Solak

Solak is a village in the Novo-Bayazid uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Akhta (Hrazdan) district, and currently in the Kotayk province. The provincial centre lies 9 km to the southwest of the town of Akhta (Hrazdan), at the foot of Zinjirli Mountain, at a height of 1,600 m above sea level. The name of the village was noted in “The Iravan Province Review Book”.

Until 1828 the village had been inhabited only by Azerbaijanis. In 1828–1830, after the Treaty of Turkmenchay, the Armenians from Alashkirt and Van provinces of Türkiye were settled in the village. In 1831 94 Azerbaijanis resided in the village. In 1850 the Azerbaijanis were ousted by Armenian militants. At present, only Armenians live there.

The toponym was coined on the basis of the Turkic tribal name “Solak”. In Turkic the word “solak” means “with an ear cut off lengthwise”.

Currently, the name of the settlement is written as “Solak” in official documents in Armenian. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative area of the Kotayk province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 40°27’ N., longitude 44°42’ E.