Qasapet


Kusapat is an Armenian populated village South Caucasus, located de jure in the Tartar Rayon of Azerbaijan and de facto in the Martakert Region of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh. The population is about 237 people, mostly Armenians, and several Greeks.

History

Kusapat, one of the oldest villages of Artsakh, was founded in the 15th century by Armenian Prince Atabek Hasan-Jalalyan, the fifth son of Prince Jalal III of the Hasan Jalalyan dynasty. Being the youngest son, Atabek inherited his father's fiefdom that was on the outskirts of ancestral domains, and the older son of Jalalyan inherited Vank fortress. From the old fortress village got its name of Kisapat, that in local Armenian dialect means "half of the wall".
By Prince Atabek of Jraberd started the Atabekyans line and Kusapat with seven surrounding villages became the ancestral domain of their princely house. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century in Kusapat lived the famous, who was one of the leaders of the Artsakh Armenians and did a lot for the establishment of Russian rule in Karabakh after the Russo-Persian War.
Kusapat was badly damaged during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. On 7 July 1992 the village was captured and destroyed by the Azerbaijani army. On 16 July 1992, it was liberated by Armenian self-defense forces of Karabakh.