THE PROCESS OF SELF-IDENTIFICATION OF THE AZERBAIJANI PEOPLE…
Emma Balayan

Azat Artsakh NKR
Published on November 16, 2009

Grabbling and falsification of historical facts and realities on
the part of Azerbaijan have become so an ordinary phenomenon in its
foreign and internal policy, that it is no longer surprising. This
policy is conducted practically with the advent of the past century
of this artificially created state.

Recently, the historian and archaeologist, the Head of the Department
of History of Artsakh State University Vardges SAFARYAN defended his
thesis on "Ancient and medieval culture of Artsakh in Azerbaijani
historical science," which sheds light on this phenomenon. Here is
an interview of the correspondent of "AA" with him about these and
other pressing questions. – Mr. Safaryan, how much is spread the
falsification of history, and all alien nations resort to such actions?
– Examples of falsification of history are numerous.

And I must say that, as you have said, not only "alien nation" sin
by this. Falsifiers are everywhere where there is no scientific
integrity, in which historical facts are replaced by pseudo-scientific
conclusions in favor of political and spread-eagle ambitions. As
to nations, who found themselves far from their historical homeland
for any of several reasons, nevertheless coming out in the role of
nation-hegemon, then almost all of them at some stage-in the period
of the awakening of national consciousness-look for and "find"
their ancestors in the newly acquired land, appropriating entire
cultural heritage of nation- aborigine. – Archaeological science
has been seriously engaged in our land only recently. Nevertheless,
on basis of available archaeological materials to what conclusion do
some historians come relative to the antiquity of our land and to our
Armenian generality? – It is necessary to note that the interest
in the ancient heritage was observed in 19th century. At the root of
researches of Artsakh are Khachik Archimandrite Dadyan, E.

Rossler, A. Ivanovski, S. Ter-Avetisyan, J. Hummel, K. Kushnaryov,
and others. It was shown precisely in their studies that the territory
of Artsakh was entered into the area of ancient cultures of the region.

They dogged out tumulus in the valley of the rivers Karkar and Khachen,
in the suburbs of Stepanakert where they found items related to the
periods of eneolita, early, middle and late Bronze Age, Early Iron
Age. It is gratifying to note that the archaeological researches were
intensified in the NKR during the past decade. Moreover, we have an
opportunity to explore the historical heritage of our people directly
in the field, access to which was forbidden under the conditions
of "the triumph of Leninist national policy and friendship among
peoples". Investigations of recent years both as in the territory of
the former autonomous region and in the historical lands of Artsakh,
liberated during the imposed war, once more prove that the Armenian
people is the only nation, who is a creator and the owner of all
historical cultural monuments, discovered in our land. The monuments
can be exemplified, investigated in Karvachar (Novoshaumyan) region,
in Shushi and in the region of Shushi and, of course, the discovery
and excavations of Tigranakert. – In spite of the obvious youth of
Azerbaijan Republic, it pretends to the antiquity. To what kind means
does official Baku resort for the satisfaction of its ambitions? –
After 1936, when the Turks of Azerbaijan became officially known as
"Azerbaijanis", before the historians of that Republic a task was set
in order to prove autochthony of the Azerbaijani people, to prove
that they were the native inhabitants of the land, and at the same
time to clear Armenian heritage from this territory. Just then was
arisen the question about the need " scientifically to base" their
presence in this territory. But as the historical niche was occupied,
appropriation of the cultural heritage of the local population –
Armenians was begun. It should be noted that in the Soviet period,
Azerbaijani historians put forward a number of completely opposing
theories of origin of the Azerbaijani people: a theory that relates
the ancestors of Azerbaijanis with the mussels, the Albanian theory,
and theory of Turkization of Aboriginal territory. Throughout the
existence of the Soviet State in Azerbaijan, a program of appropriation
of the cultural heritage of Artsakh and other areas of historical
Armenia were being realized at the governmental level, which were
under the newly formed Republic. It is significant, that if prior
to the beginning of the 70’s the presence of Christian monuments
was ignored in the territory of Karabakh, then the Azerbaijani
historians switched on to the award of the Armenian historical
heritage. For this purpose, in particular, the cultural heritage
of the Armenians of Karabakh first was arrogated to the Afghans and
through the Afghans to the Azerbaijanis. Everything was done in order
to extrude Armenian cultural-historical heritage beyond Transcaucasia’s
limits. At the time being beyond Azerbaijani’s researches conception
the monuments were destroyed or were hidden, and on the basis of
"researched" monuments groundless conclusions were done. In the
post-Soviet Azerbaijan, the researchers turned to the more active
falsification of historical realities, saying that Armenians appeared
in Transcaucasia in the early 19th century, while the Azeris are the
aborigines and direct descendants of cultural values. – Is pseudo
scientific character of these different theories an obvious fact?
– As you know, the term "Azerbaijani people" was first voiced by the
Declaration on the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
in May 1918. However, by it was understood the entire population of
Azerbaijan, whereas for its Turkish part was used term "Azerbaijan
Turks". In connection with this it is remarkable, that even in
1920-1930 Azerbaijani researchers, actually, did not know people
with the name of "Azerbaijanian". A famous explorer V. Shnirelman
spoke quite rightly on this occasion stressing that the simultaneous
existence of several conflicting with each other theories of origin of
the Azerbaijani people speaks about the fact that the consolidation
of the Azerbaijani people has not been completed yet. However,
in the contemporary Azerbaijan historiography the tendency again has
been advanced, whose supporters deny the process of Turkization of
the land, declaring that the Turkic ethnic group originally lived in
the territory of present-day Azerbaijan, northern Iran and Armenia,
which, of course, is absurd.

