BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7. The research on “Destruction of the heritage and erasure of historical legacy of Azerbaijani people in Armenia: The fate of Tapabashi neighborhood – the last remnant of the Azerbaijani national cultural and historical heritage in the city of Irevan” prepared to expose the crimes committed by Armenia to destroy Azerbaijani people’s national and cultural heritage, is a very important project, Executive Director of the Institute of History named after A. Bakikhanov, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), Jabi Bahramov told Trend.
According to Bahramov, in 1918, without the consent of the Azerbaijani people and without a referendum, territories of 9,000 square kilometers in Yerevan and its environs were ceded to Armenia.
After the occupation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic by Soviet Russia in 1920, Azerbaijani lands were put up for auction, and the territories of 20.8 square kilometers included in it were transferred to the Armenian SSR, which is one of the most serious crimes committed against the Azerbaijani people, he said.
According to the expert, all traces of the Azerbaijani heritage were erased from the above territories.
"This is real fascism. We have the right to raise this issue at the level of international law, both legally and historically, and I’m very glad that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is taking very important steps in this direction,” Bahramov noted.
“The ancient city of Irevan is about 520 years old. It was founded by Revan Gulu Khan by the order of the Safavid state’s founder Shah Ismail Khatai,” he further said. “The studies showed that in these territories, transferred [to Armenia] in 1918, no traces associated with Azerbaijan have been found, except for the Tapabashi neighborhood, most part of which was destroyed. Therefore, many representatives of our intelligentsia sent an appeal to UNESCO.”
“The duty of UNESCO and other international organizations is to restore justice and stop the crime that is being committed. On the territory of Azerbaijan, 62 mosques were destroyed [by Armenia during the occupation from the 1990s to 2020], but why are these organizations silent?” the expert pointed out. “We are determined to stand up for our rights and we are doing it. Research is being carried out on all Azerbaijani lands vandalized by Armenia.”
“Work is underway in this direction, and the international community will be informed about it if it gives a legal assessment of what is happening. Every inch of historical Azerbaijani lands is dear to us,” he also noted.
“The crimes committed against Azerbaijanis have no analogy in the world. Armenia committed crimes to wipe out our traces and heritage, but we’ll prevent this,” concluded Bahramov.