ARF PUBLICATIONS

COUNTERING AZERBAIJAN’S

ANTI-ARMENIAN POLITICS

COMPILED AND EDITED BY:

A SPECIAL COMMISSION OF THE ARF BUREAU
TRANSLATED BY: GARABET K MOUMDJIAN

(2006)

This booklet presents to the reader an abridged account of Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian politics. It brings to light Azeri policies that manifest themselves in the meticulous processes to empty historical and ancestral Armenian locals such as Nagorno Karabagh, Gianja (Elizavetbol), Nakhichevan, and others from its Armenian inhabitants through state controlled pogroms and forceful deportations. The pamphlet also purports to identify the methodical Azeri policies of destroying and demolishing Armenian historical and cultural monuments throughout Azerbaijan in an effort to wipe out the de-facto and millennia old Armenian historical heritage from existence.

I. A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The international community is today under the erroneous impression that the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is the result of the conflict that erupted over Nagorno Karabagh in 1988. In presenting the issue in this manner Azerbaijani political and propaganda institutes try to achieve two aims:

1. To present Azerbaijan as a victim of Armenian aggression within international forums in order to attain a pro Azeri solution for the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, and

2. To cover up the real reasons of the conflict by distorting the historical facts.

It must be clearly stated from the onset that the Nagorno Karabagh conflict of 1988 was a direct result of Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian politics, which was manifested as early as 1918-1920 as a state-run policy under the rule of the then fledgling government of the first Azerbaijani republic. This policy of hatred towards Armenians has thus far passed through three phases, which are:

1. The ethnic cleansing phase of 1918-1920 that was achieved through pogroms, state sponsored massacres and forceful deportations;

2. The phase of ethnic subordination and Armenian human rights violations from 1921 to 1988, which manifested itself in all aspects of social life with the explicit aim of erasing the Armenian identity;

3. Government sponsored ethnic pogroms, massacres, and deportations since 1988 with the help of criminal elements especially released from prisons. A wave of anti Armenian activities that led to armed confrontation in Nagorno Karabagh.

It must be stressed here that this armed conflict was comprised of national, territorial, cultural, and political elements.

What today is known as Azeri people were, until 1918, known as the Caucasian Tatars to the western world. The Azeris called themselves Muselmans. The ethnic names Azeri and Azerbaijan were given to them in 1918 by Nuri Pasha, the commander of the Turkish army that occupied Baku.

These Tatars who had inhabited Nagorno Karabagh and other areas of what today is known as Azerbaijan, had, in reality, been in those areas only during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Today, through historic revision, they claim that they were the original inhabitants of their territory and that Armenian newcomers had forcibly possessed their ancestral lands. Moreover, Azeri historians articulate this theory by presenting their people as the descendents of the Albanians of the Caucasus. According to revisionist Azeri historians, Armenians had arrived in their areas in 1828-1830, especially as a result of the Russian victories of the period against the Ottoman and Persian empires. These historians content that it was through Russian coercion that Armenians were brought en masse to populate what were Azeri lands.

That this revisionist approach to history was state sponsored was made clear on December 14,  2005, when Azeri president, Ilham Aliev, in a speech he delivered during a sixtieth anniversary celebration of the formation of the Azerbaijani Academy of Sciences:

It is no secret to anybody that Armenians came to the ancestral Azeri land of Nagorno Karabagh as guests. This is clear to us. However, we have to make the international community privy of the truth behind this fact.

During his same speech, Aliev also promised huge government grants and subsidies to Azeri historians and other experts who would diligently work to prove his statements and to negate any Armenian pretence regarding Nagorno Karabagh. (http://regnum.ru/, December 15, 2005)

The logic behind what started as the above mentioned historical revisionism during the Soviet era is simple.:

1. Armenians are newcomers to Armenia and especially Nagorno Karabagh

2. The millennia old Armenian historical artifacts in that area do not belong to them

3. It follows then that Armenians cannot have any historical claim to Nagorno Karabagh.

This theory was followed by practical measures, the least of which was the destruction of centuries old Armenian cultural artifacts. This means that the Azeri government was trying to accomplish through barbarian means what it could not achieve through historical revisionism.

