)

During the Artsakh control, the city was a regional center of education and culture, being home to Artsakh University, musical schools, and a palace of culture. The economy is based on the service industry and has varied enterprises, food processing, wine making, and silk weaving being the most important.[8] As of 2021, the population of Stepanakert was 75,000.[10]

Stepanakert was the center of the economy of Artsakh. Prior to the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the economy of Stepanakert was mainly based on food-processing industries, silk weaving and winemaking.[12] Inhabitants also engaged in producing furniture and footwear.[8] The economy was severely damaged due to the 1988 earthquake in Armenia and the First Nagorno Karabakh war.[90] In the years following, the economy was developed further, mainly due to investments from the Armenian diaspora. However, following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, the economy once again experienced severe damage, particularly in the tourism sector.[91]

The most developed sectors of Stepanakert and the rest of the Republic of Artsakh are tourism and services. Several hotels were opened by diasporan Armenians from Russia, the United States and Australia.[92] Artsakhbank was the largest banking services provider in Artsakh, while Karabakh Telecom was the leading provider of mobile telecommunications and other communication services.

Stepanakert was also home to many large industrial firms, including Stepanakert Brandy Factory, Artsakh Berry food products and Artsakh Footwear Factory. [citation needed]

Construction was also one of the leading sectors in the city. Artsakh Hek is the leading construction firm, while Base Metals was the leader in mining and production of building materials. [citation needed]

Culture

 
We Are Our Mountains
 
Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God

The Vahram Papazyan Drama Theater of Stepanakert was founded in 1932. In 1967, the monumental complex of Stepanakert known as We Are Our Mountains was erected to the north of Stepanakert,[93] It is widely regarded as a symbol of the Armenian heritage of the historic Artsakh.[94] After the independence of Armenia, many cultural and youth centres were reopened. The cultural palace of the city is named after Charles Aznavour.[95]

Stepanakert is home to the Mesrop Mashtots Republican Library opened in 1924, Artsakh History Museum opened in 1939, Hovhannes Tumanyan Children's Library opened in 1947, Stepanakert National Gallery opened in 1982, and the Memorial Museum of the Martyred Liberators opened in 2002. A new cultural complex of the Armenian heritage of Artsakh is under construction.[96]

The Artsakh State Museum based in Stepanakert, has an important collection of ancient artifacts and Christian manuscripts.[97]

Education

 
The Union of Artsakh Freedom Fighters

Stepanakert was the center of higher education in Artsakh.[8] Five higher educational institutions operated in the city:

  • Artsakh State University, founded in 1969 as a branch of the Baku Pedagogical Institute. In 1973, it was renamed Stepanakert Pedagogical Institute and following the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, in 1992, it received its current status. The university offered courses spread across seven departments and has 4,500 students.[98]
  • Stepanakert campus of the Armenian National Agrarian University.[99]
  • Grigor Narekatsi University (private).[100]
  • Mesrop Mashtots University (private).[100]
  • Gyurjyan Institute for Applied Arts (private).[100]

Many new schools in Stepanakert were opened from the late 1990s to 2010 with the help of the Armenian diaspora.[101] Existing schools were also renovated with donations from the diaspora.[102]

The Stepanakert branch of Tumo Center for Creative Technologies was opened in September 2015, as a result of continued cooperation between the Tumo Centre and the Armenian General Benevolent Union, with the support of mobile operator Karabakh Telecom.[103][104]

Sport

 
Stepanakert Republican Stadium

Football is a popular sport in Nagorno-Karabakh and the city has a renovated football stadium. Since the mid-1990s, football teams from Karabakh started taking part in some domestic competitions in Armenia. Lernayin Artsakh is the football club that represents the city of Stepanakert. The Artsakh national football league was launched in 2009.[105]

The non-FIFA affiliated Artsakh national football team was formed in 2012 and played their first competitive match against the unrecognized Abkhazia national football team in Sukhumi on 17 September 2012. The match ended with a 1–1 draw.[106][107] The following month, on 21 October 2012, Artsakh played the return match at the Stepanakert Republican Stadium against Abkhazia, winning it with a result of 3–0.[108]

There is also interest in other sports, including basketball and volleyball.

Artsakh athletes also take part with the representing teams and athletes in the Pan-Armenian Games, organized in Armenia.[109]

As an unrecognized entity, the athletes of Artsakh compete in international sports competitions under the flag of Armenia.[105]

Twin towns – sister cities

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Republic of Artsakh

Stepanakert is twinned with:

  • Montebello, United States: On 25 September 2005, Montebello, California and Stepanakert became sister cities. This prompted a complaint by the ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States, Hafiz Pashayev, who sent a letter to California leaders, stating that the decision jeopardized peace talks between his country and Armenia.[110] The letter was sent to then-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who deferred the letter to Montebello mayor Bill Molinari since it concerned a local, not a state, issue. Molinari responded to Pashayev that the city would go ahead with its plans to inaugurate Stepanakert under the sister city program.[110] Stepanakert's relationship with Montebello is aimed at revitalizing the capital's economic infrastructure and building cultural and educational ties, as well as developing trade and health care between the two cities. Azerbaijan has described this as a contradictory foreign policy of the United States that supports the NKR government and Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan.[111]
  • Mairiporã, Brazil: Since June 18, 2018, Law 3767/18 has made Eternal Armenia the name that declares Sister Cities the Municipalities of Mairiporã, State of São Paulo, and Stepanakert, capital of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic which triggered an alert from Itamaraty, Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the attitude of the Municipality as Brazil does not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.[112]

