Martakert

Traditionally, the Armenian name of the town is interpreted as consisting of the elements {{Transliteration|hy|mard}} ('man, person,' or in this context 'brave') and {{Transliteration|hy|-kert}} ('built by'), supposedly referring to the inhabitants' reputation for bravery.{{cite book|last1=Hakobyan|first1=Tadevos Kh.|url=http://www.nayiri.com/imagedDictionaryBrowser.jsp?dictionaryId=61&query=%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%A1%D5%BD%D5%AB%D5%A1|title=Հայաստանի և հարակից շրջանների տեղանունների բառարան [Dictionary of toponymy of Armenia and adjacent territories]|last2=Melik-Bakhshyan|first2=Stepan T.|last3=Barseghyan|first3=Hovhannes Kh.|date=1986|publisher=Yerevan State University Publishing House|volume=1|location=Yerevan|page=208|language=hy}} Other explanations link the name with the word {{Transliteration|hy|matur’}} ('chapel'). The Azerbaijani name for the settlement, Aghdara, translates to 'white river'.

File:Martakert, Church - panoramio.jpg in Martakert|thumb|left]]

The site of the settlement was historically a part of the Melikdom of Jraberd, one of the Melikdoms of Karabakh.

In 1918, a battle took place near the town between Ottoman and Armenian forces where the latter emerged victorious.

During the Soviet period, Martakert was the administrative centre of the Martakert District of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. It received the status of an urban-type settlement in 1960.

{{main|First Nagorno-Karabakh War}}

During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1991–94), Martakert and the surrounding district saw heavy fighting, especially during the Azerbaijani Operation Goranboy and the Mardakert and Martuni Offensives in 1992. The town was captured by Azerbaijani forces on 4 July 1992, forcing Martakert's Armenian population to flee the town.{{Cite web|last=Hakobyan|first=Tatul|author-link=Tatul Hakobyan|date=27 June 2021|title=Մարտակերտի ազատագրումը. հունիս 27, 1993թ|trans-title=The liberation of Martakert, June 27, 1993|url=http://www.aniarc.am/2021/06/27/martakert-27-june-1993-book-kanach-u-sev/|access-date=29 June 2021|website=ANI Armenian Research Center|language=hy}} Martakert was heavily damaged during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War and many of its buildings remain ruined and uninhabited. According to Thomas Goltz, who was in Martakert in September 1992, the town became a "a pile of rubble", noting "more intimate detritus of destroyed private lives: pots and pans, suitcases leaking sullied clothes, crushed baby strollers and even family portraits, still in shattered frames".Thomas Goltz. In TCG-33, Institute of Current World Affairs, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 18, 1992. HRW later noted that harsh actions taken by Karabakh Armenian forces during and after the offensive against Aghdam were seen as a revenge for the Azeri destruction of Martakert, in the context of the tit-for-tat nature of the conflict.[https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/a/azerbjn/azerbaij94d.pdf AZERBAIJAN: Seven Years of Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. page 47, 1994] Martakert was recaptured by Armenian forces on 27 June 1993. The area around the town has been controlled by Artsakh since the end of the war. Some of Martakert's natives gradually returned over the years, but many remained in Armenia, Russia, and elsewhere.

{{main|2008 Mardakert clashes}}

File:AZ-qa-location-en.svg

The 2008 Mardakert clashes began on 4 March after the 2008 Armenian election protests. It involved the heaviest fighting between ethnic Armenian{{cite news|date=2008-03-05|title=Karabakh casualty toll disputed|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7278871.stm|url-status=live|access-date=2008-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309004207/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7278871.stm|archive-date=9 March 2008}} and Azerbaijani forces{{cite news|date=2008-03-05|title=Fatal Armenian-Azeri border clash|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7278483.stm|url-status=live|access-date=2008-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305231537/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7278483.stm|archive-date=5 March 2008}} over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh{{cite news|date=2008-03-04|title=Armenia/Azerbaijan: Deadly Fighting Erupts In Nagorno-Karabakh|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/03/06f6071c-c439-4c76-b389-928e9409de9b.html|url-status=live|access-date=2008-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306000426/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/03/06F6071C-C439-4C76-B389-928E9409DE9B.html|archive-date=6 March 2008}} since the 1994 ceasefire after the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Armenian sources accused Azerbaijan of trying to take advantage of ongoing unrest in Armenia.{{Cite web|date=4 March 2008|title=Deadly Fighting Erupts In Nagorno-Karabakh|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1079580.html|access-date=2020-09-28|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|language=en}} Azerbaijani sources blamed Armenia, claiming that the Armenian government was trying to divert attention from internal tensions in Armenia.

In 2020, some clashes along the ceasefire lines took place near Martakert.

During the Second Nagorno-Karabakh war, the town was bombed by Azerbaijani forces more than once, resulting in civilian deaths.{{Cite news|title=Ադրբեջանի ռազմական ինքնաթիռը ռմբակոծել է Մարտակերտը, կա երեք զոհ. Վահրամ Պողոսյան|url=https://www.azatutyun.am/a/30866291.html|access-date=2021-06-29|website=«Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան|date=30 September 2020 |language=hy |last1=ռ/կ |first1=Ազատություն }}{{Cite news|title=Մարտակերտը ռմբակոծվում է, կիրառվում է ռազմական ավիացիա, հայտնում է ԱԻՊԾ-ն|url=https://www.azatutyun.am/a/30909030.html|access-date=2021-06-29|website=«Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան|date=23 October 2020 |language=hy |last1=ռ/կ |first1=Ազատություն }}

The town came under Azerbaijani control on 24 September 2023, following the 2023 Nagorno-Karabakh offensive.{{cite web | url=https://apa.az/en/incident/azerbaijani-flag-raised-in-aghdara-video-412609 | title=Azerbaijani flag raised in Aghdara-VIDEO }}

The town is located on the right bank of the Tartar River, between two mountains.

