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Letter signed by 189 Armenians from the city of Rasht (Iran) with gratitude to I. Stalin for giving them the opportunity to resettle to Soviet Armenia.

Letter of thanks from the Armenian Catholicos George VI Chorekyan to Stalin for the decision to resettle Armenians living abroad in Soviet Armenia. December 3, 1945.

Nargin Island (Boyuk-Zira Island), known in Azerbaijan as the “Island of Hell” or “Snake Island” in the Caspian Sea, is located in Baku Bay, ten kilometers south of the city, in a very small area – about three square kilometers.In the 17th century, the Russians, especially the Cossacks, renamed most of the islands belonging to the Baku archipelago. In 1719, Russian Emperor Peter I gave the island its name because it resembled the island of Nargin in the Gulf of Finland.
Known as the site of various snakes, the island has been turned into a death camp by Russia.During the First World War, first by Tsarist Russia and then by the Soviet Union, more than 10,000 people captured from Turkish-Muslim villages were brutally tortured on the island.
Documents about the forcible hostage-taking of Turkish-Muslim children aged three years and adults up to 80 years old from Anatolian villages in the battles of Sarikamish 1914-1915, as well as photographs of people who died of hunger, disease, snake bites and mental illness, appear in various Russian archives.
Some of the tens of thousands of prisoners captured on Nargin Island were rescued by Azerbaijanis. In this regard, the activities of the Muslim Charitable Society, Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev, Ismail bey Safaraliev, Murtuza Mukhtarov and Azhdar bey Ashurbekov should be especially noted.Although the Caucasian Islamic Army, which entered Baku in September 1918, freed the prisoners, the bloody history of Nargin prison did not end there. After the seizure of power in Baku by the Bolsheviks in 1920, a number of Azerbaijani statesmen and public figures, activists and victims of Stalinist repression were shot on the islands of Nargin and Bulla. After the restoration of the state independence of Azerbaijan in 1991, its name was restored and renamed “Boyuk-Zira”.

Historically, Armenians settled on fertile lands that did not belong to them, and then, acting as owners of this place, in various ways displaced the local population from their native lands, destroying or changing historical and cultural monuments. Many Russian historians wrote about the resettlement policy and vandalism of this people in their works. For example, Russian ethnographer L.P. Zagursky in his book “Notes of the Caucasian Department-1873” on the settlement of Armenians in Javakheti writes: “In general, Javakhetia, during Turkish rule, was poorly populated. Upon the conquest by the Russians of the current Akhaltsikh district, the Erzerum immigrants, attracted by the benefits that the described country represented, poured on it in such an amount that they made up the predominant population of the country. Here it should be noted that Armenians, who have acquired a habit (even since their loss of political independence), easily leave their homeland, willingly settle in a country that promises to deliver material benefits to them. According to the construction in it, immigrants build churches in which they usually place images and ancient church books taken out of their former homeland; then they build up around churches, acquire immovable estates, take possession of trade and made quite settled residents of the new country. Due to their strong community spirit, they form an isolated community, not assimilating with the native population, but retaining the main features of its national character. Therefore, it is not surprising if the country in which this active and colonizing people has established itself in a significant number takes such a form little by little, as if Armenians inhabited it. We could, as well as possible, trace this phenomenon in Javakhetia. ” 

According to historians, Peter I laid the foundations of the large-scale resettlement of Armenians to the lands of Azerbaijan. This is also mentioned in the collection of documents “Russian Herald,” published in 1867 (Русский Вестник [1867]. Т. 68. [№ 3-4. Март-апрель], с. 596-597)..
Thus, Peter I clearly stated the importance of resettlement of Armenians in Azerbaijan, especially around Baku and in the center of Derbent. The goal was to use Armenians to create internal unrest and political tension for the implementation of the policy of the Russian Empire in the east and future occupation.
Source: “If Armenian traders, craftsmen and IDPs settle in Derbent and Baku next summer (God willing, we will take the areas) and if they accept them, they could be located in settlements near Baku and on the island of Asalin. … “.
Note: This is a painting depicting the arrival of Peter I to Derbent in 1722.

Hatem agha Chagarvi was mentioned in the list of Kure and Samur districts compiled by Major-General Komarov on August 20, 1871. Hatem Sarkarov, who received military training in Russia and rose to the rank of colonel, fought with the Red Guards in 1918 together with Mohubali Kuzunvi to restore the territory of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Hatem agha, together with the detachments of Mohubali efendi and Ali bey Ziziksky, repeatedly fought against the Armenian Dashnaks , who caused misfortune to the local population in the accidents of the Baku province. In May 1918, they defeated Hamazasp’s Armenian army in the “Bloody Valley” in the village of Digah, Guba region. After the victory of the Soviet government, the struggle against the Bolsheviks continued. He made a special decision to disband the “counter-revolutionary movement” and sent two regiments to Gusar to capture Hatem agha. However, the Reds failed with 300 warriors led by Hatem agha. In this case, the Soviet government appointed Hatem agha as the head of the militia department in Guba district. However, seeing the injustices of the new structure, Hatem agha resigned from that position in 1922 and again fought against the Bolsheviks. He heroically died, in battle with the 3000 thousand Soviet army, which lasted two months