Friendship declarations

  • On 22 May 1998, Stepanakert and the commune of Villeurbanne in France signed a Friendship Declaration.[113]
  • On 28 September 2012, Stepanakert and Yerevan, Armenia, the capitals of the two Armenian republics, became friends after signing a partnership agreement.[114]
  • On 15 September 2014, San Sebastián, Spain, and Stepanakert signed a cooperation agreement.[115]
  • On 17 May 2015, Stepanakert and the commune of Valence in France signed a Friendship Declaration.[113]
  • On 3 February 2016, Stepanakert signed a Friendship Declaration with the municipality of Franco da Rocha, Brazil.[113]
  • On 23 July 2019, Stepanakert signed a Friendship Declaration with the City of Ryde, Australia.[116]

Notable people

 
Serzh Sargsyan; third President of Armenia.

Notes

  1. ^ The city has been described as a 'Ghost Town' by several sources following the Azerbaijani takeover.[4][5][6][7]
  2. ^ Mentioned as "Muslims" in the 1897 census and "Turks" in the 1926 census.[65]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Hewsen 2001, p. 265
  2. ^ "Figures" (PDF). stat-nkr.am. 2015. (PDF) from the original on 12 September 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  3. ^ "General Characteristics of the NKR" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Nagorno-Karabakh's abandoned capital transforms under Azerbaijani rule". Eurasianet. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024. It was once the seat of a de facto government. Now it's a ghost town that plays host to projections of its conquerors' power
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  • Stepanakert Municipality (hy)
  • 360 Panoramic view of the City Center (en)
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January 01, 1970
stepanakert, xankəndi, redirects, here, other, uses, xankəndi, disambiguation, parts, this, article, those, related, artsakh, need, updated, please, help, update, this, article, reflect, recent, events, newly, available, information, october, 2023, armenian, Ս. Xankendi redirects here For other uses see Xankendi disambiguation Parts of this article those related to the Artsakh era need to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information October 2023 Stepanakert Armenian Ստեփանակերտ romanized Step anakert Eastern pronunciation stɛpʰɑnɑˈkɛɾt or Khankendi Azerbaijani Xankendi pronounced xɑnkaenˈdi is a ghost city a in the Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan The city was under the control and the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in the region The city is located in a valley on the eastern slopes of the Karabakh mountain range on the left bank of the Qarqarcay Karkar river 8 Stepanakert Khankendi Ստեփանակերտ XankendiCityFrom top left Holy Mother of God Cathedral Renaissance Square Downtown Stepanakert Stepanakert Airport Stepanakert skyline Park Hotel Artsakh We Are Our Mountains Artsakh University Stepanakert MemorialStepanakert KhankendiLocation of Stepanakert Khankendi in Azerbaijan and its Karabakh Economic Region Show map of AzerbaijanStepanakert KhankendiStepanakert Khankendi Karabakh Economic Region Show map of Karabakh Economic RegionCoordinates 39 48 55 N 46 45 7 E 39 81528 N 46 75194 E 39 81528 46 75194CountryAzerbaijanRegionKarabakhCity status1940 1 Area Total29 12 km2 11 24 sq mi Elevation813 m 2 667 ft Population 2021 2 Total75 000 Density2 600 km2 6 700 sq mi Time zoneUTC 4 GMT 4 Area code 994 26Sources Stepanakert city area and population 3 The area that would become Stepanakert was originally an Armenian settlement named Vararakn 9 During the Soviet period the city was made the capital of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast becoming a hub for economic and industrial activity 1 In addition the city became a hotbed for political activity serving as the center for Armenian demonstrations calling for the unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia Stepanakert suffered extensive damage following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the outbreak of the First Nagorno Karabakh War and passed into the hands of local Armenians with the establishment of the Republic of Artsakh During the control by the Armenians the city was a regional center of education and culture being home to Artsakh University musical schools and a palace of culture The economy was based on the service industry and had varied enterprises food processing wine making and silk weaving being the most important 8 As of 2021 the population of Stepanakert was 75 000 10 On 29 September 2023 Azerbaijani authorities took control of the city with almost the entire Armenian population fleeing to Armenia ahead of their advancing forces 11 Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Founding and Soviet era 2 2 First Nagorno Karabakh War and Armenian control 2 3 Control by Azerbaijan 3 Geography and climate 4 Politics and government 4 1 Government buildings 5 Demographics 6 Religion 7 Transport 7 1 Bus 7 2 Air 7 3 Railway 8 Economy 9 Culture 9 1 Education 9 2 Sport 9 3 Twin towns sister cities 9 4 Friendship declarations 10 Notable people 11 Notes 12 References 12 1 Bibliography 13 External linksEtymologyMedieval Armenian sources attest to a settlement in the locale called Vararakn Armenian Վարարակն lit rapid spring 12 1 In 1847 the village was officially renamed from Vararakn to Khankendi by the Russian authorities 13 however