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Guba mass grave is an alleged mass grave of victims of mass killings of Azerbaijani, Jewish, Lezgi civilians by Armenian Dashnaks and Bolsheviks during the March days of 1918 in Guba, Azerbaijan.

Discovery

A mass grave was discovered during the construction of a stadium in Guba on April 6, 2007. Upon the discovery, an expedition group was formed and an archeological excavation conducted. Bones of approximately 400-600 people, including those of over 50 children and 100 women, were uncovered. These civilians were killed on the orders of Bolshevik leader, ethnic Armenian Stepan Shahumian. The mass slaughter in Guba city and Guba uyezd of Baku Governorate was continuation of massacre of Azerbaijanis in Baku in the spring of 1918, as a result of strengthening of power of Bolsheviks and Dashnaks in Baku , . According to the reports of ADR Special Investigations Commission from July 1918, investigating war crimes against civilian population in the country, Armenian armed detachments under the command of Hamazasp Srvantstyan, sent to Guba in May 1918 by the chairman of Baku Soviet of Commissars, Stepan Shahumian, committed attrocities in the city of Guba and Muslim villages of Guba uyezd. According to the research, the general numbers of people killed by Armenian detachments in Guba city and 122 villages of Guba district the spring of 1918 are 3,000 and 16,000, respectively. Out of all killed, about 3,000 were of Jewish nationality. The facts had been presented by the leader of Azerbaijani Mountain Jews Semyon Ikhilov in 1980s.

Mass burial

Once the burial site was uncovered, a forensic expedition of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences was formed and sent to the location. On April 13, 2007, the first forensics report was released. According to the report, the fact that there are no intact sceletons testify that massacred civilians were first executed, dismembered and then thrown into the wells, 2.5 to 5 meters deep. The deepest wells had hundreds of human remains. The first finds reported 137 sceletons.

The archeological excavation works covering more than 500 sq miles were completed on September 5, 2008. Gahraman Agayev, the leader of the forensic expedition, reported that 2 main wells and 2 canals with human bones were uncovered. The finds indicate that 24 skulls were of children, 28 - of women of various ages. Besides ethnic Azerbaijanis killed were Jews and Lezgis. The names of 81 massacred Jewish civilians were found and confirmed.

In 2008 Lluís Maria De Puig, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, visited this mass cemetery commemorating the massacre of the peaceful population and said that he was horrified. Members of Diplomatic Academy of Germany, Kuwaiti government delegation as well as students from Oman, Yemen, Pakistan, Belarus, India, Israel, Korea and Turkey

Construction of a museum at the site of the mass grave is being planned. An initial amount of AZN 1 million will be allocated for the construction.

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Controversy

After discovery of the mass grave no tests were run on the skeleton's to determine what group of people they belonged to. Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Oktay Asadov ordered the director of the Institute of History, MP Yagub Mahmudov to attract foreign anthropologists to draw up an official document "about the massacre of Azerbaijanis at the beginning of last century, by the Armenians". However, foreign experts have not appeared, and the remains have not been subjected to peer evaluation to determine what ethnic group they belonged to. Without running any tests the leader of the expedition of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Qahraman Aghayev came to the conclusion the Armenian's were responsible and claims studies have shown that "the massacre took place from 3 to 10 May". Aghayev also claims Stepan Shahumyan wrote a letter telling about the massacre but no letter has been publicized. Contrary to the Azerbaijani claims there is a telegram in the Armenian archives written in late April 1918 by commissioner of the city and region of Guba Gelovani to the Chairman of the Military Revolutionary Committee Korganova which reads: "Today, 24 April, I delivered 115 of the Armenians who were imprisoned in Guba prison. They all lost their property. I made ​​arrangements to return their property. They requested financial assistance from the Armenian National Council. As soon as possible send to my address. ... the critical financial state than the City Lip other places, too, is captured by Armenians. take steps to secure their release. " This telegram was published in "Arev" April 27, 1918. Other archival material shows the brutal murder of wealthy Armenian families Guba city, and among those killed were children (during the excavation of Azerbaijani sources have been found four children's skeleton).

See also

• March Days

• Quba (city)

References

1. ^ "Mass Grave Found in Northern Azerbaijan". Visions. Spring 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
2. "TRT crew visits genocide mass grave in Guba". APA. 2010-03-13. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
3. "Belgian deputy shocked by mass grave in Azerbaijan". Azerbaijan News. May 25, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
4. "Turkish reporters visit mass grave in Azerbaijan". March 15, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
5. "Свидетельство о Губинской трагедии". Retrieved June 9, 2011.
6. ^ "Б. Сафаров. Установить всех жертв поименно не удастся". Эхо. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
7. ^ "Guba, Azerbaijan - Skull Fragments of 137 People Found in Mass Grave". Retrieved June 9, 2011.
8. 2009 ORDINARY SESSION (First part). REPORT. Eighth Sitting. Thursday 29 January 2009 at 3 p.m.
9. "Сотрудники и студенты Дипломатической академии Германии посетили массовое захоронение в Губе". Day.az. May 23, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
10. "KUWAITI DELEGATION VISITS GUBA MASS GRAVE". Oananews. April 15, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
11. "Foreign student in Azerbaijan commemorate Guba mass grave's victims". today.az. March 31, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
12. "Genocide Museum to be built in Guba". Trend News. November 12, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
13. "Museum to be constructed in place of Guba mass grave". news.az. November 12, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
14. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.voskanapat.info/news/kogda_guba_ne_dura_ili_osobennosti_nacionalnogo_genocidostroenija_v_azerbajdzhane/2010-09-14-757

External links

• Museum to be established in mass grave of Guba

• Genocide Museum to be built in Guba

• Museum to be constructed in place of Guba mass grave

• Photo

41°21′40″N 48°29′30″E / 41.36111°N 48.49167°E / 41.36111; 48.49167

• Massacres in Azerbaijan
• Mass graves