The most compelling evidence of the artificiality applied theories by
the Azerbaijani scientists is the fact that simultaneously with the
attempts of appropriation of the cultural heritage of the Armenians
of Artsakh goes an active process of the destruction of the heritage
of Armenian people. As a proof can be served the destruction of
cross-stones and Christian monuments of Jugha, Karvachar, Fizuli,
Zangelan, Jebrail etc. -How much do the Armenian scientists succeed
in exposing the obvious falsification of the Azerbaijani historians?
-Individual works of the Azerbaijani historians obtained appropriate
estimation even in the Soviet time in the articles of the chief
Armenian and Russian researchers. Thus, questions of political borders
of Caucasian Albania and Armenia, as well as administrative and
political affiliation between the rivers Kura and Araks, repeatedly
raised by the Azerbaijani historians, were thoroughly considered
and obtained appropriate estimation in the works of Novoseltseva,
A. Hakobyan, P. Muradyan, B. Ulubabyana and others.

The problems of the ethnic composition of the population of Caucasian
Albania, Utik, Artsakh and Syunik are considered in the works of
Anasyan, G. Arakelyan, A. Mnatsakanyan, A. Papazyan, and others.

Attempts of the Azerbaijani historians to albanize political and
cultural figures of the northeastern provinces of Armenia were
suppressed by the works of K. Melik-Ohanjanian, Em. Pivazyan, A.

Mnatsakanian, and others. In response to the attempts to seize and
to appropriate historical and architectural monuments of Artsakh, in
1970-1990-ies the works of Armenian and Russian scientists appeared,
in which was based the absurdity of a similar kind of tendencies. The
scientific conference "Problems of the history and culture of Caucasian
Albania" played an important role, held in summer 1988.

Strategy of fight with falsification and appropriation of the cultural
heritage of Artsakh is in active opposition by the Azerbaijani
historians. Having in mind the exceptional value of archaeological
material in a question of determination of the ethno-cultural identity,
it is important for us to activate archaeological researches on the
territory of the NKR and on the liberated territories of historic
Artsakh at this stage and the results of the researches to present on
international conferences, monographs, in articles and at exhibitions,
actively to promote the historical and cultural realities of the
historical Artsakh through the publication of popular brochures,
leaflets in various languages, highlighting the cultural heritage
of Artsakh.