Armenian historical settlements of Vardashen․ Lesser Sokutlu

Due to the expansion of the village of Mets (Greater) Sokutlu, a new village, Pokr (Lesser) Sokutlu, emerged at a distance of one or two kilometers from it, located in the Vardashen district (renamed Oghuz in 1989). The exact date of the village’s founding is unknown.

During the visit of the Bishop Makar Barkhutaryants in 1888, the village had 70 Armenian households with a population of 484. By 1908, the number of residents had increased to 596. In 1914, the village was entirely Armenian-populated, with a total of 900 inhabitants.

In 1918, Pokr Sokutlu was attacked and destroyed by Turkish troops and Musavatists.

During the visit of the monument specialist Samvel Karapetyan in the 1980s, the Church of Surb Lusavorich (Saint Illuminator) still remained in the area of Pokr Sokutlu, surrounded by a small cemetery with inscribed tombstones. S. Karapetyan published the inscription from one of the preserved tombstones.

This tombstone... of the son of reader Oganes Mah... Ter...yants... Whoever reads this, let them say – may the Lord have mercy on him, 1885.

Pokr Sokutlu is currently an uninhabited village site, where only traces of houses once inhabited by Armenians are visible.

Bibliography

Barkhutaryants M., Land of Aghvank and its Neighbors: Artsakh, Yerevan, 1999.

Karapetyan S., The Armenian Lapidary Inscriptions of Aghvank Proper, Yerevan, 1997.

Colophons of Armenian Manuscripts of the 15th Century, vol. 1, compiled by L. Khachikyan, Yerevan, 1955.

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