Çocuq Mərcanlı
| Çocuq Mərcanlı | |
|---|---|
 Çocuq Mərcanlı
|
|
| Coordinates: 39°23′28″N 47°17′53″E / 39.39111°N 47.29806°E | |
| Country |
 Azerbaijan
|
| Rayon | Jabrayil |
| Time zone | AZT (UTC+4) |
| • Summer (DST) | AZT (UTC+5) |
Coordinates: 39°23′28″N 47°17′53″E / 39.39111°N 47.29806°E
Çocuq Mərcanlı (also, Jojug Marjanli or Chojuk-Marjanly) is a village in the Jabrayil District of Azerbaijan.
In 1993, in the course of the Nagorno-Karabakh War, the Armenian army pushed Azerbaijani forces out of the village after gaining control of the nearby hills. It remained under Armenian control for four months during which it was completely razed. Having failed to maintain control of the village, the Armenians retreated to the nearby hills leaving Cocuq Mərcanlı as a no man's land, with the exception of one family. Fear of shelling kept the population from returning until 2016.
However, during the 2016 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Azerbaijani troops regained control over the strategic Lalatapa hill located 2.9 kilometres (1.8 mi) north-west of the village, which shifted Çocuq Mərcanlı away from the immediate front line and allowed safe access to the village. On 7 April 2016, internally displaced persons from Çocuq Mərcanlı visited the site of the village for the first time in 23 years. In January 2017, Azerbaijan decided to invest 2 million euros into rebuilding the village. By June 2017, when the village was visited by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev 50 houses and a school had been built, the access road was paved and a gas supply re-established. Reports in September 2017 suggest that villagers have continued to return to the village since then with a further 100 houses under construction.
Çocuq Mərcanlı is currently the only village of the Jabrayil District effectively controlled by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
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Wikipedia