Agdam

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Ağdam is a ghost town in the southwest part of Azerbaijan and the capital of its Agdam Rayon. In July 1993, after heavy fighting, Agdam was captured by the forces of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic during its 1993 summer offensives. As the town fell, its entire population were forced to flee eastwards. In the immediate aftermath of the fighting, the Armenian forces decided to destroy much of Agdam to prevent its recapture by Azerbaijan . More damage occurred in the following decades when the deserted town was looted for building materials. Agdam is currently ruinous and uninhabited and empty . The town's large Aghdam Mosque survives intact but in a derelict condition.

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Etymology The city's name is of Azerbaijani origin and means White House , in which ağ means "white" and dam is house or "attic", thus referring to a bright sun-lit, white house which was given by Panah Ali Khan of Karabakh Khanate . Another possibility is that it was derived from ancient Turkic glossary meaning "small fortress". In the distant past, Turkic speaking tribes built small fortresses for their protection and safety .

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Agdam was founded in the 18th century and granted city status in 1828 . It is 26 kilometers from Stepanakert . Before the Nagorno-Karabakh War , butter, wine (Industrial Association for processing of grapes - Agdam Brandy Company), machine factories and a railway station functioned there . History

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Agdam was the scene of fierce fighting during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. According to journalist Robert Parsons, Agdam was used by Azerbaijan as a base for attacks on Karabakh , launching GRADmissiles and bombing raids from there against civilians. During the Battle of Aghdam , violations of the rules of war such as hostage-taking, indiscriminate fire and the forcible displacement of civilians were committed by Armenian forces. As the city fell, almost its entire population fled eastward . The city is still currently used as a buffer zone by the Armed Forces of Armenia, meaning that Ağdam remains empty and decaying, usually banned for sightseeing . Nagorno-Karabakh War

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The ruined city once had a population of almost 40,000 people , but today it is an almost entirely uninhabited ghost town . All the houses are ruinous, some by shells fired in the war, others looted for building materials . One of the few buildings to remain intact is Aghdam Mosque. Its derelict condition drew criticism from Azerbaijani and Turkish communities, who complained to Pope Benedict XVIabout the mosque's current situation . In 2008, the Lonely Planet's guidebook dubbed the city as "Caucasian Hiroshima“. Post-war years