Lalatapa

39°24′31″N47°16′07″E / 39.40851°N 47.26869°E / 39.40851; 47.26869Lalatapa (Azerbaijani: Lələtəpə, listen^ⓘ) is a 271.1 m (889 ft) high hill in the Jabrayil Rayon of Azerbaijan, 2.9 kilometres (1.8 mi) north-west of Çocuq Mərcanlı.

In 2019, an archaeological expedition led by Khagani Almammadov of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan announced the discovery of a Neolithic settlement near Lalatapa. The settlement reportedly dates back to the first half of the sixth millennium BC and covers a total area of 0.9 hectares. Subsequent archaeological excavations in 2020 revealed a conical ziggurat and the remains of three structures: one round, one oval and one rectangular, with a small fragment of a fence. The multi-tiered round structure, with a diameter of 3.3 m and a height of 1.5–2 m, is said to have served as a living area. In it were discovered two jugs, tools made of stone and bone and remnants of a hearth. A child's skeleton was discovered under the third tier. Additionally, a nearby burial site yielded 14 graves containing not only skeletons but also necklaces made of glass, stone and malachite, along with bone jewelry and a knob.^[1]

Having a strategic military importance, the hill was one of the battle sites during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War on February 11–12, 1994, following which it was seized by Armenian troops.^[2] Lalatapa was retaken by Azerbaijani forces during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,^[3] which was independently confirmed by an AFP journalist.^[4][5]

Después de la guerra de Nagorno-Karabaj de 2020 , en abril de 2021, la colina volvió a ser tema de debate público en Armenia cuando los opositores del primer ministro armenio Nikol Pashinyan lo acusaron de ordenar una operación fallida para capturar Lalatapa a principios de octubre de 2020, que resultó en graves bajas para el bando armenio y el colapso de la defensa armenia en la parte sureste del frente. ^{[ 6 ]} Pashinyan rechazó esta acusación, diciendo que la operación fue propuesta y planificada por generales y que él simplemente moderó la discusión entre ellos. ^{[ 7 ]} El teniente general Samvel Babayan , quien fue secretario del Consejo de Seguridad de Artsaj durante la guerra de 2020, declaró en una entrevista en abril de 2021 que propuso la operación fallida, pero que tuvo lugar a unos 10 kilómetros de Lalatapa y resultó en solo 2 bajas para el bando armenio. ^{[ 8 ]}