Baku: Azerbaijan to restore its historical monuments in Yerevan, Zangazur

Baku has said that Azerbaijani monuments will be restored in Iravan [Armenian capital Yerevan] and Zangazur.

Azerbaijani Culture Minister Anar Karimov made the remarks at the presentation of the book "Our material and cultural heritage in historical Azerbaijani lands: From Iravan to Zangazur" in Baku, Baku-based news website Bizim.Media reports.

"The investigation of our archive documents in neighbouring countries has begun. As the Culture Ministry, we are currently working on this issue," Karimov said. 

He stated that within the framework of this project, it is planned to investigate archival documents in neighbouring states and, on the basis of these documents, to conduct research on historical monuments and historical facts about Azerbaijan in its historical lands - Iravan and Zangazur, as a result of which publications will be issued and promoted at the international level.

The minister expressed his confidence that restoration and construction work will be continued on other historical lands.

"Time has already changed. Our native lands, which have been under occupation for nearly 30 years by the Republic of Armenia, have been liberated by our valiant Army under the command of President, Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev. Creative work is underway in these areas now. Along with infrastructure projects, our historical and cultural monuments are restored and returned to their former appearance. We are confident that this work will take place in our historical lands - Iravan and Zangazur, as President Ilham Aliyev said," Karimov said.

For about 56 years, the Zangazur region has existed as an administrative-territorial unit. It was founded in the Yelizavetpol (Ganja) province in 1873. It existed as an administrative-territorial unit within the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic from 1918 to 1920. Zangazur was approved as an integral part of Azerbaijan's administrative-territorial division at the League of Nations conference.

However, with the establishment of Soviet power in the late 1920s, Zangazur was divided into two parts under pressure from central authorities. Lachin, Gubadli, and Zangilan remained in Azerbaijan, while the remaining four regions occupied by Armenians in front of the "security guarantor" - the 11th Red Army - were transferred to Armenia, with the exception of pastures. The pastures were later taken over by the Armenians.

Azerbaijani historian Yagub Mahmudov stated earlier that studies conducted by the Institute of History of Azerbaijan's National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) proved that until 1918 there never was an Armenian state in the South Caucasus.

Mahmudov said that the fundamental research -"The Iravan Khanate: the Russian occupation and the relocation of Armenians to the lands of North Azerbaijan", which is a collaborative work of historians, has been translated into Russian, English, Romanian, Italian, Spanish and Arabic languages. Also, soon the "Iravan Khanate" book will be published in Turkish and German languages.

Mahmudov stressed that the speech by President Ilham Aliyev at the 6th Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) relied on historical facts, and historical reality.

"Iravan is our historical land, and we, Azerbaijanis must return to these historic lands," President Ilham Aliyev said in his speech.

Meanwhile, Yagub Mahmudov said that Armenians around the world conduct propaganda, claiming that they are the most ancient people of this region, while the Azerbaijanis were resettled here.

"I state once again - Armenians were resettled, as say the sources and the 'father of history', Herodotus. He says the Armenians are descendants of the Phrygians, who migrated to the Van lake from the Balkan Peninsula," said Mahmudov.

The historian added that Armenians are not indigenous to the South Caucasus, but were brought there by tsarist Russia from the Ottoman Empire and Iran.

"We have thousands of archival documents on the resettlement of Armenians. Adopted on May 29, 1918, under international pressure, the decision of the National Council of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic (ADR) to transfer Iravan to Armenians was a mistake. For the adoption of this decision, 16 of 28 National Council members voted," Mahmudov said.

According to him, the documents show that, after being given Iravan and nearby Azerbaijani lands, the Armenians made a number of commitments under the Batumi talks and treaties (May 11 - June 4, 1918).

"The government of the Republic of Armenia has pledged to involve all military forces for withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from Baku as soon as possible. The Armenian side committed to stopping the massacre committed by Armenian armed groups in Azerbaijani counties against Muslims. The Armenian government also committed to ensuring the rights of Muslims to free religion and to receive education in their native tongue in Irevan and other territories of the newly created Armenian state. Batumi talks reached an agreement that the Armenians should give up their territorial claims against Azerbaijan," Mahmudov said.

However, once the Armenians achieved their objectives, they unilaterally violated all of their obligations and continued their aggressive policy, according to the scientist.

The institute's director emphasized that modern Armenia is located on the territory of the Iravan khanate, which was an Azerbaijani state. However, in today's Yerevan, there are barely any traces left of the khanate, save for the 18th century Blue Mosque, typically depicted as an "Iranian" mosque.

"In 2016-2017 the Institute of History published numerous works on the history of the Iravan khanate, which describes Iravan city, the ancient cultural centre of Azerbaijan, as destroyed. At the beginning of the 20th century there were 310 mosques in the territory of the Iravan province, today only one mosque in the territory of Armenia remains - the Blue Mosque," Mahmudov said.