BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar.29
By Ilhama Isabalayeva – Trend:
Misrepresentation of the Caucasian Albanian monuments in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh as Armenian by any foreign media is disrespect to Azerbaijani history, department head at the Institute of Science History under the National Academy of Sciences, Ph.D. in History Bayram Guliyev told Trend on Mar.29.
According to Guliyev, it’s well known that these monuments existed on these lands also before 1828 when Armenians were massively resettled there.
He said that the spread of unfounded information in foreign media about the alleged destruction of the Armenian ‘church’ in Jabrayil city (occupied by Armenia in 1993 and liberated by Azerbaijan from the occupation during the 44-day war from late Sept. through early Nov.2020) once again proves the existence of a biased approach towards Azerbaijan.
“Firstly, Armenians never lived in Jabrayil district. Secondly, the European media, which ‘look for an Armenian church’ in the district, don’t realize or don’t want to realize that the city of Jabrayil is completely destroyed. Besides, Fuzuli, Gubadly, Zangilan and Aghdam cities (also liberated from the occupation during the 44-day war) had been almost razed to the ground. To verify this, it’s not needed to go to Karabakh: this can be seen on satellite images of the Google maps platform," noted the scholar.
He also noted that the very fact of the construction of a religious facility in the occupied territories should be viewed as an attempt to distort history. At the same time, this step is an aggression against the national, cultural and religious characteristics of Karabakh.
"To present any structure built after the occupation as a historical monument is a manifestation of ignorance, unprofessionalism and double standards. The media supporting this step are also directly involved in the Armenian aggression in the cultural sphere," Guliyev further said.
According to him, it’s extremely important that foreign media pay attention to such issues.
He reminded the mosques of Karabakh, some of which were destroyed, while in others the Armenians kept pigs. Of the five mosques in Jabrayil itself, only one has been partially preserved, and only ruins remain of the other four, added Guliyev.