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Armenians' revenge on tombstones - why does UNESCO play ostrich? -ANALYSİS

17 October 2022 15:03 (UTC +04:00)

It is an old habit of Armenians to destroy and desecrate the material and cultural heritage, religious monuments, and holy places belonging to Azerbaijanis. This nation, which considers its myths to be human history, cannot stand the existence of Azerbaijani history and culture in the region. The Armenians, who consider everything, everywhere, and everyone belongs to them, declare a crusade at every opportunity against the material and cultural examples of their neighbors, especially Azerbaijanis.

The deplorable situation in the liberated territories proves this fact. The 30-year occupation period was the "most creative" phase of Armenian vandalism - digging trenches between the graves of belonging Azerbaijani twin sisters, using mosques as stables, making stairs from tombstones, turning minarets into observation points, etc.

Before the occupation, residential houses, schools, cultural centers, mosques, and cemeteries of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, where hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis lived, were subjected to cultural genocide by the Armenians, flattened and turned into grain fields, mined areas, landfills, trenches, and bunkers. All these facts are confirmed by foreign diplomats, international experts, civil society activists, journalists, and the most ordinary citizens who came to the region. The large-scale vandalism of Armenians in the region is also reflected in the reports of a number of countries and international organizations. For example, the International Religion Freedom report published by the US State Department this year features the facts such as the desecration, looting, or destruction of cemeteries throughout Aghdam, including the 19th-century Haji Alakbar Mosque in the Fuzuli district, the Imarat Garvand cemetery and the Martyrs' Alley in Aghdam.

It was also stressed that while visiting the Alley of Martyrs in Agdam, the Western diplomats noted that there were holes in the graves where corpses were once buried and only one tombstone remained in the graveyard, and it had been broken. Moreover, as a result of the wide-range mining of liberated areas, the impossibility of traveling to the vast majority of hundreds of religious places in towns and villages, and the possibility that the extent of the damage to these places would remain uncertain for years, were also noted on that report. Taking into account all of these, we can say that Armenians have years of “experience” and “tradition” regarding the destruction of cultural-historical monuments belonging to Azerbaijanis. In these terms, paying attention to the monuments that survived, and organizing their protection is of great importance. Especially historical-cultural monuments remained in present Armenian territory, if they remained, belonging to Azerbaijanis. Vandalism that had been committed and will be committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis does not surprise us anymore, however, infuriates us. And also it infuriates us because authorized institutions seeing all these facts choose “three wise monkeys”. Especially against the background of UNESCO’s indifferent attitude, Armenians continue to destroy cultural-historical heritage established by Azerbaijani people in this region for centuries.
Recent footage shared on social media also proves it. It is about footage shared on Telegram channels, reflecting the destruction of tombstones by Armenians with trucks. The video does not provide information about where this vandalism act was committed. However, during geolocation, it is reported that the place is an Azerbaijani cemetery in the Basarkechar area. In general, regardless of where the incident happened, it is clear that it is a vandalism act, another atrocity against Azerbaijanis’ material-cultural heritage. It is clear from the footage that the perpetrators are Armenians and they were barbarically destroying the graveyard. Social networks reveal that the "heroism" of Armenians, who disappeared on the battlefield, is once again directed against the defenseless monuments belonging to Azerbaijanis. In any case, destroying graveyards by Armenians, belonging to Azerbaijanis is an attempt to erase the traces of Azerbaijanis, by distorting the history. Just as they once "renovated" the Upper Govhar Agha Mosque in Shusha under the name of a Persian mosque. This vandalism once again shows the relevance of Baku's proposal to create a mission to investigate the fate of historical and cultural monuments belonging to Azerbaijanis in the territory of Armenia UNESCO. As UNESCO turns a blind eye to the gross violation of the terms of the 1954 Hague Convention by Armenians, the number of destroyed monuments, cemeteries, and mosques belonging to Azerbaijanis is increasing.