The population mainly works in different state institutions as well as with agriculture. As of 2015, Martakert has a municipal building, a house of culture, two schools, two kindergartens, a youth centre, 88 commercial enterprises, two factories and a regional hospital. The enlarged municipal community of Martakert includes the villages of Haykajur, Jraberd, Maralyan Sarov, and Levonarkh.

Historical heritage sites in and around the town include tombs from the 2nd–1st millennia BCE, the pre-Christian {{Transliteration|hy|Kr’apasht}} Cemetery, the medieval village of {{Transliteration|hy|T’aza Khach’}}, cemeteries from between the 17th and 19th centuries, St. John the Baptist Church ({{Transliteration|hy|Surb Hovhannu Karapet Yekeghets’i}}) built in 1883 (possibly originating from as early as the 13th century), and a bridge across the Kusapat River from the early 20th century.{{Cite web|url=https://artsakhlib.am/en/2018/06/06/%D5%BF%D5%A5%D5%B2%D5%A5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%BF%D5%B8%D6%82-%D5%AC%D5%B2%D5%B0-%D5%BE%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%B9%D5%A1%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%AE%D6%84%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AB%D5%B6-%D5%B4%D5%AB%D5%A1%D5%BE%D5%B8/|title=Directory of socio-economic characteristics of NKR administrative-territorial units (2015)|author=Hakob Ghahramanyan}}{{cite book|last1=Kiesling|first1=Brady|first2=Raffi|last2=Kojian|year=2019|title=Rediscovering Armenia: An in-depth inventory of villages and monuments in Armenia and Artsakh|edition=3rd|publisher=Armeniapedia Publishing}}

The climate in Martakert is classified as Humid subtropical climate (Cfa) by the Köppen climate classification.{{Cite web|title=Marakert / Agdere climate: Average Temperature, weather by month, Marakert / Agdere weather averages - Climate-Data.org|url=https://en.climate-data.org/asia/azerbaijan/marakert-agdere/marakert-agdere-21905/|access-date=2021-12-25|website=en.climate-data.org}}

{{Weather box

|width = auto

|location = Mardakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

|single line = Y

|metric first = yes

|Jan record high C =

|Feb record high C =

|Mar record high C =

|Apr record high C =

|May record high C =

|Jun record high C =

|Jul record high C =

|Aug record high C =

|Sep record high C =

|Oct record high C =

|Nov record high C =

|Dec record high C =

|year record high C=

|Jan high C = 5.8

|Feb high C = 6.6

|Mar high C = 10.8

|Apr high C = 18.3

|May high C = 22.4

|Jun high C = 27.0

|Jul high C = 30.7

|Aug high C = 29.2

|Sep high C = 25.3

|Oct high C = 18.4

|Nov high C = 12.5

|Dec high C = 8.1

|year high C=

|Jan low C = -1.7

|Feb low C = -1.0

|Mar low C = 2.3

|Apr low C = 8.1

|May low C = 12.5

|Jun low C = 16.7

|Jul low C = 20.0

|Aug low C = 19.0

|Sep low C = 15.4

|Oct low C = 9.7

|Nov low C = 4.8

|Dec low C = 0.6

|year low C=

|Jan record low C =

|Feb record low C =

|Mar record low C =

|Apr record low C =

|May record low C =

|Jun record low C =

|Jul record low C =

|Aug record low C =

|Sep record low C =

|Oct record low C =

|Nov record low C =

|Dec record low C =

|year record low C=

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 15

|Feb precipitation mm = 23

|Mar precipitation mm = 34

|Apr precipitation mm = 45

|May precipitation mm = 71

|Jun precipitation mm = 64

|Jul precipitation mm = 31

|Aug precipitation mm = 26

|Sep precipitation mm = 27

|Oct precipitation mm = 45

|Nov precipitation mm = 28

|Dec precipitation mm = 17

|year precipitation mm =

|source 1 = http://en.climate-data.org/location/21905/

|date=

}}

• {{flagicon|ARM}} Vagarshapat, Armenia (2010–2023).[http://ejmiatsin.am/foreign-relations/sister-cities/976-martakert.html Official page of Vagarshapat city]

Partnership agreement:

• {{flagicon|Lebanon}} Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon. In May 2018, representatives of the Artsakh city of Martakert and the Lebanese town of Bourj Hammoud signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. The memorandum states that aiming at the establishment of social, economic, tourism, and cultural relations between the two towns as well as realizing that cooperation between the towns can contribute to the strengthening of regional stability and peace.{{Cite web|title=Karabakh's Martakert, Lebanon's Bourj Hammoud sign memorandum of cooperation|url=https://news.am/eng/news/451940.html|access-date=2021-12-25|website=news.am|language=en}}

Martakert062.JPG|Park and monument in Martakert

Martakert049.JPG|Martakert House of Culture

Martakert061.JPG|View from the town

Martakert002.JPG|One of the main streets in Martakert

Martakert012.JPG|Martakert Museum

Martakert063.JPG|Monument in Martakert

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-26&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=x World Gazetteer: Azerbaijan] {{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} – World-Gazetteer.com
• {{GEOnet2|32FA881522CE3774E0440003BA962ED3}}
• {{YouTube|5DfRLm7lweM|A short documentary about the town}}

{{Aghdara District}}{{Martakert Province}}

{{Administrative divisions of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic}}

{{Portal bar|Geography}}

Category:Cities and towns in Azerbaijan

Category:Populated places in Aghdara District