Vararakn remained the local Armenian name for the town until 1923 14 Most Azerbaijani sources claim that the settlement was built in late 18th century as a place of rest for the heads of the Karabakh Khanate In the first years it was known as Khan s village Azerbaijani Xanin kendi because only the khan s family and his relatives lived there By the 19th century the settlement was renamed Khankendi village of the khan in Azerbaijani 15 The town was renamed Stepanakert city of Stepan in 1923 after Armenian Bolshevik revolutionary Stepan Shahumian The name is formed from the words Stepan Armenian Ստեփան and kert Armenian կերտ lit created 1 HistoryFounding and Soviet era nbsp 19th century Russian postcard of Shusha with the garrison of Khankendi in the distance According to medieval Armenian sources the settlement was originally an Armenian village named Vararakn Armenian Վարարակն 9 From the 10th 16th centuries the settlement was a part of the Armenian Principality of Khachen Over the centuries it would successively pass into the hands of the meliks of Karabakh and the Karabakh khans before coming under the control of the Russian Empire in 1822 8 In the Russian Empire the town was a part of the Shusha uezd of the Elizavetpol Governorate 8 According to the 19th century author Raffi in 1826 the local Armenian meliks met with the Persian crown prince Abbas Mirza who had invaded Karabakh with his army 16 in the village to reconcile with the Persians and ensure the safety of the Karabakh Armenian population 17 In 1847 Vararakn was a village of about 132 houses consisting of 80 Armenian households 52 Russian households an Armenian church and a cemetery 18 That same year the village was renamed from Vararakn to Khankendi 13 By 1886 there were 52 houses in the settlement The population of Khankendi consisted of retired soldiers and their descendants who belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church The population was engaged in agriculture as well as various crafts carriage the renting of apartments mainly to military personnel and so on 19 After 1898 the tsarist government turned Khankendi into a Russian military garrison 15 The garrison consisted of barracks hospitals and a church as well as several houses where officers families and a small local population who supplied the military units with food lived The local population consisted of Armenians and Azerbaijanis 20 nbsp The Presidential Palace formerly the building of the Supreme Soviet of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast In February 1920 after a body thought to be of an Azerbaijani soldier was found an anti Armenian riot took place in the village that claimed several hundred lives 21 22 Following the massacre of the Armenian population of Shusha in March 1920 the city received an influx of Armenians as a result Armenians formed the majority of the population from that time onwards 23 In the summer of 1920 the city was occupied by part of the Red Army 8 In 1923 Khankendi was renamed Stepanakert by the Soviet government in honor of Stepan Shahumian a fallen Bolshevik party member and leader of the 26 Baku Commissars The former regional capital was Shusha However following the depopulation of Armenians in Shusha the capital of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast NKAO was sited in Stepanakert 1 At the time of the formation of the NKAO Stepanakert was a dilapidated settlement where the number of surviving buildings barely reached 10 to 15 Some of the buildings were completely destroyed others lacked doors and windows while only walls remained from a number of buildings During the first years of the oblast some of the buildings were restored and many were rebuilt roads were improved and electricity and telephone communications were installed in the city 24 In time Stepanakert grew to become the region s most important city a status it received in 1940 Its population rose from 10 459 in 1939 to 33 000 in 1978 1 In 1926 municipal authorities adopted a new city layout designed by Aleksandr Tamanian two additional designs for expansion were approved in the 1930s and 1960s both of which retained Tamanian s initial plan 12 Several schools and two polyclinics were established and an Armenian drama theater was founded in 1932 and named after Maxim Gorky 1 In 1960 the ensemble of the central square of Stepanakert was built with the building of the regional committee now the NKR government 25 This square then named after Lenin became the arena of many rallies demanding the transfer of the NKAO to the Armenian SSR By 1968 the first outbreak of ethnic violence occurred in Stepanakert In the city a trial was held over an Azerbaijani director of the city school who was accused of murdering an Armenian girl The Armenians who considered the verdict of the Azerbaijani judge too lenient gathered outside the court building and burned the car which the criminal and judge were in 26 Stepanakert served as Nagorno Karabakh s main economic hub and by the mid 1980s there were nineteen factories in operation in the city including an electrical and asphalt plant 12 By the end of the Soviet era Stepanakert had an agricultural technical school a pedagogical institute a medical and music school a local history museum and a drama theater 25 First Nagorno Karabakh War and Armenian control Main article Stepanakert in the Republic of Artsakh nbsp Renaissance Square nbsp Freedom