If "Tigranakert" was in Aghdam?

Baku/04.16.21/Turan: On April 15, 2021, the National Heritage Institute (NIN) under the French Ministry of Culture in partnership with Europa Nostra and the Louvre Museum School held a webinar "Protecting the cultural heritage of the South Caucasus". The issues of preserving several types of heritage were discussed: architectural, archaeological, furniture were discussed with the participation of French, Russian, Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian scientists. The main reports of Azerbaijani and Armenian scientists were devoted to the state of the architectural and archaeological monuments of Karabakh. The webinar was attended by over 100 scientists and researchers.

Sharp controversy was regarding the Albanian architectural and spiritual heritage, the deplorable state of Muslim, Azerbaijani monuments, the results of illegal excavations in the Shahbulag area in the Agdam region, where Armenian archaeologists allegedly discovered the remains of Tigranakert, but in reality falsified the excavated buildings and artifacts.

A senior researcher at the Institute of Law and Human Rights of ANAS, director of the Center for the History of the Caucasus Rizvan Huseynov will deliver a report on the topic “Unique Monuments of Nargiztepe”. He recalled that the numerous "ancient" sources, to which some participants in the event abundantly refer, are late compilations and falsifications of the 17-18 centuries. They cannot be considered reliable sources. According to R. Huseynov, in order to understand the real history of the region, it is necessary to refer to the results of archaeological excavations, numismatics and other sciences, and not only to written and handwritten sources, which, for verification, turn out to be far from the original or completely invented.

R. Huseynov also noted that act that during the occupation the Armenian side destroyed almost the entire Azerbaijani and Albanian architectural heritage in Karabakh. Moreover, almost all Azerbaijani and Albanian architectural monuments have been destroyed in Armenia itself, the historical center of Yerevan, where the medieval Erivan fortress, built by the ancestors of the Azerbaijanis, was located, was wiped out. The same fate befell hundreds and hundreds of monuments in Armenia.

Armenia opposes the convening of an international donor conference on post-conflict rehabilitation of the Karabakh region. Apparently, the Armenian authorities fear that the situational, assessment reports of international humanitarian structures may become direct factual evidence of the barbarity of the Armenian side in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. Perhaps that is why Armenia is putting obstacles in preparation for the implementation of such monitoring in Karabakh. However, without convening a conference of donors (WB, EBRD, Asian and Islamic banks), it will be more difficult to attract significant international assistance, the Azerbaijani scientist said.

The organizers of the webinar concluded that it is necessary to develop the participation of European institutions in projects for the rehabilitation, conservation and preservation of monuments in the South Caucasus. The idea was expressed to develop a format for cooperation between the relevant state structures and scientific circles of the South Caucasus countries in order to protect monuments in the region.

The General Secretary of “Europa Nostra” Kuedvlig-Mikhailovich, Director of the National Institute of Heritage (NIN) of France Charles Persona, member of the NIN Jean-Pierre Mahe, Head of the Research Department of the Curatorial Department of NIN Christian Hottin, General Director of the State Hermitage Museum, Professor Mikhail Piotrovsky, Rector of the Azerbaijan Architectural-Construction University, Doctor of Architecture, Professor Gulchohra Mamedova addressed at the event. - 0-