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Russian-published â€œEncyclopedia for Childrenâ€ shows Azerbaijani, Turkish, Iranian and Georgian territories as Armenian

25 April 2008 12:52 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijani, Turkish, Georgian and Iranian lands were shown as territories of Armenia in Geography volume of Encyclopedia published in 2007 (editorial staff: M. Aksyonova, A. Eliovic etc.) Moreover, there are many distortion and mistakes in the article. Jabi Bahramov, Deputy Director of Institute of History in ANAS told APA that there was not any Armenian territory in middle centuries.
â€œLocal people of South Caucasus remained beyond and article on Geography in Armenia in middle century was included in Geographical part. There were Byzantine, Arabian invasion, Mongolian and Saljug periods in middle centuries, but there was not any Armenian state in the history till 1918. There was not shown Armenian country in South Caucasus in any historical sources. XV-XVIII centuries are the period of Safavi Empire of Azerbaijan. We come across the name of Armenia in the territory of Turkeyâ€™s Van Lake. Armenians were brought to South Caucasus during the period of tsar Russia systematically in 1804-1813, 1826-1828â€, he said.
The historian also stated that it was wrong to say science and literature were flourishing in Armenia, while in all counties science and culture were perishing.
â€œAny nation, ethnic group should have its state, economic, stable socio-political situation so that its culture can flourish. How can science and enlightenment improve in the unknown area called Armenia, which lacks all this? According to the article, father of Armenian history Movses Khorenatsi said that beginning from the fifth century these territories belonged to Armenian state. French philosopher Auguste Cahier in his book â€œExtracts from ancient historyâ€ written in 1805 called â€œfather of Armenian historyâ€ the greatest swindler among historians. It is not even known when he lived. Some sources say he lived in the 6th and others say he lived in the 7-8th centuries,â€ he said.
The names of Anania Shirakatsi, Claudius Ptolomeus are mentioned in the article. The source of the map is not shown. Azerbaijani scientist said there was no state called Armenia in Ptolomeusâ€™ map.
â€œIt is uncertain in what language the map is. This is Latin script, but language is not clear. Russia is shown as the neighbor of Armenia in the map. The word â€œRussiaâ€ appeared in the 18th century. This name was given to Rus state in the reign of Peter I. How can the name of Russia fall under medieval Armenian map, while before it had been called Kievan Rus, Moscow? How could the word â€œRussiaâ€ be written in Armenian map, while Russian state is not written in the historical literature of Russia by the 18th century? It is also written Persian Empire in the map. This expression has been known as â€œParsiaâ€ since the 9th century B.C. and means far. This phrase has been used in Western and Russian history since the Middle Ages (16th century). Persians had not been in power after the occupation of Arabians until 1924. Only in 1924 Persians mounted a coup and seized the power,â€ he said.
The next false information in the article is about the great geographical discoveries in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. It turns out that Armenians had a great dockyard, ships and they discovered that period. Bahramov said that publication of such books in Russia was not accidental and Armenians used all opportunities of Russia in anti-propaganda towards Azerbaijan.
â€œ282 such false books published in the US and Europe were found when Armenians raised genocide claims against Turkey in 1919. Armenians have already published over 4 million books to falsify Azerbaijanâ€™s history and translated into many languages. The only way to fight against them is to publish books of Azerbaijani scientists and release in different countries through embassies and Diaspora,â€ he said.