"Azeris have launched a campaign on media, alleging the Armenians have armenized the Shahbulag Castle built by Khan Panaha and developed the 'myth of Tigranakert' for that reason," the head of Artsakh archeological group of Institute of Ethnography Hamlet Petrosyan told Panorama.am, adding the Azeri's attempts are nothing but stupidity.
"They do not conceive the essence of Tigranakert and even have complexes about speaking of it. They have no idea what to accuse us of in case with Tigranakert and have not a defined approach to it, if not present the site as an Albanian ," Petrosyan said.
The archeologist stressed that Tigranakert had been built, according to the best standards of Anatolian Hellenic traditions. "It couldn't be built by one born in Artsakh or Albania but only an imperator who could mobilize the architectural resources of Asia Minor. Apparently, the Azeris have no answer to this question," said Petrosyan.
The head of the archaeological expedition in Tigranakert added that the scale of discoveries made by his group further complicates the arguments and claims brought by the Azerbaijani side.
Petrosyan said that he closely follows the Azerbaijani publications about the archeological site, and except visits, no information about works carried out in the area are reported.
To note, excavations at Tigranakert began in March 2005, when it was first discovered, and until 2020 were ongoing under the directorship of Hamlet L. Petrosyan of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography. Archaeologists have uncovered two of the main walls of the city, as well as Hellenistic-style towers and an Armenian basilica church dating to the fifth to seventh centuries. During the excavations of 2008–2010, silver coins of the Parthian monarchs Mithridates IV (r. 57–54 BC) and Orodes II (r. 57–37 BC) were found.
In June 2010, a museum dedicated to the study and preservation of artefacts unearthed from Tigranakert was opened in the adjacent Shahbulag Castle.
According to the November 9 Karabakh armistice of the Armenian PM, Russian and Azerbaijani presidents, the area was handed handed over to Azerbaijan.