Voskepar
Voskepar is a village in the Noyemberyan Municipality of the Tavush Province of Armenia, located close to the Armenia–Azerbaijan border.
Etymology
Voskepar derives its name from the Voskepar mountain range; from Armenian ոսկե, and պարան. In the 19th and 20th centuries the village was also known as Aksibara and Akhsibara.History
Voskepar was founded in the 6th century. The village contains the 7th-century Armenian Holy Mother of God Church.First Nagorno-Karabakh War
During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, seven people were killed in inter-ethnic fighting in and around the village.In 1991, the second operation of Operation Ring took place in and around Voskepar. This was a military operation conducted by Soviet Internal Security Forces and OMON units, officially dubbed a "passport checking operation." The stated goal launched by the Soviet Union's internal and defense ministries was to disarm Armenian militia detachments, which were organized in " armed formations." The operation involved the use of soldiers who accompanied a complement of military vehicles, artillery and helicopter gunships to be used to root out the self-described Armenian fedayeen. However, contrary to their stated objectives, Soviet troops and the predominantly Azerbaijani soldiers in the Azerbaijan SSR OMON and army forcibly displaced many Armenians. Some authors have also described the actions of the joint Soviet and Azerbaijani force as ethnic cleansing. According to Svante E. Cornell, Operation Ring was carried out with "harshly systematic human rights violations."
Five Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in the border area close to the village in May 2012.
Geography
The town lies in a valley to the south of the Voskepar Ridge, which reaches heights of.The average temperature is in summer and in winter. The abandoned villages of Yukhari Askipara and Ashagi Askipara are located near the village. The village is located north of Yerevan.