U.S-BASED ARMENIAN DIASPORA ORGANIZES PETITION GEARED AGAINST PROFESSOR RICHARD HOVANNISIAN CONSIDERING NAGORNO KARABAKH AS HISTORICAL LAND OF AZERBAIJANIS

APA
42
Feb 17 2009
Azerbaijan

Washington. Zaur Hasanov-APA. An online petition organized by a group
of disgruntled Armenian university students against what they call
"Falsifiers of Armenian History," alleging that there is a concerted
effort to falsify Armenian history within Armenian studies programs
across the US.

The group says that this petition that has been already signed by more
than 1,300 Armenians is "geared against the phenomena of falsification
and distortion of Armenian history. Throughout many years, the False
Armenological School claims:

1. That the Armenian people are "newcomers" and "colonists" in
historical Armenia and that the ancestors of Armenians arrived in
Armenian Highland in the 6th century BC and destroyed the ‘Urartians.’

2. They allege that the three outstanding Fifth Century historians
Pavstos Buzand, Movses Khorenatsi and Yeghishe are "pseudo-historians."

3. They state that the territory of Artsakh historically belongs to
Azerbaijan, since the Turkic Azeris are the direct descendants of
the Caucasian Albanians."

The "Against Falsification of Armenian History" petition says:
"There is only ONE Armenian History! We are convinced that the
Armenian students in Armenia and the Diaspora must have a singular
historical framework that represents genuine Armenian History and
Culture. The center of Armenology can only BE and IS our Homeland –
Armenia. Therefore, we demand that all Armenian Studies textbooks
in the US must be approved by the Armenian National Academy of
Sciences. We, the undersigned, call on the academic councils of
the universities in the US to remove from circulation the book "The
Armenian People: From Ancient to Modern Times."

The Armenian Investigations Program of the Michigan University and
program leader, Gerard Lebardian arranged discussions on subject
"The way of Karabakh after Kosovo" on January 30, 2009.Though Russian
expert Andranik Migranyan and Elin Suleymanov, the Consul General of
Azerbaijan in Los Angeles conducted serious discussions, organizers
of the seminar took enough objective position on the issue.