New book review.
g%20v7%20-13MAY07.pdf
London, April 2008
"War Against Azerbaijan – Targeting Cultural Heritage", part of the
series "The true facts about Garabagh".
Compiled by Kamala Imranli. (Unknown authors).
280 pages, 27x25cm, cloth-bound, including a CD-ROM and a DVD.
Published by Heydar Aliyev Foundation and The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of The Republic of Azerbaijan, Baku, 2007
ISBN (10) 9952-8091-4-X, ISBN (13) 978-9952-8091-4-5. Price unknown.
This handsomely prepared book is clearly aimed to appeal the
prospective browser. However, the real aim of the book is somewhat
different. Books of this ilk can only serve a propaganda purpose by
aiming to create and instigate animosity between neighbouring peoples
by direct geopolitical agitation, disinformation and outright reversal
of the truth. This can help the ruling elite, who are interested merely
in their own financial and political gains and status, at the cost of
the lives of their own citizens, as well as others.
The book begins with a brief history of Azerbaijan, so as to convince
the layman that this country had been established in the present region
for millennia. It completely overlooks the fact that the real and
historic Azerbaijan has been and remains a north-western province of
Iran, and the erstwhile country of Lesser Media. During Alexander the
Great’s expeditions, one of the patriotic Median generals named Atropat
fiercely defended his homeland and in his honour the province was named
Atropatene, in time evolving into Adharabadgan, Adharbigan and
Azerbaijan.1
When using the name Azerbaijan, one must be careful to qualify what is
indicated by this name, since for two millennia Azerbaijan has been the
north-western province of Iran, located south of the Araxes river,
while The Republic of Azerbaijan is the name given to the territory
across the river since 1918 only. After becoming independent in 1918
this country was first named `Eastern and Southern Transcaucasia’
renamed `The Republic of Azerbaijan’ by the ruling nationalist Musavat
party it, thus reclassifying the local Tatar population as `Azeris’.2
This very same territory was for centuries divided into various
khanates such as Shirvan, Shamakhi, Talish, Ganja (Elizavetpol)
Qarabagh etc., parts of which were semi-autonomous under Persian or
Russian suzerainty (see map of Fig. 1). According to Toumanoff, after
the demise of the kingdom of Caucasian Albania in 1166 the power was
transferred into the hands of the Armenian Khachen family, whose Meliks
(Lords) ruled their territories and later shared power with various
Muslim Khans until the 19th century.3
In the Russian translation of the 9th century geographical work by Ibn
Khurdadhbeh, published in Azerbaijan, there is a map of the area, which
confirms the above statement. It shows Armenia reaching lake Sevan,
while Azerbaijan is denoted as the territory south of the Araxes River
as one of the regions of Iran. To the north of this are the regions of
Arran, Shirvan, Mughan, Shaki and Tabarsaran.4
The famous Russian Orientalist Academician V. Bartold in one of his
lectures given during November and December of 1924 in the Oriental
Faculty of Azerbaijan State University stated `¦ the territory that is
now known as The Republic of Azerbaijan, which in the past was named
Arran [Caucasian Albania], was given the name Azerbaijan thinking that
when this country is established, the Persian
1 Prof. Enayatollah Reza’s article in the Ettelaat periodical `Siasi va
Eghtesadi’ (Politics and Economics), Arran [Albania] wa Azerbaijan.
Chegune name Azerbaijan bar Arran nahadeh shod?, Tehran, 2002, Vol.
181-182, pp. 4-25.
2 Richard G Hovannisian, Armenia on the road to Independence, 1918,
University of Southern California 1967, p. 189.
3 Cyril Toumanoff, Studies in Christian Caucasian history, Georgetown
University Press, 1963, pp. 216-7.
4 Ibn Khurdadhbeh, Ã?à – èãà Ã?óòåÃ& #xA8; è Ã`òðà à – , Azerbaijan National Academy of
Sciences, Baku 1986, p. 290 map. 10.
1
and this Azerbaijan will become a united country ¦’.5 This political
game was analogous to the case of one of the constituent republics of
Yugoslavia, Macedonia, adopting the name of an existing Greek province
of Macedonia. The tensions engendered by this move still rumble on.
