Armenians in Azerbaijan

Armenians in Azerbaijan
Հայերն Ադրբեջանում
Azərbaycan erməniləri
Total population
217 (2009)
Regions with significant populations
Baku
Languages
Armenian, Azerbaijani
Religion
Armenian Apostolic Church
Related ethnic groups
Armenians in Nakhchivan, Armenians in Baku, Armenians in Russia, Armenians in Turkey
Part of a series on
Armenians
Armenian culture
By country or region
Armenian diaspora
Subgroups
Religion
Languages and dialects
Armenian: Eastern (Zok) • Western (Homshetsi)
Sign languages: Armenian Sign • Caucasian Sign
Persian: Armeno-Tat
Cuman: Armeno-Kipchak
Armenian–Lom: Lomavren
Persecution

Armenians in Azerbaijan (Armenian: Հայերն Ադրբեջանում, romanized: Hayern Adrbejanum; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan erməniləri) are the Armenians who lived in great numbers in the modern state of Azerbaijan and its precursor, Soviet Azerbaijan. According to the statistics, about 500,000 Armenians lived in Soviet Azerbaijan prior to the outbreak of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1988.[1][2] Most of the Armenians in Azerbaijan had to flee the republic, like Azerbaijanis in Armenia, in the events leading up to the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, a result of the ongoing Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Atrocities directed against the Armenian population took place in Sumgait (February 1988), Ganja (Kirovabad, November 1988) and Baku (January 1990). Armenians continued to live in large numbers in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which was controlled by the break-away state known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic[3][4] from 1991 until the region was forcibly retaken by Azerbaijan in 2023. After the Azerbaijani takeover, almost all Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh left the region.

Non-official sources estimate that the number Armenians living on Azerbaijani territory outside Nagorno-Karabakh is around 2,000 to 3,000, and almost exclusively comprises persons married to Azerbaijanis or of mixed Armenian-Azerbaijani descent.[5] The number of Armenians who are likely not married to Azerbaijanis and are not of mixed Armenian-Azerbaijani descent are estimated at 645 (36 men and 609 women) and more than half (378 or 59 per cent of Armenians in Azerbaijan outside Nagorno-Karabakh) live in Baku and the rest in rural areas. They are likely to be the elderly and sick, and probably have no other family members.[5][6][7] Armenians in Azerbaijan are at a great risk as long as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unsettled.[8][9][10][11][12] In Azerbaijan, the status of Armenians is precarious.[13] Armenian churches remain closed because of the large emigration of Armenians and fear of Azerbaijani attacks.[14]

  1. ^ Memorandum from the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights to John D. Evans, Resource Information Center, 13 June 1993.
  2. ^ "Implementation of the Helsinki Accords: Human Rights and Democratization in the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union" (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, January 1993), p. 118.
  3. ^ Demographic indicators: Population by ethnic groups Archived December 20, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Assessment for Armenians in Azerbaijan, Minorities At Risk Project". Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
  5. ^ a b Этнический состав Азербайджана (по переписи 1999 года) Archived 2013-08-21 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
  6. ^ "Definitions of national identity, nationalism and ethnicity in post-Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1990s" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
  7. ^ "European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), Second Report on Azerbaijan, CRI(2007)22, May 24, 2007". Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  8. ^ "University of Maryland Center for International Development and Conflict Management. Minorities at Risk: Assessment of Armenians in Azerbaijan, Online Report, 2004". Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
  9. ^ Razmik Panossian. The Armenians. Columbia University Press, 2006; p. 281
  10. ^ Mario Apostolov. The Christian-Muslim Frontier. Routledge, 2004; p. 67
  11. ^ Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. 2001
  12. ^ Barbara Larkin. International Religious Freedom (2000): Report to Congress by the Department of State. DIANE Publishing, 2001; p. 256
  13. ^ Azerbaijan: The status of Armenians, Russians, Jews and other minorities, report, 1993, INS Resource Information Center, p. 10
  14. ^ United States Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1992 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, February 1993), p. 708