Voskepar

Voskepar Ոսկեպար
Voskepar
Voskepar
Coordinates: 41°03′53″N 45°03′27″E / 41.06472°N 45.05750°E / 41.06472; 45.05750
Country	Armenia
Marz (Province)	Tavush
Government
Area
• Total	11.5683 km2 (4.4665 sq mi)
Elevation	850 m (2,790 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	818
Time zone	(UTC+4)
Website	http://tavush.gov.am/about-communities/743/

Coordinates: 41°03′53″N 45°03′27″E / 41.06472°N 45.05750°E / 41.06472; 45.05750

Voskepar (Armenian: Ոսկեպար; formerly, Aksibara and Akhsibara) is a village in the northeastern Tavush Province of Armenia, 163 kilometres (101 mi) north of Yerevan. It neighbors Yuxarı Əskipara village (Verin Voskepar in Armenian), an Armenian-controlled Azerbaijani exclave, as well as the other Azeri exclave of Aşağı Əskipara (Lower Askipara) village.

Voskepar derives its name from the Voskepar mountain range; from the Armenian Ոսկե (voske, gold) plus պարան (paran: string or chain).

Voskepar was founded in the 6th century.

In the Nagorno-Karabakh War 7 persons were killed in inter-ethnic fighting.

In 1991, the second operation of Operation Ring took place in and around Voskepar. This was a military operation conducted by Soviet Internal Security Forces and OMON units, officially dubbed a "passport checking operation," the stated goal launched by the Soviet Union's internal and defense ministries was to disarm Armenian militia detachments, which were organized in "[illegally] armed formations." The operation involved the use of soldiers who accompanied a complement of military vehicles, artillery and helicopter gunships to be used to root out the self-described Armenian fedayeen. However, contrary to their stated objectives, Soviet troops and the predominantly Azerbaijani soldiers in the Azerbaijan SSR OMON and army forcibly depopulated many Armenians. Some authors have also described the actions of the joint Soviet and Azerbaijani force as ethnic cleansing. According to Svante E. Cornell, Operation ring was carried out with 'harshly systematic Human Rights violations'.

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