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The status of Armenian cultural monuments in Nakhichevan, an autonomous republic of Azerbaijan, is under question by Armenia. Armenia accuses the government of Nakhichevan of embarking on a campaign between 1998 and December 2005 to completely demolish the cemetery of finely carved Armenian khachkars in Julfa. Azerbaijan denies these charges. According to the Azerbaijani Ambassador to the US Khafiz Pashayev, the videos and photographs that have surfaced show some unknown people destroying some mid-size stones and is not clear of what ethnicity those people are. Instead, the ambassador asserts that the Armenian side started a propaganda campaign against Azerbaijan to divert attention from the destruction of Azerbaijani monuments in Armenia. According to the European Parliament resolution regarding cultural monuments in the South Caucasus, the European Parliament "condemns strongly the destruction of the Julfa cemetery as well as the destruction of all sites of historical importance that has taken place on Armenian or Azerbaijani territory, and condemns any such action that seeks to destroy cultural heritage." The destruction of Armenian historical monuments on the territory of Azerbaijan has been raised in a new report by an international monitoring body . Armenian sources claimed the discovery in January and February last year of a resumption of destruction of khachkars, adding that the actions “cannot have been carried through without the consent of the Azerbaijan government”.
History
Nakhichevan is an exclave which belongs to Azerbaijan but Armenia’s territory separates them apart. Nakhichevan borders, however, on Armenia, Turkey, and Iran. It was from this area that the Persian King Shah Abbas, during the Persian-Ottoman war, forcibly relocated about 150,000 Armenians year 1620 and resettled them in the outskirts of his capital, Isfahan.
Several Armenian organisations and authorities, among other the Foreign Ministry, have handed in official protests to UNESCO and other international organisation, but also to the US embassy in Azerbaijan.
“Armenia gives a special significance to the deliberate destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage by the Azeri authorities, since those displays of vandalism not only destroy cultural monuments, but also do not contribute to the establishing of mutual confidence between the two nations. Azerbaijan’s actions in Nakhichevan in 2006 were at the center of attention of the RA MFA. In this regard a number of measures were taken in several directions at once. The Armenian MFA informed the international community on the vandalism, which was condemned by CoE and UNESCO. Currently the Azeri side refuses to grant mandates to any international mission for visiting Nakhichevan to estimate the situation on khachkars,” says the report.
The Azerbaijani side has denied any wrongdoing at the highest level, and countered with accusations of Azerbaijani cemeteries and mosques being destroyed by Armenians on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan such as in Karabakh region, Karki exclave, and in Armenia proper.
References
- Regnum News Agency Report
- European Parliament On Destruction of Cultural Heritage
- Azerbaijan: Famous Medieval Cemetery Vanishes
- History at Risk: Khachkars of Julfa suffer renewed destruction
- Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Voice Serious Concerns
- Baku’s Vandalism in Nakhichevan in 2006 at the Center of Attention of RA MFA