AZERIS TRANSFORM ARMENIAN CEMETERY INTO A SHOOTING-RANGE

Yerkir
16.03.2006 12:09

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – In December 2005, the Azerbaijani military razed
to the ground about 3,500 khachkars – gigantic carved stone cross
headstones, dating from the 15th century – in the Nakhichevan exclave
on the Iranian and Turkish borders.

The medieval cemetery originally held 10,000 of these exquisitely
carved headstones. Armenians formed a majority in this region during
the 17th to 19th centuries.

The number of headstones – which hold both religious and cultural
significance – was reduced to half during the soviet years, and in
the last decade, a conscious effort to demolish them and remove all
traces of Armenians resulted in the complete destruction and removal
of all remaining monuments.

The most recent effort to break up and remove the stone crosses was
noted in December 2005. This week, clerics on the Iranian border
photographed the barren cemetery and its new feature – a shooting
range.

The government of Armenia presented a formal complaint to UNESCO
Director General Koichiro Matsuura on the destruction of monuments
which form a part of the cultural patrimony of the world. In addition,
the European Parliament, in February 2006, condemned the destruction
of these irreplaceable treasures.