As described in the Introduction of this volume, the region was in days
of old entitled [Caucasian] Albania, populated by Albanians, Christian
since the 4th century. After the onslaught of the Turkic tribes of
Tatars, Mongols and Seljuks were overrun and assimilated with the
ruling newcomers. The resulting mixture of races later converted to
Islam, changing its language to Turkish, spoken by the new rulers. It
must be added that on the other hand the Armenians living in the
isolated mountainous regions stubbornly adhered to their language and
religion.
The population of the Iranian province of Azerbaijan, the true Azeris,
spoke an old Pahlavi dialect – referred to as the Azeri language, which
during the reign of Mongols and Seljuks in the 13-15th centuries
gradually changed into Turkish, the language spoken by the overlords.6
It is noteworthy that in Iranian Azerbaijan there remain certain
villages, where the remnants of the old Azeri dialects, such as Tati
and Harzani are spoken.7
Fig. 1 – Senex’s map of the Caspian Sea, 1742.
The map shows various regional khanates as well as Armenia (yellow) and
Georgia (red).
The area known today as The Republic of Azerbaijan consists of the
khanates of Daghestan, Derbend, Shamakhi and Shirwan (all green).
Adherbijan (purple) is shown inside the territory of Iran, south of the
Araxes River.
5 Vassily Vladimirovich.Bartold Ã?à áîÃ& #xB2;û ïî èñòî&# xC3;°Ã¨Ã¨ Ã?à âêÃ& #xA0;çà è Ã?îñòÃ& #xAE;ֈ – îè
Åâðî 3;¯Ã», Vol.2, Oriental Literature Press, Moscow, 1963, p. 703.
6 Abdolali Karang, Tati wa Harzani,do lahjeh as zabane’ bastane’
Azerbaijan, Va’ezpour publications, Tabriz 1954.
7 Dr. Saeed Oryan’s website CAIS, at SOAS, London.
2
The anonymous author of the book goes on to claim that the Central
Asian Turkic Oguz tribes of Aghkoyunlus and Karakoyunlus were
Azerbaijanis, and furthermore, that the Persian Safavids, who were of
mixed Iranian and Iranian-Azerbaijani heritage, were in fact from their
country too. Here the author has inferred that Central Asian tribes are
Azeris, while simultaneously confirming that Azeris are descendents of
the Caucasian Albanians. Which of these two contradictory theories are
we to believe?
In spite of the evidence presented by Strabo that `the river Araxes
runs through Armenia’ and `the border of Armenia and Albania is the
river Kura’, the present book claims that no Armenians lived in the
area of present day Armenia and Qarabagh, adding that the Armenians
were settled in the territory of Azerbaijan by the Russians only after
the 1813 and 1828 treaties with Persia, forgetting that since the early
ages the area of The Republic of Azerbaijan was populated by peoples
speaking Persian, Albanian, Taleshi, Armenian etc. and much later also
Turkish.8 The Armenian Meliks, the Landlords, lived in the mountainous
region of Qarabagh and due to their strategically invincible positions
generally remained autonomous, even when the rest of the region had
fallen under Russian and Persian rule. If the book is to be believed,
the famous Armenian patriot Davit Bek, one of the political leaders of
neighbouring Zangezur, is also of Albanian-Azerbaijani origin. So
allegedly are all the Christians living in the vicinity of Qarabagh and
The Republic of Azerbaijan, who are considered by the author to be the
remnants of Christian Albanians. In addition to many other travellers
who visited the region, Johann Schiltenberger9 and Joseph Emin10 have
written about the Qarabagh Armenians in their travel narratives, dating
from the 15th and 18th centuries respectively. Furthermore, the
Cathedral of Holy Echmiadzin, just west of Yerevan, established in
301-303 AD, has for centuries been the central and important religious
centre for Armenians. It should be remembered that around 1603 the
Safavid king Shah Abbas the Great forcefully relocated over 300,000
(supposedly `non-existent’) Armenians from Nakhijevan and Julfa to
New-Julfa, a town built near Isfahan for the resettled Armenians, who
were brought for their skills as craftsmen and international merchants
to help the Shah in his ambitious improvement projects, where their
descendants still thrive.
