Kalbajar Rayon

Kalbajar ( _az. Kəlbəcər) is a rayon of Azerbaijan. Before the outbreak of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992, it was a predominantly Kurdish inhabited area [Thomas Glotz, "Azerbaijan Diary: A Rogue Reporter's Adventures in an Oil-Rich, War-Torn, Post-Soviet Republic", 496 pp., M.E. Sharpe Publishers, 1998, ISBN 0765602431, p.322] . "Kalbajar" is a Kurdish name meaning "Stone City"Fact|date=September 2007. The entire region is now under the control of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, who call the western half Karvajar, and the eastern half is officiallyFact|date=March 2008 part of Nagorno-Karabakh, making up part of the province of MartakertFact|date=September 2007. The Azeri and Kurdish population of Kalbajar were expelled by Armenian forces and currently live as internally displaced persons in the other regions of Azerbaijan. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 822‎, adopted on 30 April 1993, calls for "immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from the Kelbadjar district and other recently occupied areas of Azerbaijan" [ [http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/or/13508.htm 1993 UN Security Council Resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh] ] .

Under Armenian Control

The district was made into the province of Shahumyan, one of the 8 provinces of NKR. But authorities failed to attract any meaningful resettling of Armenians in the area and the province remains the least populated of the NKR provinces with a total population of just 2,800. The town of Karvachar is home to just 500 people. The neighbouring villages house about 2,300 people. [http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Karvachar]

See also

*Battle of Kelbajar

References

External links

* [http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/geography/maps/map-05.html Map of Kalbajar]
* [http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Rediscovering_Armenia_Guidebook-_Karabakh#Kelbajar_Pass_and_Dadivank.28Section_10.29 Touristic Guide to Kelbajar]
* [http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Karvachar Photos and information on Karvachar]
* [http://www.azerbaijan.az/_Districts/_districts_e.html Interactive map of Azerbaijan]