Fighters Boulevard in central Stepanakert The political and economic reforms that General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev undertook in 1985 saw a marked decentralization of Soviet authority Armenians in both the Armenian SSR and Nagorno Karabakh viewed Gorbachev s reform program as an opportunity to unite the two together On 20 February 1988 tens of thousands of Armenians gathered to demonstrate in Stepanakert s Lenin Square now Renaissance Square to demand that the region be joined to Armenia On the same day the Supreme Soviet of Nagorno Karabakh voted to join the Armenian SSR a move strongly opposed by the Soviet Azerbaijani authorities 27 Relations between Stepanakert s Armenians and Azerbaijanis who supported the Azerbaijani government s position deteriorated in the following years Inter ethnic strife in the city in September 1988 encompassing physical attacks and burning of property forced nearly all Azerbaijanis to flee the city The Soviet Army took up positions in the city and announced a curfew three days later 28 29 In 1990 the army dispatched special forces units and various other elements to Stepanakert in order to prevent its takeover by Azerbaijani forces 30 After Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 Stepanakert was renamed Khankendi by the Azerbaijani government Fighting broke out over control of Nagorno Karabakh which after three years of war resulted in Armenian control of the region and a connecting corridor to Armenia to the west Prior to the conflict Stepanakert was the largest city of the NKAO with a population of 70 000 out of a total 189 000 Armenians at the time comprised 75 of the region s total population 31 By early 1992 that figure had dropped to 50 000 32 nbsp A T 72 tank memorial from the First Karabakh War During the war the city suffered immense damage from Azerbaijani bombardment especially in early 1992 when the Azerbaijanis positioned BM 21 Grad rocket artillery in Shusha and rained down missiles over Stepanakert A journalist for Time noted in an April 1992 article that scarcely a single building had escaped damage in Stepanakert 32 It was not until 9 May 1992 with the capture of Shusha that the ground bombardment ceased The city nevertheless continued to suffer aerial bombardment until the end of the war As a result the majority of the city was in a severely damaged state 33 As of 2016 the city had not been completely restored from the war 8 The city came under intense bombardment once again during the Second Nagorno Karabakh War in 2020 Residential areas were continuously hit by the Azerbaijani Army with cluster munitions throughout the war starting on the first day of fighting and residents were urged to use the city s bomb shelters 34 35 36 As Azerbaijani forces advanced on the city of Shusha the Lachin corridor was shut down by Artsakh authorities 37 With Azerbaijani forces 15 km 9 3 mi from the capital a ceasefire agreement was signed on 10 November As part of the agreement Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region 38 Following the war the population of Stepanakert swelled to 75 000 residents as a result of some 10 000 to 15 000 displaced people who lost their homes elsewhere in the Republic of Artsakh during the war 10 Control by Azerbaijan nbsp President Ilham Aliyev raised the Flag of Azerbaijan over the city on 15 October 2023 On 19 20 September 2023 Azerbaijan launched a new offensive in the region which ended in a ceasefire and led to a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians a few days later By 29 September 2023 police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Artsakh left all their weapons in Stepanakert and completely abandoned the region 39 Azerbaijani police vehicles began patrolling the area on 29 September and the Azerbaijani flag was placed on the city s We Are Our Mountains monument 40 41 11 From 1 October Azerbaijani officials began working from the former Artsakh police headquarters 42 Azerbaijan took over responsibility for medical services in the city 43 and its area was covered by the Azerbaijani mobile networks 44 45 An Al Jazeera news crew reported from the city later that day showing deserted streets in what the reporter described as A ghost town with no soul left 46 After the offensive and Armenian exodus sources reported that Azerbaijani authorities issued a map of Stepanakert renaming one of the streets after Enver Pasha one of the main perpetrators of the Armenian genocide 47 48 An Azerbaijani official disputed this during a case at the International Court of Justice saying that No streets in Khankandi have been renamed 49 President Ilham Aliyev visited the city on 15 October and officially raised the flag of Azerbaijan at the building that was previously used as the Artsakh Presidential Palace 50 In the following months Azerbaijani authorities dismantled monuments symbolizing Artsakh including the Giant Cross and the Eagle Monument 51 52 and statues of prominent Armenians in the city among them Stepan Shahumyan after whom Stepanakert is named 53 Charles Aznavour 54 and Alexander Myasnikyan 55 In early March 2024 Azerbaijani authorities demolished the National Assembly of Artsakh Building and the Artsakh Freedom Fighters Union Building 56 57 Geography and climateStepanakert is located on the Karabakh plateau at an average altitude of 813 m 2 667 ft above sea level 58 The city has a humid