Forced Resettlement of Nakhichevan Armenians in the late 1980s: Chronicle of Events and Categories of Self-description

The experience of the relatively small group of Armenian refugees from the Nakhichevan ASSR often remains overlooked against the backdrop of the mass expulsion of Armenians from Azerbaijan between 1988 and 1992. The aim of this article is to document "living narratives"-stories told by participants of the dramatic events, and to identify the particularities of this case and analyze the ways in which it has been integrated into the national metanarrative. The work is based on field materials collected in Armenia (the city of Yerevan, the village of Nor-Kharberd in the Ararat district, and the villages of Gokhtanik and Hermon in the Vayots Dzor district) and in Russia (the cities of Krasnodar, Moscow, and St. Petersburg) from former residents of the Ordubad, Babek, and Shahbuz districts, as well as the city of Nakhichevan. The massacre of Armenians in Sumgait in February 1988 is perceived by our interlocutors as a point of no return to the peaceful coexistence of Armenians and Azerbaijanis. The expulsion of Armenians from Nakhichevan nine months later is explained through reference to historical trauma and the experience of genocide. The stories about forced displacement reveal tension between the sense of the suddenness of what happened and the justification of its regularity, the loss of subjectivity and the representation of themselves as active participants in the events. A special place in the stories is occupied by the narrative about the destruction of Armenian monuments in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic sanctioned by the Azerbaijani authorities. This is perceived as a continuation of the policy of genocide. And this plot is included in the pan-Armenian metanarrative. " We thank all former residents of Nakhichevan and especially Carlos Agababyan, Silva Babayan, Hambart-sum Samvelyan, and Hachik Shmavonyan. This work would not have been possible without the assistance of our colleagues Arusyak Agababyan, Argam Ayvazyan, Artak Vardanyan, Evia Hovhannisyan, and Tork Dalalyan. The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Keywords

Authors

References