State structures create favorable conditions for fakes about Karabakh
Chairman of the organization "Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments in the Liberated Territories" Faik Ismailov, in an interview with Turan, denied the allegations of the Armenian media, which, with reference to the European organization "Caucasus Heritage Watch|, claim the demolition, "from the face of the earth", of the Armenian church in Shusha.
The first of the two Shusha churches by construction date is "Kanach Zham", aka "Surb Hovhannes Mkrtich", aka "Yaşıl kilsə", and in the tsarist-Russian time, the" Russian Orthodox Church of John the Baptist", currently located in the upper part of the city of Shusha and the restoration is being carried out in it, an employee of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan F. Ismailov reported. He visited Shusha several times after the liberation of the city, his last trip was in the autumn of 2023. F.Ismailov carried out a grant project titled “Studying the damage caused to the material and cultural heritage of the city of Shusha during the occupation".
After reviewing a satellite photo posted on the Caucasus Heritage Watch website and allegedly showing an empty site instead of the "Yaşıl kilsə" church, the expert came to the conclusion about a fake spread by pro-Armenian organizations with an anti-Azerbaijani propaganda purpose.
Of interest is the fact that the April 18 message about the "destruction of "Kanach Zham", a church with a 118-year history, is not the first in this series. In 2022, the same church was "completely destroyed" by Armenian websites for the second time, and the first "erasure from the face of the earth" was in 2021.
The last article about this church in the Azerbaijani press was published on the Adalet website on January 15, 2024. There is also a photo of the "Green Church", which shows that the restoration work is underway in the building.
"We treat all religious temples with reverence and restore them. This is a clear manifestation of the tolerance of the Azerbaijani people. In the Azerbaijani city of Shusha, liberated from the Armenian occupation, the work continues on the restoration of the "Gazanchi Church" and the "Russian Orthodox Church of John the Baptist", First Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations of Azerbaijan Sayad Salahli told the press in November 2022.
The administration of the city of Shusha and the Karabakh economic region is unavailable to the press, and an employee of the Shusha Historical and Architectural Reserve who answered the phone refused to respond to the Armenian allegations, suggesting that Turan address them in writing.
Unfortunately, the Azerbaijani authorities refuse to respond promptly to the allegations of the Armenian side, thereby avoiding exposing numerous fakes. The agencies do not cooperate with the Azerbaijani press, although they could have arranged a press tour to Shusha, Khankyandi and other Karabakh cities in order to neutralize disinformation.
Recall that the Caucasus Heritage Watch organization was created by employees of Cornell University (USA) and the University of Prague. The creators are Lori Khachaturian, Adam Smith, Ian Lindsey, Husik Ghoulyan, Salpi Bochieryan.--
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