subtropical climate Cfa according to the Koppen climate classification system 59 and an oceanic climate Do according to the Trewartha climate classification system 60 In the month of January the average temperature drops to 1 C 34 F In July it averages around 23 C 73 F Extreme temperatures ranged from 15 0 C 5 F on January 8 1974 to 37 0 C 99 F on July 11 1978 61 Climate data for Stepanakert 1961 1990 normals extremes 1959 1991 Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high C F 16 1 61 0 19 0 66 2 22 8 73 0 30 3 86 5 30 0 86 0 37 0 98 6 37 0 98 6 36 0 96 8 31 0 87 8 25 0 77 0 21 2 70 2 21 0 69 8 37 0 98 6 Mean daily maximum C F 4 7 40 5 5 2 41 4 9 0 48 2 16 1 61 0 19 5 67 1 24 5 76 1 28 1 82 6 27 1 80 8 23 2 73 8 16 4 61 5 11 4 52 5 7 3 45 1 16 0 60 9 Daily mean C F 1 1 34 0 1 4 34 5 5 1 41 2 11 6 52 9 15 3 59 5 19 8 67 6 23 3 73 9 22 3 72 1 18 7 65 7 12 6 54 7 7 7 45 9 3 7 38 7 11 9 53 4 Mean daily minimum C F 2 6 27 3 2 5 27 5 1 1 34 0 7 0 44 6 11 0 51 8 15 1 59 2 18 4 65 1 17 4 63 3 14 2 57 6 8 7 47 7 4 0 39 2 0 1 32 2 7 7 45 8 Record low C F 15 0 5 0 11 0 12 2 12 7 9 1 1 0 30 2 4 0 39 2 6 6 43 9 11 3 52 3 10 9 51 6 6 0 42 8 2 0 28 4 6 0 21 2 8 6 16 5 15 0 5 0 Average precipitation mm inches 19 0 7 25 1 0 42 1 7 49 1 9 102 4 0 79 3 1 41 1 6 27 1 1 34 1 3 39 1 5 35 1 4 13 0 5 505 19 9 Average precipitation days 6 6 10 10 14 10 4 4 6 6 5 4 85 Source NOAA 62 61 Politics and governmentDuring the period of the USSR Stepanakert served as the capital of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic between 1923 and 1991 With the self declared independence of Artsakh in 1991 Stepanakert continued with its status as the political and cultural centre of the newly established republic being home to all the national institutions the Government House the National Assembly the Presidential Palace the Constitutional Court all ministries judicial bodies and other government organizations 8 Under the Republic of Artsakh the city of Stepanakert was governed by the Stepanakert City Council and the mayor of Stepanakert The last local elections took place in September 2019 63 The most recent mayor was Davit Sargsyan 64 Government buildings nbsp The National Assembly nbsp The Ministry of Foreign Affairs nbsp Government building 20 February StreetDemographicsYear Armenians Azerbaijanis b Others Total Number Number Number 1897 66 628 42 0 442 29 6 425 28 4 1 495 1926 65 2 724 85 4 343 10 8 122 3 8 3 189 1939 65 9 079 86 8 672 6 4 708 6 8 10 459 1959 65 17 640 89 5 1 143 5 8 920 4 7 19 703 1970 65 26 684 88 1 2 762 9 1 847 2 8 30 293 1979 65 33 898 87 0 4 303 11 0 747 2 0 38 948 September 1988 First Nagorno Karabakh War Expulsion of Azerbaijani population 67 2005 68 49 848 99 7 2 0 0 136 0 3 49 986 2010 69 52 900 52 900 2015 70 55 309 55 309 September November 2020 Second Nagorno Karabakh War 2021 10 75 000 75 000 September 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno Karabakh nbsp Saint James Church According to the data of the Transcaucasian Statistical Committee extracted from the family lists of 1886 there were 71 houses and 279 residents registered in Khankendi recorded as Hankendy Khankendy in Russian of which 276 were Russians 2 Armenians and 1 Tatar later known as Azerbaijani who were respectively Orthodox Armenian Gregorian and Sunni Muslim by religion 71 According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897 the village labelled as Khan kendy Russian Han kendy had a population of 1 495 consisting of 801 men and 694 women there were 628 Armenian Apostolics 442 Muslims and 394 Orthodox 66 According to the 1910 publication of the Caucasian Calendar a statistical almanac published by the office of the viceroy there were 362 residents in the village of Khankendy of the Shusha uezd of the Elizavetpol Governorate in 1908 predominantly Russians 72 The 1912 publication of the Caucasian Calendar registered 1 076 residents also predominantly Russians 73 According to the 1915 publication of the Caucasian Calendar there were 1 550 predominantly Tatar residents in Khankendi 74 According to the Azerbaijani agricultural census of 1921 Khankendi had a population of 1 208 residents mostly Armenians 75 In 1973 Stepanakert had a population of 32 000 76 ReligionThe late 19th century church of Vararakn was destroyed in the 1930s to build the Stepanakert Drama Theatre Throughout the rest of the Soviet era there were no traditional churches in Stepanakert although most of the population of the city were members of the Armenian Apostolic Church 77 The church of Surp Hakob or Saint James was opened in 2007 it remained the only open church in the city until 2019 The church was financed by Nerses Yepremian from Los Angeles The church was consecrated on 9 May 2007 in honor of the 15th anniversary of the capture of Shusha by Armenian forces 78 The construction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral was launched on 19 July 2006 The cost of the project was expected to be around US 2 million and the architect of the church is Gagik Yeranosyan 79 However the construction process was slow due to a lack of financial resources The inauguration of the church was expected to take place in September 2016 80 Construction finished and the church was opened in 2019 81 There was small community of Armenian Evangelicals with around 500 members The only Armenian evangelical church in Artsakh is located in Stepanakert The Evangelical community