Artsvashen

Coordinates: 40°38′N 45°30′E / 40.633°N 45.500°E / 40.633; 45.500

Artsvashen (Armenian: Արծվաշեն), also Romanized as Artzvashen ("Eagle City" in Armenian), is an exclave of Armenia's Gegharkunik province which has been occupied by the Azerbaijani army since 1992. The official Azerbaijani name for the village is Başkənd (Azerbaijani: Başkənd). Its size is about 40 square kilometers, and it is completely surrounded by the territory of Azerbaijan and has been controlled by it since the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Today, the village is mostly inhabited by Azeris as the Azerbaijani army expelled its Armenian population after it seized the territory and is now administered by Azerbaijan as part of Gadabay Rayon.

History

The present village was founded in 1854 as Bashkend (Armenian: Բաշքենդ) by Armenians from Choratan in Shamshadin, although an earlier Armenian presence on the site is attested by an inscription dated to 1607 on the Surb Hovhannes church in the town. It was later changed to Hin Bashkend (Armenian: Հին Բաշքենդ), meaning Old Bashkend to differentiate it from New or Nor Bashkend, founded by migrants from the original settlement.