Even the famous Qarabagh historian Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi
(1773-1853) in his Tarikh-e Qarabagh (The History of Qarabagh) written
in Persian between 1840 and 1844 states `In ancient time the town
[Barada in Qarabagh] was populated by Armenians and other
non-Muslims’11 and adds `During Safavid sultans of Iran the Vilayet of
Qarabagh, its tribes, khamsa [five] Armenian mahals [districts] of
Dizaq, Varandeh, Khachin, Chalaberd and Talish were subordinates of
beglarbegi of Ganja’.12
The book spares no effort to eradicate the presence of the Armenians
from these territories, even claiming that the Armenian religious
leaders, the various Catholicoi were Albanian. The Albanian people had
a script, invented by Mesrop Mashtotz, which, due the scarcity of its
surviving samples, are still in the process of being deciphered.13
Evidence shows that all the inscriptions on the Christian monuments in
the territory of Mountainous Qarabagh and The Republic of Azerbaijan
are in the Armenian script and language, yet the book tries to convince
the reader that somehow the local churches, where everything written is
in Armenian, are not of Armenian but Albanian origin. To this end, the
images of the churches and monuments are taken from a distance and are
depicted in such a way that Armenian language inscriptions present, are
indiscernible.
8 Strabo, Geography, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, 1928. Book 11,
Ch. 1,5-6 and Ch. 4,1-2.
9 Johann Schiltenberger, Bondage and Travels – 1396 to 1427, Hakluyt
Society, London, 1879, Chapters 62-64.
10 Joseph Emin, My Life and Adventures, London, 1792. Chapters 17 to 26.
11 Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi, Tarikh-e Qarabakh, Manuscript
B-712/11603, Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, p. 4.
12 Ibid, p. 6.
13 Koriun, Varq Mashtotzi (Life of Mashtotz), Yerevan State University,
Yerevan, 1981, p.288-9. 3
The conflict between The Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan is put
squarely on the shoulders of Armenia, conveniently omitting that it was
the Azerbaijani army who started the conflict with the bombing of
Stepanakert, the capital of Qarabagh, using aircraft and Grad missiles,
destroying most of the town and killing hundreds of civilians.
The author then laments the destruction of monuments and buildings,
citing 1891 such instances (about which later). The ninth paragraph
starts with naming the `Aghoghlan’ (allegedly Albanian) cloister, whose
faith is unknown to the author. This is in fact the famous 4-5th
century church of Tzitzernavank, whose roof had collapsed in 1986 and
which, since the liberation has been restored by the Armenians and is
now an active church (see Fig. 2). It then goes on naming Amaras (4th
century, built by Gregory the Illuminator), Gandzasar (built in the
10th century, extended during 12th and 13th centuries and later) and
Dadivank (Khutavank – churches built during 12th and 13th centuries)
monasteries as being Albanian, while all the historic documentation,
founding and dedicating inscriptions and carvings in these complexes
bear witness to their Armenian origin.
Fig. 2 -The church of Tzitzernavank.
Restored by the Armenians. 2004.
Prior to coming under the control of Qarabagh Armenians, none of the
Christian monuments, Monasteries or tombs in that territory was
protected. In fact most were systematically and intentionally damaged
and destroyed and it is only after 1995 that the local Armenians
started to restore them. One example is the monastery of Dadivank
(Khudavank), whose importance is mentioned in page 8 of the book, yet
as seen in the photo on page 80, under Azeri rule, it was left to decay
and Armenian specialists have only recently restored some of the
churches in this monastery to their original state (see Fig. 3 and 4).
Yet the author includes Dadivank in the list and claims its fate to be
`unknown’!
Fig. 3 – Dadivank – as depicted in the book
Fig. 4 – Dadivank in 2007. Partially restored. 4
The Monastery of Gandzasar (in the book entitled `Ganjasar cloister’)
is treated in the same manner. The photograph depicted (page 16) shows
the monastery as it was prior to 1993, that is, while under the control
of the Government of Azerbaijan. This important and supposedly
`Albanian-Azerbaijani’ historic monastery was left to decay even
though, if we believe the book, it is part of the Azerbaijani cultural
heritage. When the control of the territory came into the hands of the
Armenians, the complex was cleaned and restored, once again becoming an
active and important religious centre (see photographs of Fig. 5 and 6)
.It must be mentioned that during the war the Azerbaijani army
bombarded the church with missiles, as a result of which one of the
periphery walls was knocked down, revealing many hidden medieval
Khachkars (Cross-stones).
