ABOUT SITE

Maragha

Maragha. The name would hardly tell you anything although you ve had the chance of hearing the name "Nagorno Karabakh" recurrently since 1988. Maragha was one of the largest villages of Nagorno Karabakh. It WAS because on April 10, 1992, the Azeri' "omon" forces invaded the village and set it ablaze, burning, & torturing it s peaceful population, some of whom were taken hostage never to be returned again! While those who survived left behind their belongings and spread throughout the world. Today, Maragha still remains under Azeri control. This Project, presented to you, is an attempt to show the real history of Maragha, hoping that with our unified struggle we would never let such tragedies take place ever again.

Survivors of Maraghar massacre: It was truly like a contemporary Golgotha many times over

The ancient kingdom of Armenia was the first nation to embrace Christianity — in AD 301. Modern Armenia, formerly a Soviet republic, declared autonomy in September 1991 and today exists as a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. There you find many of the oldest churches in the world, and a people who have upheld the faith for nearly 1,700 years, often at great cost.

Nowhere has the cost been greater than in the little piece of ancient Armenia called Nagorno-Karabakh, cruelly cut off from the rest of Armenia by Stalin in 1921, and isolated today as a Christian enclave within Islamic Azerbaijan. Only 100 miles north to south, 50 miles east to west, there are mountains, forests, fertile valleys, and an abundance of ancient churches, monasteries, and beautifully carved stone crosses dating from the fourth century.

A Soldier of Independence

In 1991 the Soviet Army and Azerbaijani military groupings were the masters of the situation in the Shahumyan region. Under these circumstances, Leonid and his comrades managed to carry out the self-defense of Armenian villages.

The Liberation Army stood out compared to other military detachments for its discipline. In the course of four years and dozens of battles, Leonid lost six only soldiers. He trained his soldiers to be ready for every hardship. Smoking and drinking were strictly prohibited. There was no other detachment like this in Karabakh. His boys trained for eight hours a day. He was preparing soldiers for a regular army.

Before combat he would always order, "Don't shoot at unarmed people," and would add, "Don't shoot at fleeing soldiers either. Let them go."