Oğuz (city)


Oğuz is a city and municipality in, and the capital of, the Oghuz Rayon of Azerbaijan Republic. The city was known as Vartashen until 1991 and was renamed to Oğuz in 1991.

Etymology

Before 1991 the town was called Vartashen, which means town of roses in Armenian ; 'Vard' meaning rose and 'shen' meaning town or village. This is in reference to the abundance of roses that naturally grow in this place..
The name Oğuz, given to the town in 1991, was taken from the old Turkic tribe of Oghuz.

Population

Until 1991, Vartashen was mainly a Udi village, where the Vartashen dialect of the Udi language was spoken by about 3000 people in the 1980s. The Udis of Vartashen belonged to the Armenian Apostolic Church and had Armenian surnames. During the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Udis as well as the Armenians were expelled to Armenia. Some 50 Udi people remained in the town.
There were also Tat-speaking Mountain Jews in Vartashen. Most of them have emigrated to Israel, but possibly 80 have stayed.

Twin towns — sister cities

Oghuz is twinned with: