BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4
By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:
The Armenian government, in retaliation for the defeat in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh war, is trying to accuse and slander Azerbaijan in deeds that it did not do, Faig Ismayilov, researcher, an expert on cultural values, professor of the Moscow branch of the International Academy of Architecture, told Trend on Feb. 4.
“The Armenians have been recently trying to raise a fuss with the help of their henchmen that the Christian monuments in the Nagorno-Karabakh region were "destroyed" by the Azerbaijanis,” Ismayilov, who is also a member of the Board of the Union of Architects of Azerbaijan, member of the working group created under the Cabinet of Ministers on the assessment of the damage caused during the Armenian occupation, added.
“However, during the investigation, it was revealed that the damage caused to the monuments of the Islamic period in the territories of Azerbaijan, which the Armenians held under occupation for 28 years, was also caused to the Christian monuments,” the researcher said.
Ismayilov added that over 28 years of occupation, the Armenians have changed the monuments of the Albanian period in the occupied territories in the Armenian style.
The researcher cited as an example the words of outstanding scholar and historian of Russia Y.I. Krupnov involved in Caucasian studies, who wrote that the continuity of the monuments of the Albanian period in the South Caucasus belongs only to Azerbaijanis.
"Albanian history has been studied by historians from different countries,” the expert said. “One thing is known that the Azerbaijanis must mainly deal with history and fate of Caucasian Albania. They are responsible in this sphere before the world science."
The expert considers the statements of the Armenians about the Albanian monuments groundless.
He emphasized that Christian architecture was widespread in Albania and this architectural style belongs only to the Albanians.
“Many researchers worldwide confirm that this style in the South Caucasus belongs only to Albanians,” the expert said. “Moreover, despite the claims of the Armenians that these monuments belong to them, the architecture, shape, and ornaments of the monuments reveal their lies.”
Professor Ismayilov provided Trend with photo facts about changing of Christian monuments in the Armenian style and Armenian vandalism in Azerbaijan.