Traditionally, the Armenian name of the town is interpreted as consisting of the elements mard ('man, person,' or in this context 'brave') and -kert ('built by'), supposedly referring to the inhabitants' reputation for bravery.[5] Other explanations link the name with the word matur’ ('chapel').[5] The Azerbaijani name for the settlement, Aghdara, translates to 'white river'.
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.[6] The town was captured by Azerbaijani forces on 4 July 1992, forcing Martakert's Armenian population to flee the town.[7] Martakert was heavily damaged during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War and many of its buildings remain ruined and uninhabited.[7] 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".[8] 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.[9] Martakert was recaptured by Armenian forces on 27 June 1993.[7] 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.[7]
Armenian sources accused Azerbaijan of trying to take advantage of ongoing unrest in Armenia.[13] Azerbaijani sources blamed Armenia, claiming that the Armenian government was trying to divert attention from internal tensions in Armenia.[13]
In 2020, some clashes along the ceasefire lines took place near Martakert.
The town is located on the right bank of the Tartar River, between two mountains.[5]
Economy and culture
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.[17] The enlarged municipal community of Martakert includes the villages of Haykajur, Jraberd, Maralyan Sarov, and Levonarkh.[7]
Historical heritage sites
Historical heritage sites in and around the town include tombs from the 2nd–1st millennia BCE, the pre-Christian Kr’apasht Cemetery, the medieval village of T’aza Khach’, cemeteries from between the 17th and 19th centuries, St. John the Baptist Church (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.[17][6]
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.[24]
^ abcKiesling, Brady; Kojian, Raffi (2019). Rediscovering Armenia: An in-depth inventory of villages and monuments in Armenia and Artsakh (3rd ed.). Armeniapedia Publishing.
^Кавказский календарь на 1910 год [Caucasian calendar for 1910] (in Russian) (65th ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1910. p. 173. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022.
