In such case I would advise writing to DWG if you spot someone deleting name tags without clear explanation in changeset comment (or discussion of that changeset) why they are doing this.
(though if damage was already fully repaired then writing to DWG may be not useful)
this morning I already wrote to DWG
Both languageās names for the territory should continue to be respected, just as Georgian and Russian names should also continue to be respected for those cities, just because both sides at one point or another committed ethnic cleansing (against the azerbaijani population in the 90s, and against the armenian population in the 20s), shouldnāt change how we treat the names.
Btw, the āArmenian Occupationā as you call it, does not change that it was Armenian majority in ethnicity for at least several hundred years until the events of 2023, regardless of who governed the territory, thus the names are not āfakeā in any way.
While I do not endorse removal of Armenian names in general, Iād wish to cast a slightly different light at the recent actions, using a similar historical situation.
During the Bosnian war of the 1990s, Serb forces changed names of several captured towns in order to de-emphasize their āBosnianā character and emphasize āSerbā character. This renaming was relatively small-scale, and only affected a dozen towns, mostly those with āBosnianā in the name. Hence, āBosanska Dubicaā became āKozarska Dubicaā (Kozara being the name of a nearby mountain).
Those names were invented and had no historical basis, for the most part, but most of them stuck after the war (since the towns remained in Serbian-controlled part). With a notable exception of āSrbinjeā, invented out of thin air for the major town of FoÄa ā that one was so egregious that nobody actually used it apart from hardest nationalists, and it was rolled back by the Costitutional Court . And we donāt even mention it as some kind of old_name in the townās OSM history.
So, it is probably acceptable to remove similarly invented name:hy for Azeri villages that never had a proper Armenian name, but as outsiders, we can hardly tell proper from invented names.
Itās up to Armenian and Azeri communities to decideā¦ (washes his hands and walks away)
It would be nicer if we had a clear policy on this that mappers could follow and refer to. Something like ādonāt remove pre-existing names in contested/occupied areas until the dust has settled down and new names have been solidified.ā
Hallo, has there been a feedback from the DWG already? What is their opinion and the next steps in this case? Thx.
No I havenāt heard back yet.
Not all towns and villages had Armenian majority. For example, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Kalbajar, Lachin, Jabrayil had Azerbaijani majority until 1994. So, the Armenian names were not always official and historical and some were given in recent years just to remove real names. Real names for these towns were the same in both Azerbaijani and Armenian languages.
And yes, you may like it or not, but it was exactly occupation of sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. If you have still doubts, here are official UN resolutions regarding the occupation:
https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/or/13508.htm
*regarding the occupation of 2 districts, that were eventually returned in the 2020 ceasefire, a ceasefire that was then violated in 2023.