LACK OF ARGUMENTS OR DEFEAT?

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
16 Nov 04

The Azerbaijani machine of propaganda is again worried by the
`appropriation and destruction’ of monuments in the `occupied’
territories, which are `the achievements of the Azerbaijani people’,
by Armenians. The Azerbaijanis present their `arguments’ to the
UNESCO, the PACE, ministries of culture of many countries of the
world, newspapers, and recently the General Assembly of the UN. In
Azerbaijan information on the `appropriation and destruction of 500
monuments of Azerbaijani culture’ is circulated on the top
officiallevel. However, the Azeris never say what monuments they
particularly mean, where these monuments are registered and mentioned
about. They simply proclaim facts and trumpet all over the world that
the Armenians are bad. The reason for this is that the Armenian party
does not set forth enough arguments in counterbalance to this, and it
is not known how long this will last. Whereas the Armenian side
possesses more convincing facts. Is it the not full understanding of
their importance or the incompetence of the responsible persons that
we keep silent? Meanwhile the voice of the Azerbaijani side keeps
rising. We had a talk with the author of several books on the state of
the monuments of Karabakh Shahen Mkrtichian. Recently sponsored by an
Argentine benefactor (note not the government) the new edition of his
illustrated book `Vandalism’ come out inYerevan. It was published in
English in several hundred copies. Besides the materials of the
previous edition the revised edition includes numerous documents on
the actions of vandalism committed by the Azeris in the Armenian
cemetery of Jugha (Nakhijevan). In his book Shahen Mkrtichian
described the attitude of the Azeris towards the Armenian historical
and cultural monuments of Artsakh as vandalism. In international
terminology `vandalism’ means barbaric actions against monuments
created by man. As a rule it has a national or religious nature and
intends destroying the monuments which are of value for the enemy
nation. Actions of vandalism are usually committed by people who do
not have their own culture and cannot appreciate its value. Whereas
the monuments are the evidence of the history, the level of cultural
development of a people. Destroying history means destroying the
nation, therefore in international law vandalism is considered one of
the gravest crimes against a nation. DESTRUCTION OF HISTORICAL
MONUMENTS OF ARTSAKH WAS PLANNED. Artsakh is rich in historical and
cultural monuments, and the evidence to this is the 20 thousand
Christian Armenian monuments belonging to the early, middle and late
Middle Ages. At the time of annexation by Azerbaijan SSR in 1923 there
were 600 churches and monasteries in Karabakh. Already in the 1930’s
none of them operated. The clergymen were exiled to Siberia, church
libraries, icons were set to fire, the inventory was stolen.
Disguised in bolshevist ideas the new `masters’ of the region
redesigned churches into cattle-sheds, broke khachkars and
gravestones. The citations from the pages 75-76 of the book `Nagorni
Karabakh’ published in Baku in 1963 give an idea of the atmosphere in
which the destruction of Armenian monuments was carried out. As the
book puts it, `the variety of monuments shows how tight the religious
shackles of the Karabakh people were of which they were freed owing to
the Great October Socialist Revolution.’ `The enumeration of numerous
churches, monasteries and khachkars preserved in Nagorni Karabakh is
of no political and cultural value, as their role in the public life
of the peoples, especially under socialist rule is obviously
negative,’ claims the book. During the 70 years of the Soviet rule and
the eight-year war imposed on Artsakh Azerbaijan managed to destroy
thousands of monuments of the Armenian civilization, ruin the cultural
treasury of Artsakh, Utik, Nakhijevan and Gardman. What is more,
During the yeas under the yoke of Azerbaijan tens of thousands of
Artsakh carpets, gold and silver jewelry were taken to Baku from
Artsakh and adjacent Armenian regions.

NAIRA HAYRUMIAN.
16-11-2004