supported many schools hospitals and other institutions through the help of the Armenian Diaspora 82 Transport nbsp A routed taxicab minibus in Stepanakert nbsp Stepanakert Airport Bus Stepanakert was served by a number of regular minibus lines Old Soviet era buses have been replaced with new modern buses Regular trips to other provinces of Nagorno Karabakh were also operated from the city 83 Air Stepanakert was served by the nearby Stepanakert Airport north of the city near the town of Khojaly In 2009 facilities reconstruction and repair work began 84 Though originally scheduled to launch the first commercial flights on 9 May 2011 Karabakh officials postponed a new reopening date throughout the whole of 2011 85 In May 2012 the director of the NKR s Civil Aviation Administration Tigran Gabrielyan announced that the airport would begin operations in summer 2012 86 However the airport still remains closed due to political reasons The OSCE Minsk Group which mediates the Nagorno Karabakh conflict stated that operation of Stepanakert Airport cannot be used to support any claim of a change in the status of Nagorno Karabakh and urged the sides to act in accordance with international law and consistent with current practice for flights over their territory 87 Railway Stepanakert used to be connected through a railway line with the Yevlakh station on the Baku Tbilisi railway 88 However trips were discontinued due to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict 89 Economy nbsp Stepanakert Bazaar Shuka During the Artsakh control the city was a regional center of education and culture being home to Artsakh University musical schools and a palace of culture The economy is based on the service industry and has varied enterprises food processing wine making and silk weaving being the most important 8 As of 2021 the population of Stepanakert was 75 000 10 Stepanakert was the center of the economy of Artsakh Prior to the First Nagorno Karabakh War the economy of Stepanakert was mainly based on food processing industries silk weaving and winemaking 12 Inhabitants also engaged in producing furniture and footwear 8 The economy was severely damaged due to the 1988 earthquake in Armenia and the First Nagorno Karabakh war 90 In the years following the economy was developed further mainly due to investments from the Armenian diaspora However following the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war the economy once again experienced severe damage particularly in the tourism sector 91 The most developed sectors of Stepanakert and the rest of the Republic of Artsakh are tourism and services Several hotels were opened by diasporan Armenians from Russia the United States and Australia 92 Artsakhbank was the largest banking services provider in Artsakh while Karabakh Telecom was the leading provider of mobile telecommunications and other communication services Stepanakert was also home to many large industrial firms including Stepanakert Brandy Factory Artsakh Berry food products and Artsakh Footwear Factory citation needed Construction was also one of the leading sectors in the city Artsakh Hek is the leading construction firm while Base Metals was the leader in mining and production of building materials citation needed CultureThis article needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information October 2023 nbsp We Are Our Mountains nbsp Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God The Vahram Papazyan Drama Theater of Stepanakert was founded in 1932 In 1967 the monumental complex of Stepanakert known as We Are Our Mountains was erected to the north of Stepanakert 93 It is widely regarded as a symbol of the Armenian heritage of the historic Artsakh 94 After the independence of Armenia many cultural and youth centres were reopened The cultural palace of the city is named after Charles Aznavour 95 Stepanakert is home to the Mesrop Mashtots Republican Library opened in 1924 Artsakh History Museum opened in 1939 Hovhannes Tumanyan Children s Library opened in 1947 Stepanakert National Gallery opened in 1982 and the Memorial Museum of the Martyred Liberators opened in 2002 A new cultural complex of the Armenian heritage of Artsakh is under construction 96 The Artsakh State Museum based in Stepanakert has an important collection of ancient artifacts and Christian manuscripts 97 Education nbsp The Union of Artsakh Freedom Fighters Stepanakert was the center of higher education in Artsakh 8 Five higher educational institutions operated in the city Artsakh State University founded in 1969 as a branch of the Baku Pedagogical Institute In 1973 it was renamed Stepanakert Pedagogical Institute and following the independence of Nagorno Karabakh in 1992 it received its current status The university offered courses spread across seven departments and has 4 500 students 98 Stepanakert campus of the Armenian National Agrarian University 99 Grigor Narekatsi University private 100 Mesrop Mashtots University private 100 Gyurjyan Institute for Applied Arts private 100 Many new schools in Stepanakert were opened from the late 1990s to 2010 with the help of the Armenian diaspora 101 Existing schools were also renovated with donations from the diaspora 102 The Stepanakert branch of Tumo Center for Creative Technologies was opened in September 2015 as a result of continued cooperation between the Tumo Centre and the Armenian General Benevolent Union