History
During the Soviet period, Khojali was a village in the Askeran rayon of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. As the Karabakh conflict started, the Azerbaijani government began to implement a plan to create a new district center. From 1988 to 1990 the population of Khojali increased from 2135 to 6000 residents, mostly consisting of immigrants from Soviet Central Asia (including more than 2000 Meskhetian Turks) and Armenia (about 2000). In April 1990 Azerbaijan abolished the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and its internal divisions. Khojali was given city status and became the regional center for the newly created Khojali Rayon composed of the former Askeran rayon and part of Martuni.
Khojaly was captured by ethnic Armenian forces on 26 February 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. The name became internationally notable after the Khojaly Massacre of February 1992.
In 2001 the settlement was renamed Ivanyan, after the late general of the Karabakh Defense Army, Kristapor Ivanyan.
Read more about this topic: Khojali (city)
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