Fig. 5 -The Monastery of Gandzasar as shown in the book, prior to 1993,
while in Azeri hands.
Fig. 6 – Gandzasar as it looks today, after being restored and used as
a religious centre.
The list continues in the same vein. This persists re-naming and
re-attributing all the major monuments and religious historic
buildings, into the chapter on the `Religious architectural legacy of
the Caucasian Albanians’. Subsequent chapters are dedicated to each
`occupied’ district, with some satellite imagery of the sites, small
photos of the objects and a table of various monuments etc., with
columns for their names, date, location, coordinates and present
status. The lists include the following categories
– Castles and towers
– Churches and cloisters [monasteries]
– Temples and pre Islamic monuments
– Mosques
– Caravanserais
– Ancient and modern cemeteries
– Bridges, springs and mills
– Archaeological artefacts & Museums
– Residential houses
– Schools and theatres
– Libraries
– Social clubs
– Houses of Culture
– Other buildings
The sum of the objects in the tables of various districts adds up to
1891 items, listing everything from Cloisters [Monasteries] and
Churches to Mosques and Houses, claiming that 1421 of these have been
destroyed by the Armenians, the fate of the rest being unknown.
Detailed study of the list reveals that 1189 of these allegedly
`destroyed’ objects fall in the category of Residential House, Library,
Social club and House of Culture, few of them being identifiable, in
the absence of names, coordinates or any photographs. For further
clarification the chapters of the books were scrutinised with the
following results.
5
1 – Shusha (or Shushi) District
From the 167 allegedly `destroyed’ Houses, Libraries, Social clubs and
houses of Culture, only 67 have photographic representations. Curiously
thirteen of these images show them as intact buildings with no apparent
damage, such as those numbered 134, 187, 191, 231, 256 and others.
2 – Kalbajar district
The condition of the Gandzasar monastery is shown as `unknown’. This
complex has been restored and is once again the focal point of the
Armenian Church in the district. Given the publicity it has received,
this fact could hardly have escaped the author’s attention.
From the 44 historic monuments and buildings listed, only seven are
claimed to have been destroyed and the rest are classified as `unknown’.
Out of 208 Houses, Libraries, Social clubs and Houses of Culture only
five are shown on satellite photos. Moreover item 207 (listed as
`destroyed’) appears standing.
3 – Lachyn District (Berzor)
Out of the 137 listed Artefacts, Temples, Churches, Tombs, Springs etc.
only 9 are claimed as `destroyed’ and the rest are classified as
`unknown’.
Out of the 196 Houses, Libraries, Social clubs and Houses of Culture
the status of only one is `unknown’ and the rest are allegedly
`destroyed’. Yet the satellite photos include only four of the listed
buildings, object numbers 150, 151, 266 and 299. Item 299 of these four
while being classified as `unknown’ appears to be an intact structure
on the photograph.
The list pertaining to the remaining ten districts continue predictably
in the same vein. Suffice it to say that from the 615 Houses,
Libraries, Social clubs and Houses of Culture listed none have names or
specific coordinates and only 25 have attendant satellite imagery
and/or photographs, leaving the fate of the 590 in the hands of the
anonymous author, who has chosen to classify them as `destroyed’.
Some of the bridges shown as `destroyed’ are most probably war
casualties. It is not unusual for a retreating army to destroy bridges
left behind, such that they are useless to the enemy. The retreating
Azerbaijani army in all probability destroyed many bridges which are
now claimed to be the `proofs of Armenian atrocities’ and `war on
culture’! It also lists a number of Mosques, especially in Armenia,
which have been destroyed, conveniently forgetting that during the
early Soviet era the Communists indiscriminately obliterated most of
the churches and mosques in both countries.
The book has four folding and one single page maps inserted in the last
chapter of the book.