with the support of mobile operator Karabakh Telecom 103 104 Sport nbsp Stepanakert Republican Stadium Football is a popular sport in Nagorno Karabakh and the city has a renovated football stadium Since the mid 1990s football teams from Karabakh started taking part in some domestic competitions in Armenia Lernayin Artsakh is the football club that represents the city of Stepanakert The Artsakh national football league was launched in 2009 105 The non FIFA affiliated Artsakh national football team was formed in 2012 and played their first competitive match against the unrecognized Abkhazia national football team in Sukhumi on 17 September 2012 The match ended with a 1 1 draw 106 107 The following month on 21 October 2012 Artsakh played the return match at the Stepanakert Republican Stadium against Abkhazia winning it with a result of 3 0 108 There is also interest in other sports including basketball and volleyball Artsakh athletes also take part with the representing teams and athletes in the Pan Armenian Games organized in Armenia 109 As an unrecognized entity the athletes of Artsakh compete in international sports competitions under the flag of Armenia 105 Twin towns sister cities Main article List of twin towns and sister cities in the Republic of Artsakh Stepanakert is twinned with Montebello United States On 25 September 2005 Montebello California and Stepanakert became sister cities This prompted a complaint by the ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States Hafiz Pashayev who sent a letter to California leaders stating that the decision jeopardized peace talks between his country and Armenia 110 The letter was sent to then California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who deferred the letter to Montebello mayor Bill Molinari since it concerned a local not a state issue Molinari responded to Pashayev that the city would go ahead with its plans to inaugurate Stepanakert under the sister city program 110 Stepanakert s relationship with Montebello is aimed at revitalizing the capital s economic infrastructure and building cultural and educational ties as well as developing trade and health care between the two cities Azerbaijan has described this as a contradictory foreign policy of the United States that supports the NKR government and Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan 111 Mairipora Brazil Since June 18 2018 Law 3767 18 has made Eternal Armenia the name that declares Sister Cities the Municipalities of Mairipora State of Sao Paulo and Stepanakert capital of the self declared Nagorno Karabakh Republic which triggered an alert from Itamaraty Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the attitude of the Municipality as Brazil does not recognize the independence of Nagorno Karabakh 112 Friendship declarations On 22 May 1998 Stepanakert and the commune of Villeurbanne in France signed a Friendship Declaration 113 On 28 September 2012 Stepanakert and Yerevan Armenia the capitals of the two Armenian republics became friends after signing a partnership agreement 114 On 15 September 2014 San Sebastian Spain and Stepanakert signed a cooperation agreement 115 On 17 May 2015 Stepanakert and the commune of Valence in France signed a Friendship Declaration 113 On 3 February 2016 Stepanakert signed a Friendship Declaration with the municipality of Franco da Rocha Brazil 113 On 23 July 2019 Stepanakert signed a Friendship Declaration with the City of Ryde Australia 116 Notable people nbsp Serzh Sargsyan third President of Armenia Armen Abaghian Armenian academic 117 Andre Armenian singer 118 Don Askarian Armenian filmmaker 119 Vladimir Arzumanyan Armenian singer winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010 120 Samvel Babayan Armenian military general 121 Zori Balayan Armenian writer 122 Karen Karapetyan 14th Prime Minister of Armenia 123 Robert Kocharyan second President of Armenia 124 Fakhraddin Manafov Azerbaijani actor 125 Bakhshi Galandarli Azerbaijani theatrical figure actor and director 126 Serzh Sargsyan third President of Armenia 127 Roza Sarkisian theatre director in Ukraine 128 Nikolay Yenikolopyan Soviet Armenian chemist academician 129 Gor Manvelyan professional footballerNotes The city has been described as a Ghost Town by several sources following the Azerbaijani takeover 4 5 6 7 Mentioned as Muslims in the 1897 census and Turks in the 1926 census 65 References a b c d e f g Hewsen 2001 p 265 Figures PDF stat nkr am 2015 Archived PDF from the original on 12 September 2020 Retrieved 12 April 2016 General Characteristics of the NKR PDF Archived PDF from the original on 29 September 2015 Retrieved 16 September 2015 Nagorno Karabakh s abandoned capital transforms under Azerbaijani rule Eurasianet 11 January 2024 Retrieved 2 February 2024 It was once the seat of a de facto government Now it s a ghost town that plays host to projections of its conquerors power Nechepurenko Ivan 17 November 2023 What s Left When a Long War Suddenly Ends The New York Times ISSN 1553 8095 the Nagorno Karabakh city of Stepanakert also known as Khankendi a ghost town after its ethnic Armenian residents fled in fear as Azerbaijani troops captured the area Barseghyan Arshaluys Aghayev Ismi 2 October 2023 UN mission arrives to empty streets in Nagorno Karabakh OC Media Reporting from the regional capital Stepanakert Al Jazeera describes a ghost town with no one left Gunter Joel 3 October 2023 