Decision of the USSR Council of Ministers of December 23, 1947 on the mass deportation of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands.
After 1920, the Armenians, taking advantage of the Sovietization of the Caucasus, managed to occupy Zangazur and a number of other lands of Azerbaijan in the name of annexing the territory of the Armenian SSR with the help of the Soviet regime for dirty purposes. After that, the deliberate deportation of Azerbaijanis from the territory of Western Azerbaijan began. The Armenian Dashnaks succeeded in passing a resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers on December 23, 1947, to formalize the resettlement from the territory of Western Azerbaijan. The document was entitled “On the resettlement of collective farmers and other Azerbaijanis from the Armenian SSR to the Kur-Araz lowland of the Azerbaijani SSR”, and this decision was to formalize the mass deportation of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands. The decision was a criminal act against innocent Azerbaijanis and one of the most unjust decisions made by the Soviet government. The result was terrible. Thus, in 1948-1953, more than 150,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled en masse from the lands of Western Azerbaijan – their native lands in the territory of the Armenian SSR, and severe repressions were carried out against them.
The historical names of Azerbaijani villages were changed, the process of replacing ancient toponyms with modern Armenian names began, many historical monuments, as well as religious places of worship – mosques, cemeteries – were destroyed.