1. Map No 1 is a Russian map dated 1823, where Armenia and Georgia are
shown divided between Iran and Russia. The territory that is now The
Republic of Azerbaijan is shown as the Khanates of Mughan, Qarabagh,
Elizavetpol, Shaki, Shirvan etc. As in every map of up to 1918,
Adherbijan (Azerbaijan) is shown as part of Iran located south of the
Araxes River, confirming our earlier comments.
2. Map No.2 is another Russian map dating from 1834, which shows the
Russian Oblasts (Districts) of Armenia and Qarabagh. This map has no
relevance to the book.
3. Map No.3 shows the immigration of Diaspora Armenians into Soviet
Armenia between 1921 and 1958. This is an irrelevant map, since the
immigration claimed by the author supposedly took place during the
first quarter of the 19th century.
4. Map No. 4 dates from 1847, where the modern day borders of Armenia
have been drawn on the old map. This is to show the changes of
toponyms, but was it not the Soviet communists who had already changed
almost all the toponyms in the USSR?
5. Map No.5 is a map of the modern day Republic of Armenia.
6
Fig. 7 – Armenian Medieval
Cemetery of Julfa/Jugha in
Nakhijevan during 1998,
before being destroyed.
Fig. 8 – The same cemetery being destroyed by the
Azerbaijani army.
December 2005.
Fig. 9 – The site of the old cemetery `converted’ into a military
target shooting range, Spring 2006.
7
Finally, what is perplexing to the writer is the following. During
Soviet rule and after independence thousands of Christian monuments and
artefacts in the territories of Qarabagh and The Republic of Azerbaijan
were at best neglected and at worst destroyed, while after independence
many mosques were rebuilt or restored. These acts of vandalism have not
been witnessed or recorded by outsiders, since the borders were closed
except in the case of the medieval Armenian Cemetery of Julfa (Jugha in
Nakhijevan), where over 10,000 imposing carved tombstones (Khachkars)
with Armenian inscriptions stood. In November 1999 observers from the
Iranian side across the river Araxes noticed that some of the Khachkars
were dislodged and broken up. Soon all were lying flat on the ground.
The last phase of the destruction was completed in December 2005, when
the regular Azeri army broke the Khachkars into pieces and dumped them
in the river, building a military target practice field in its place
(see Fig. 7, 8 and 9).14
The question is the following: if these Christian tombstones were the
cultural heritage left by the Albanian forefathers of the Azerbaijanis,
why were they not preserved but destroyed?
The very same question applies to the hundreds of well-documented
churches and other Christian monuments that once dotted the territory
of Nakhijevan (or Nachchyvan), as well as that of The Republic of
Azerbaijan, which have now disappeared completely? Were they not
Albanian-Christian monuments, the cultural heritage of the
Azerbaijanis? Does one destroy one’s own heritage?
Finally, the CD-ROM insert is a rehashing of the abovementioned tables.
Each district has an accompanying map, and a field, which should
include the details and photographs of each building. The first section
covers Shusha city, where 45% of the photographs are taken. However,
even then, as regards Houses, Libraries, Social clubs and Houses of
Culture, the information and photograph fields are mostly blank. For
the following chapters, there are very few photographs and virtually no
backup information to prove the claimed `destruction’.
The DVD is again a repetition of the claims with some low quality
images of the previous status of the towns and cities, once again
putting the blame for starting the war and destruction on Armenia. It
mentions that during the pre Soviet and early Soviet days, the
territory of Armenia was expanded at the cost of Azerbaijani land – an
`interesting’ observation, since it was during those days that the
Soviets annexed the territories of Qarabagh to Azerbaijan, while in
1922 the districts of Kars, Igdir, Ardahan, Mount Ararat and other
areas were ceded to Turkey and Nakhijevan was given to Azerbaijan.
During 1931 more territories east and west of Zangezur were ceded to
Azerbaijan, cutting off Mountainous Qarabagh from Armenia and further
shrinking the area of Armenia to the fraction of its previously expanse.
Rouben Galichian
Author of `Historic maps of Armenia. The cartographic heritage’ (2004)
and `Countries south of the Caucasus in medieval maps’ (2007).
London, April 2008
14 Photographs were taken by concerned Iranians from across the Arax
River forming the border between Iran and The Republic of Azerbaijan.