AIR Center: Armenians seek to "Armenianise" Caucasian Albania’s history

Armenians are seeking to “Armenianise” the history of Caucasian Albania, the chairman of Azerbaijan’s Centre for Analysis of International Relations and Multiculturalism, Farid Shafiyev, has said.

Speaking at an event on the legacy of Caucasian Albania in Azerbaijan’s history of statehood, Shafiyev said the states that existed in what is now Azerbaijan had each contributed to the country’s national identity, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

He said historical issues should be studied comprehensively and warned that gaps in research could be exploited.

Shafiyev also rejected recent claims by what he called Armenian radicals that churches in Karabakh had been “Albanised”.

He said Azerbaijan was home to historic religious sites belonging to different peoples and communities, and that the country was committed to protecting them.

Shafiyev accused Armenians of seeking to deny the history of Caucasian Albania in order to support claims about the existence of “Greater Armenia”.

“The history of Caucasian Albania to a certain extent undermines this idea of ‘Greater Armenia’,” he said.

By Aghakazim Guliyev