Oksuz is a village in the Aghbaba area (nahiya) of the Kars uezd of the former Kars province, later in the former Amasiya (Aghbaba) district, and currently in the Shirak province. The provincial centre lies at a distance of 40 km from the town of Gumru, to the north of Lake Arpa, bordering on the Bogdanovka (Ninosminda) district of Georgia, at a height of 2,200 m above sea level.
In the works of Armenian authors the village inhabitants are mentioned as Garapapags. The village was inhabited by 62 Azerbaijanis in 1886, 96 in 1897, 153 in 1908 and 176 Azerbaijanis in 1914. The village was part of the Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus, established in Kars in 1918–1919. In February 1920, as a result of the attack of Armenian armed groups, the village was destroyed and the population became refugees. By the Treaty of Kars in 1921, the village was included in the territory of Soviet Armenia as part of the Aghbaba area. After that, part of the village population returned to the village. The village was inhabited by 202 Azerbaijanis in 1922, 243 in 1926, 270 in 1931, 311 in 1939, 147 in 1959, 241 in 1970, 264 in 1979 and 291 Azerbaijanis in 1987. In the winter of 1989, the Azerbaijanis were expelled from their historical-ethnic territories by Armenians. At present, the village is mainly inhabited by Armenians from the Akhalkalak and Bogdanovka (Ninosminda) districts of Georgia.
The toponym was coined from the word “okuz” meaning “a river” in Old Turkic. This word is also noted as “oquz, okus, oqus”.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 3 April 1991, the village was renamed “Darik”. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative territory of the Shirak province.
Geographic coordinates: latitude 41°07’ N., longitude 43°40’ E.