Jabrayil

Jabrayil (Azerbaijani: Cəbrayıl (listen)) is a ghost city in Azerbaijan, abandoned since the city's occupation by Armenian forces during the First Nagorno-Karabakh war. It's nominally the administrative capital of the Jabrayil District, though the role is currently de facto served by Çocuq Mərcanlı until the city is rebuilt by Azerbaijan following its recapture on 9 October 2020.

"Jebrail" redirects here. For the village in Iran, see Jebrail, Iran.

Jabrayil

Cəbrayıl
City and municipality
Ruins of the city after its occupation
Jabrayil
Coordinates: 39°24′00″N 47°01′34″E
Country Azerbaijan
DistrictJabrayil
Established1980
Elevation
569 m (1,867 ft)
Population
 (1989)
 • TotalCurrently uninhabited
Pre-war population was 6,070[1]
Time zoneUTC+4 (AZT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+5 (AZT)

Etymology

The name of Jabrayil was taken from the name of the village Jabrayil that was the centre of the region. Father Jabrayil, who was the founder of the village Jabrayil, was one of the closes of the ruler by name Sultan Ahmed who lived in the 8th century and the territories between Zuyaret Mountain and the river Araz belonged to Father Jabrayil and his sons.[2]

History

Russian Empire

Jabrayil was made part of Dzhebrail Uyezd of the Russian Empire in 1868. According to the census held in 1897, the population of the Uyezd was 66,360, of which 49,189 were Turko-Tatars (nowadays known as Azerbaijanis), 15,746 were Armenians, 398 were Kurds, 893 were Russians and other minorities.[3] Cəbrayıl itself, was a village with a population of 520, of which 228 were Armenians, 186 were Turko-Tatars (Azerbaijanis), and 76 were Russians.[4]

Soviet Union

According to a Soviet census, the population of Jabrayil in 1926 was 10,653 of which 10,356 (97,2%) were Turks (nowadays Azerbaijanis), 105 (1%) were Russians, 57 (0,5%) were Armenians and 24 (0,2%) were Persians.[5] As the main administrative of the eponymous district, Jabrayil developed considerably during the Soviet era and by the beginning of the 1950s, there were two 'seven-year' schools, a secondary school, a cultural centre, summer and winter cinemas, two libraries and a club.[6] The main economic products were butter, cheeses and carpets.[7]

First Nagorno-Karabakh War and aftermath (1993-2020)

The city was occupied on 23 August 1993 by the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, and remained a ghost town during its occupation.[8] It was renamed Jrakan (Ջրական), and also called Mekhakavan (Մեխակավան) and was part of Hadrut Province during the Armenian occupation.[9][10]

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war

After 23 years, on 9 October 2020, Azerbaijan regained control of the city during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.[11]

In the context of the war, on 4 October 2020, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces had taken control of the city following a day-long battle,[12] however, Shushan Stepanyan, the Press Secretary of the Minister of Defence of Armenia denied this.[13] On 5 October, the President of the self-proclaimed Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan claimed that he had visited the city.[14] However on 9 October 2020, footage was released of the Azerbaijani army raising the flag of Azerbaijan in the centre of the city.[15] on 17 October 2020, Euronews reporters confirmed that the Azerbaijani army was in control of the city.[16]

The press accompanying President Ilham Aliyev on a visit to recently recaptured Jabrayil on November 2020 reported that except for a newly built military unit, no building was left intact since the occupation of the city in 1993.[17] Several ambassadors who visited the ruined city on February 2021 reported the state of the city to be shocking[18] and added that numbers of graves had been defaced or dug up.[19]

Notable natives
  • Memorial cross

References
  1. "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность городского населения союзных республик, их территориальных единиц, городских поселений и городских районов по полу". Demoscope.ru (in Russian). 1989. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  2. https://www.virtualkarabakh.az/en/post-item/27/109/jabrayil.html
  3. "Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Распределение населения по родному языку и уездам Российской Империи кроме губерний Европейской России" [First All Russian Imperial Census of 1897. Population split according to languages spoken; uyezds of Russian empire except for governorates in European part of empire]. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  4. Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи, 1897 г. т.63 Елисаветопольская губерния. Н.А.Тройницкий, С.-Петербург, 1904. стр. 138
  5. "ДЖЕБРАИЛЬСКИЙ УЕЗД (1926 г.)" [Jabrayil Uyezd (1926)]. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  6. «Джебраил». Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1950.
  7. Soviet Encyclopaedia
  8. "As fighting rages, what is Azerbaijan's goal?". Eurasianet.org. 4 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  9. "'This Is A Different War': Nagorno-Karabakh Refugee Shudders At Video Showing Neighbors' Execution". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  10. "Armenian company: Employee dies, others wounded after blast near storage room in Karabakh's Martuni". news.am. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  11. "Cəbrayıl şəhərində Azərbaycan Bayrağı dalğalanır - VİDEO" (in Azerbaijani). Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  12. "President Ilham Aliyev: "Azerbaijani Army liberates Jabrayil city and several villages of the region"". APA.az. 4 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020. "Today, the Azerbaijani army liberated the city of Jabrayil and several villages in the region. Love to the Azerbaijani army! Karabakh is Azerbaijan!", President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev wrote this on his Twitter page today, APA reports.
  13. "Քիչ անց կներկայացնենք փախուստ Մատաղիսից վավերագրությունը․ Շուշան Ստեփանյան". hy.armradio.com (in Armenian). Armenian Public Radio. 4 October 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  14. "Fighting spirit of the boys and the confidence in victory are just contagious. Artsakh President". 1lurer.am. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  15. "Флаг Азербайджана развевается на освобожденных территориях Джебраила" (in Russian). 9 October 2020.
  16. "Съемочная группа Euronews побывала в городе Джебраиле". youtube.com (in Russian). Euronews по-русски. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  17. Mushvig Mehdiyev (19 November 2020). "Azerbaijani President Visits Liberated Districts, Vows to Rebuild Damaged Villages and Cities". caspiannews.com. Caspian News. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  18. "It's really painful to see such scenes in Jabrayil - Croatian ambassador". azernews.az. AzerNews. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  19. "Afghanistan's ambassador: The sight we saw in Jabrayil was terrible". apa.az. APA. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  20. "Ахмедов Джамил Мамед оглы". Heroes of the country.
  21. "Кулиев Теймур Имам Кули оглы". Справочник по истории Коммунистической партии и Советского Союза 1898 - 1991.
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