GARALAR

The village is located in the central part of Vedibasar region, in Agridagh valley, 7 km south-west from the village Boyuk-Vedi, which is the center of Vedi district, on the river Boyuk-Vedi, on the edge of the Irevan-Nakhichevan-Baku railway, 600-700 meters from the Irevan-Nakhchivan highway.­­

1920 -  In this year, only Azerbaijani Turks lived in the village.

1921 - And in 1988 it was a mixed village, where Azerbaijanis and Armenians lived together. In 1988, the village was completely Armenianized.

In I. Chopin (1832) we find the name of the village in the list of devastated villages of Vedibasar district. Apparently, the village was subjected to great destruction during the Russian-Iranian, Russian-Ottoman war of 1826-1829.

In 1873 there were 443 Azerbaijanis (253 men, 190 women) in 58 families, in 1886 there were 549 (308 men, 241 women) in 64 families, in 1897 there were 557 Azerbaijanis.­

After the occupation of Vedibasar in 1918-1920, the Azerbaijanis, who actively­ participated in the war against the Armenian Dashnaks, together with all Vedians emigrated­ to the other side of the Araz - to South Azerbaijan, the village was­ destroyed and burned by the Armenians. After the establishment of Soviet authority in the region, the population of Garagala returned and rebuilt the village. Since that time, the first Armenians also moved into the village.

In 1922 there were 241 Azerbaijanis and 273 Armenians registered in the village. In 1931 this ratio changed to 297 Azerbaijanis and 292 Armenians. In 1945-1950, Armenians who came from Garanlig (Martuni) and Garakilsa (Sisian) regions, and in 1946 - natives of Iran and Lebanon settled in the village of Garalar, and during the deportation of 1948-1953, many Azerbaijani families were moved to Azerbaijan.­­ Thus, the number of Armenians in the village was artificially increased, while the number of Azerbaijanis was reduced.­

On January 25, 1978, at the insistence of Armenians from the village of Lezk ­in the Turkish province of Van, the name of the village was changed to Aralez.

During the genocide of Western Azerbaijanis in 1988, the entire Azerbaijani population living in the village (150 Azerbaijanis, 20 Muslim Kurdish families) were expelled from their homes, and the Armenianization of the village was completed.

And before that, beginning in 1948, up to 70 Azerbaijani families were forced to leave the village and move to Azerbaijan as a result of Armenian pressure.