THE BACKBONE OF THE AZERI ARMY WAS BROKEN IN KELBAJAR (ANALYSIS)
Tatul Hakobyan

“Radiolur”
27.03.2006 13:25

If we trust the statements of international information agencies,
the Ramboulliet talks between Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents
entered a blind alley just because of Kelbajar (or Karvajar). The
geographical location of the area has strategic importance for the
security of both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. 13 years ago these days
the Karabakh forces took control of the region, which had become part
of Soviet Azerbaijan in 1920. It is hard to find as many khachkars
in any other originally Armenian land as in Karvajar. Dadivank,
one of the masterpieces of the Armenian medieval architecture, is
also located in Karvajar. If the liberation of Karabakh is one of
the most glorious pages in the Armenian history, then the operation
directed at taking the control of the Karvajar region is the central
link of this liberation war. Still on May 9, 1992 the Karabakh forces
had liberated Shushi and opened the Lachin corridor on May 18, but
following this, a period of failures started for Nagorno-Karabakh. In
June the Azerbaijani Army had already invaded half of the former
Autonomic Region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Abulfaz Elchibey, who came into
power in Azerbaijan declared, “In case a single Armenian remains in
Karabakh by October 1992, the Azeri people can hang me in the central
square of Baku.”

The Azerbaijani Army had invaded not only Martakert region, but also
Artsvashen village of Armenia.

In the period from March 27 to April 4, 1993 the Karabakh forces
took complete control of Kelbajar region, thus isolating the possible
danger of attack in the directions of Vardenis and Sevan and resuming
the peaceful life in Martakert region.

Kelbajar has invaluable strategic importance for Armenia and
Azerbaijan. If we return it to Azerbaijan, the front line, according
to military experts, will extend with 200 kilometers, the Lachin
corridor will become vulnerable, any time danger may threaten Vardenis
and Sevan. Karabakh will need 20 thousand soldiers to control the
additional 200 thousand kilometers.

Immediately after the evens of Kelbajar, On April 4, 1993 the Turkish
government took the decision to close the border with Armenia, and
the Turkish blockade, which is considered a way of aggression in the
international practice, continues up until now. On April 6, 1993 in
Tashkent the President of Turkey Turgut Ozal condemned the Armenian
aggression” and underlined that “Armenia carries out unconcealed
aggression against Azerbaijan.” In his turn, Prime Minister Suleyman
Demirel declared that “Turkey will never agree to Armenia’s seizing
part of Azerbaijani land” and intends to undertake steps “to avert
the aggression.” In a few days, on April 13-15 Ozal arrived in Baku
and voiced his recurrent threat, “Armenia should voluntarily withdraw
its forces from Kelbajar, otherwise these will be withdrawn from here.”

In February 2005 the OSCE Fact Finding Mission visited the territories
under NKR control. The Fact Finders and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
counted about 2 700 Armenians in the whole region of Kelbajar, who had
moved here from Shahumyan and Getashen, invaded by Azeri Armed Forces.

In 1920, when Soviet regime was established in Azerbaijan, Karvajar was
annexed to Azerbaijan. In 1923 Red Kurdistan was formed, and the region
of Karvajar, settled with several thousands of Kurds and Caucasian
Tatars, was attached to the newly created administrative unit.

In 1930 the Red Kurdistan was exterminated, and Karvajar (Kyalbajar)
with its 1 936 square kilometers of area became one of the 60 regions
of Azerbaijan. In the course of the years, several thousand Kurds of
Kyalbajar got assimilated with the Azeri people.