Ayrk

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Ayrk (Armenian: Այրք) or Dashkend (Azerbaijani: Daşkənd) is a village in the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia. Founded at early Middle ages as Armenian village named Ayrk' in Gegharkunik gavar (district) of Syunik ashkhar (province) of Greater Armenia's kingdom. Population was deported to Persia by Abbas 1-st in 1603, then nomadic Turkic tribes from Middle Asia settled this and many other emptied Armenian settlements. By 19th century there was a Caucasian Tatar inhabited village known by name Dashkend name wich means "Town of Stone" in Turkish. Since the 1936 population census shows the village is populated by Azeris. According to Azerbaijani sources in 1948 part of the population was deported by Soviet army. In this period Azerbaijani musicians - Alghayit, Najaf, Sarraf Siruya, Hasan was born there. After the Karabakh conflict broke, in 1988 remained Azerbaijani population sold their homes to Armenian refuges from Soviet Azerbaijan and left the village. Since the 1989 gets back the historical name Ayrk. The village contains the Church of St. Astvatsatsin dated to 1181 AD, and the 13th-century Katoghike St. Gevorg church, 150 meters apart from each other. Both churches have large adjoining cemeteries, and between them are the remains of massive stone walls of an Iron Age fortification with shallow caves below.