Deserted Nagorno Karabakh reveals aftermath of lightning fast Armenian defeat BBC The few images that have emerged from Khankendi since the takeover show a ghost town where possessions appear to have been abandoned in the streets as residents fled a b c d e f g h i j Baranchikov 2016 p 225 a b Everett Heath 2019 p X Hewsen 2001 p 265 Adalian 2010 p 553 Mkrtchyan 1985 pp 124 125 Mutafian Chorbajian amp Donabedian 1994 p 139 Kuciukian 2003 Baranchikov 2016 p 225 a b c d Khachatryan Karen 13 August 2021 Stepan Kocharyan ed Drought leads to unprecedented water crisis in Stepanakert city armenpress am Stepanakert Armenpress Archived from the original on 2 July 2022 Retrieved 18 December 2021 a b Armenians describe journey to safety after fall of their homeland The Independent 29 September 2023 Archived from the original on 30 September 2023 Retrieved 30 September 2023 a b c d Mkrtchyan 1985 pp 124 125 a b Everett Heath 2019 p X Hewsen 2001 p 265 Davies 2017 Payaslian 2008 p 174 Saparov 2017 p 539 a b Kuliev 1987 p 49 Busse 1983 pp 285 286 Hagobian amp Melkonian 2020 pp 41 46 Hakobyan Melik Bakhshyan amp Barseghyan 1998 p 773 Ismail Zadeh 1976 p 20 Kocharyan 1925 p 46 Saparov 2012 p 291 Libaridian 1988 p 29 Adalian 2010 p 553 Kocharyan 1925 pp 67 68 a b Prokhorov 1977 Zubkova 2004 p 22 Kaufman 2001 p 61 Karabah hronologiya konflikta 29 August 2005 Archived from the original on 10 August 2011 via news bbc co uk Zaklyuchenie Komiteta VS RSFSR po pravam cheloveka karabakhrecords info Archived from the original on 10 October 2019 The collapse of the USSR Black January in Baku 15 April 2020 Archived from the original on 15 April 2020 Retrieved 24 April 2020 Lobell amp Mauceri 2004 p 58 a b Carney James Carnage in Karabakh Archived 30 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine Time 13 April 1992 Retrieved 2 August 2007 Uhlig 1993 pp 47 52 Karabakh Main City Struck as Armenia Says Ready for Mediation Archived 5 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine The Moscow Times 2 October 2020 Azerbaijan Cluster Munitions Used in Nagorno Karabakh Human Rights Watch 23 October 2020 Archived from the original on 23 October 2020 Retrieved 22 November 2020 Armenia Azerbaijan Civilians must be protected from use of banned cluster bombs www amnesty org 5 October 2020 Archived from the original on 26 January 2021 Retrieved 22 November 2020 Stepanakert prepares for the last stand Eurasianet eurasianet org Archived from the original on 9 November 2020 Retrieved 12 November 2020 Statement by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and President of the Russian Federation Kremlin ru 10 November 2020 Archived from the original on 11 November 2020 Retrieved 18 December 2021 So called police of separatists abandons weapons in Khankendi leaves Karabakh Trend News Agency 29 September 2023 Archived from the original on 30 September 2023 Retrieved 29 September 2023 Presidential consultant in Karabakh shares picture from Azerbaijan s Khankendi Businesselend com 29 September 2023 Archived from the original on 30 September 2023 Retrieved 29 September 2023 Azerbaijani police takes up serving in Khankendi News az 29 September 2023 Archived from the original on 30 September 2023 Retrieved 1 October 2023 Azerbaijani authorities provide social migration services for Karabakh Armenians Trend News Agency 1 October 2023 Archived from the original on 2 October 2023 Retrieved 1 October 2023 Azerbaijan takes measures to arrange medical services in Khankendi News az 1 October 2023 Archived from the original on 6 October 2023 Retrieved 1 October 2023 Azercell extends its coverage to Khankendi News az 1 October 2023 Archived from the original on 5 October 2023 Retrieved 1 October 2023 Nar network in Khankandi city Report az 1 October 2023 Archived from the original on 5 October 2023 Retrieved 1 October 2023 UN team in Nagorno Karabakh a first in 30 years as ethnic Armenians flee Aljazeera com 1 October 2023 Archived from the original on 2 October 2023 Retrieved 2 October 2023 Vincent Faustine 4 October 2023 Azerbaijan reissues Nagorno Karabakh map with street named after Turkish leader of 1915 Armenian genocide Le Monde fr Archived from the original on 4 October 2023 Retrieved 5 October 2023 Zaman Amberin 3 October 2023 Azerbaijan eyes Iran Armenia borderlands after voluntary exodus from Nagorno Karabakh Al Monitor Independent trusted coverage of the Middle East www al monitor com Archived from the original on 5 October 2023 Retrieved 5 October 2023 Public sitting held on Thursday 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Development of the Ethno Conflict Situation in the USSR Russian History in Russian 4 Moscow Nauka 22 ISSN 0869 5687 Archived from the original on 18 December 2021 Retrieved 18 December 2021 External links nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stepanakert nbsp Look up Stepanakert in Wiktionary the free dictionary nbsp Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Stepanakert Stepanakert Municipality hy 360 Panoramic view of the City Center en Artsakh tourism Office en Archived 24 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine Stepanakert on Lonely Planet en Stepanakert at GEOnet Names Server Portal nbsp Geography Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Stepanakert amp oldid 1223538014, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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