BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 7. Russians in Azerbaijan are always ready to defend their country, as stated by the First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Community of Azerbaijan, Anastasia Lavrina said, Trend reports.
She made the remark, commenting on the announcement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about adding Azerbaijan to a 'watch list' on religious freedom.
"I am a Russian Azerbaijani. I have been living in the country with the largest Russian community in the South Caucasus, consisting of 120,000 ethnic Russians, for 33 years. In 2023, our community celebrated its 30th anniversary," Lavrina reminded. "Over all these years, there has not been a single case of infringement of rights based on ethnicity or religion in Azerbaijan. We go to church, celebrate our holidays, freely speak our language, and sincerely love our homeland, Azerbaijan."
Emphasizing the readiness of Russians living in Azerbaijan to defend the country, she said that this was brightly demonstrated during the 2020 second Karabakh war, when representatives of all ethnic groups united around the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev.
"Together, we restored justice. The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan have finally been restored. Our united people did what the OSCE Minsk Group, which included the US, and any other international organization could not do for over 30 years, turning a blind eye to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia," the community's representative said.
"The international community was not concerned about the fact that monuments of history, culture, and religion were destroyed on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. This includes not only mosques but also Orthodox and Albanian churches that Armenian occupiers either destroyed or rebuilt," Lavrina noted.
"Destroyed walls, piles of ruins, and the only surviving facade of the Russian Orthodox Church in honor of the Transfiguration, founded in 1894 and located 13 km from the center of Azerbaijan's Khojavend district. Over the years of occupation, Armenian armed forces completely destroyed the sanctuary, demolished three facades, and practically dismantled the building into bricks," she highlighted.
Lavrina also mentioned the Russian Orthodox Church in Talish village in Azerbaijan's Tartar district, near which Armenian occupiers built a military base.
"The temple building has no windows, the roof collapsed in several places, and the walls clearly show traces of bullets and shells. During the entire period of occupation, more than 400 cultural, historical, and religious monuments were destroyed in Azerbaijani lands. Out of 67 mosques, 64 were destroyed or significantly damaged and desecrated," she noted.
"Meanwhile, a similar fate befell ancient Azerbaijani monuments of history and culture located on the territory of modern Armenia. In the early 20th century, more than 300 mosques were registered in Armenia, and now only the Blue Mosque has remained partially intact, which is presented as 'Persian' due to changes in its original features," Lavrina explained. "In the 20th century, Azerbaijanis were massively deported from Armenia, and all material evidence indicating the belonging of these lands to Azerbaijan was destroyed."
She stressed that Azerbaijan once initiated the restoration of several Roman catacombs, ancient frescoes, and ancient manuscripts from the Vatican Library.
"On the territory of Azerbaijan itself, there are Orthodox and Albanian churches, synagogues, and even an Armenian church. Timely restoration and constant care have kept all the buildings in proper condition," the community's representative pointed out.
"I would like to advise Antony Blinken to look at real examples from the lives of various ethnic groups represented in the democratic society of Azerbaijan before referring to unverified information prepared by someone unclear," she added.
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