Azerbaijanis Are Seriously Studying the Demographic Genetics of the Population of Zangezur, Sisian, and Artsakh: Balyan

Political analyst Vardan Balyan writes on his Facebook page: "Between 1605 and 1606, the forced displacement of the Armenian population from the Ararat Plain and surrounding areas by Shah Abbas bypassed Syunik and Artsakh. Moreover, particularly in the Sisian region, the Armenian population at that time increased due to the relocation of a significant portion of the Armenians from Nakhichevan.

However, after the defeat of David Bek's uprising, the population of Sisian, along with Kapan and Artsakh, became victims of Turkish persecution, leading to a significant emigration. For many years now, I have been studying the history of the villages of my native region, where the majority of the population migrated to Sisian following the Russo-Persian War of 1826-1828. Before the emigration from Persian Armenia, there were about 200 households of Armenian population in the local villages, but I will not address the native Sisian clans in this context.

Most of today’s residents of Sisian certainly know that they migrated to Sisian from Persian Armenia. For example, after 1828, Armenians moved to Angevakot from the nearby village of Karakyavshan near Tabriz, and the residents of Uzi/Uytzi, those settled in Brnakot, Shaghat, Balak, Mazra/Muzk, Tazagyugh/Tasik, Alilu/Salvard, Gharakilisa, Ghalajugh/Kalajugh, and Lzen villages mainly relocated from Salmast, Maragha, and Khoy, while refugees from Nakhichevan settled in Tolors and Getatagh.

It’s worth noting that the genealogical differences in the population are more pronounced in dialectical speech. In the second half of the 19th century, when nearly all mountain passes of the Lesser Caucasus were being settled by Russian colonies, a Russian village named Borisovka (Bazarchay) was founded in Sisian. At the same time, the settlement of Kamarino was established on the western side of the Bichanaghi/Bichanag mountain pass in Sisian.

Without prolonging, I want to explain why I am writing about this now. Azerbaijanis have been allocating serious resources for studies related to the demographic genetics of the population of Artsakh, Zangezur, and particularly the Sisian region for a considerable time. Among the issues of contemporary genetic-demographic studies of the population in these areas is the prediction of migratory behavior and differentiated dynamics of natural growth.

I want to understand when we will finally take this seriously."