Azeri Christian minority protests at “fake” Armenian inscriptions

ANS TV, Baku
16 Feb 05

[Presenter] Residents of the village of Nij in Qabala [District] have
alleged that the Armenian inscriptions on Udi monuments are fake. The
Udis are preparing to send a note to the Norwegian embassy in Baku to
protest against an appeal from a Norwegian humanitarian organization
for these inscriptions to be preserved.

[Correspondent, over video of church, village] The residents of the
village will not allow the Armenian inscriptions to be preserved on
the Udi monuments, renovated with the help from the [state funded]
Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise [NHE], Georgi Demirciari, the
leader of the Christian minority of the Udis who live in the village
of Nij in Qabala, has said. The Udis, who are Azerbaijani citizens,
are protesting against the statement sent by this humanitarian
organization to the Azerbaijani authorities and the media a few days
ago. The statement said that the Armenian inscriptions on the walls
of the church, the renovation of which it is funding, have been
erased. But the Udi community said that the inscriptions are false
and dismissed the Norwegian reports as groundless.

[Georgi Demirciari, head of Udi religious community, captioned, shown
speaking to ANS] If those false inscriptions that I have mentioned
before are not erased, the renovation will lose its importance. The
Udis have said and are continuing to say that they will not bow to
enter the church if they have both the Armenian inscriptions and the
Udi inscriptions above the door.

[Correspondent] The Udi community has proof that the Armenian
inscriptions on the walls of the Udi church are spurious and the
Armenians have armenified the historic monuments of the Udis in the
village of Nij.

[Demirciari, captioned, shown speaking to ANS] The church was
constructed in 1723. At the time [Armenian] Gregorian Church clergy
left inscriptions in the Armenian alphabet both over the entrance
to the church and inside on a stone next to the altar. We do not
know how they did it or whether there were any inscriptions on it
before. Specialists then came and said that the stones were not
like other stones here in terms of their shape or texture. That was
done later.

[Correspondent] History is also on the side of the Udis. Demirciari
said that the Udis are the ancestors of the ancient Albanians,
who had been living in the territory of Azerbaijan since the second
century BC. According to historic sources, some of the Udis living in
Caucasus Albania embraced Christianity in the second century BC [as
heard] while others turned to Islam. In the Middle Ages the Armenian
Church fought to seize the church of the Caucasus Albania. That is
why the Udis were subjected to Armenian pressure. It was the Russian
tsar who decided to abolish the Albanian Church and handed over all
of its monasteries, documents and wealth to the Gregorian Church.

According to the Udis, the NHE is trampling on the legal rights of
Azerbaijani citizens. Therefore, the Udi Christian community is going
to send the note to the Norwegian embassy in Azerbaijan.

Etibar Ibrahimov, Xatira Akbarova, Samir Ismayilov for ANS