The dean of Azerbaijani historians, A. Bakikhanov, is being disregarded and even mooted. What the prolific Azeri historian  emphatically concluded in the middle of the 19th century--after extensively utilizing the Greek, Roman, Arab, and Armenian historical inscriptions and written sources-- was that the historical boundary between Armenia and the Allans  had been the Kura River.

During his life Bakikhanov must have logically assumed, that, given the weight of the ancient historical treatises of  Herodotus, Strabo, Plutarch, Dionysus Casius, Blini and scores of others who had dominantly denoted the Kura River as the historical boundary of Armenia in antiquity, his countrymen would never attempt to conclude otherwise. How would an honest historian of Bakikhanov’s caliber even think that 150 years later the historical truth could be manipulated fore racist and political reasons.

Here is how Strabo defines the boundary area between the two countries:

There are many mountains and mountainous plateaus in Armenia proper where vineyards are not easily harvested. There are also other plains that are very rich in agriculture, such as the Araxes plain through which the Araxes River flows. This river flows all the way to Albania’s boundary where it meets the Kara River and empties its waters in the Caspian Sea. These two rivers meet at historical Shagashen (Gianja nowadays), which is adjacent to Albania. Then there is also the region of Kukareni (Strabo, Geography vol. XI, chapter 14)

This boundary between Armenia and Albania has remained unchanged for centuries. Here are two testaments from 14^th and 18^th century German and Georgian authors:

I spent a long time in Armenia after the death of Tamelane I was posted with his son who held control over the lands of two Armenian kingdoms. Tamerane’s son, Shah Rukh had the habit of spending winters in the plains of Karabagh that were very rich with vegetation for his herds. These plains were watered by the Kara River on whose shores the best quality silk was manufactured…Even though these plains were located in Armenia, they remained under the rule of the headen, who extracted taxes from the Armenian villages under their rule. The Armenians treated me well, since I was a German. They were very well intentioned toward Germans—Nimits—as they used to call us.” (Hans Schildberger, Travels, 1380’s, chapter 62, published ion 1475, Mintz; Russian publication by F. Bruni, Odessa, 1835)

The Khamsa—as Karabagh was called during the 18^th century, because of its internal division into the five Meliks—was populated entirely by Armenians. There lives also the Patriarch of Armenians. When The Persian shah died, a new Muslim ruler—Panahin from the followers of Jevanshir--  tried to held his sway over Karabagh. There is a very ancient castle in Khamsa—Shushi, Which Panahin took over by treachery. We had many battles with him. However, we were always victorious through God’s will. Only the followers of Jevanshir are of  non Armenian stock—in Khamsa. However, a truce was established with them. Armenians control the most invincible castles. The terrain is mountainous and forested. However, the land is extremely rich. Jevanshir’s followers could harness 2500 fighters, while the Armenians could muster 4500 fighters who are located in Shirvan, Nakhichevan, Gianja, and Karadagh (another name used for Karabagh). The Armenians of Khamsa are very courageous soldiers. However, Jevanshir’s followers were able to manipulate the internal divisions between Armenian princes and hence rule over them. (Heracles II, King of Georgia [1720-1798]; “18^th Century Georgian Monarchic Declarations and other Historical Documents,” Vol. 1 (1768-1774), St. Petersburg, 1891, pp. 434-435)

Even though politically organized Azerbaijani anti-Armenian sentiments were made public in 1918, its manifestations were obvious in the Armenian massacres of 1905-1906 in Baku and the Elizavetbol province, where thousands of Armenians perished. It is about these atrocities that the famous Azeri female author, Um-al-Banin, in her memoirs, “Caucasian Days,” wrote:

During the festive days of our religious holiday we kids used to play “massacring” Armenians. We favored this game on any other. Drunk with our racist feelings we sacrificed Tamar (Armenian on her mother’s side) on the Adivistian sacrificial table of our hatred. At the beginning we accused her of killing a Muslim. We then shot her several times in rapid succession so as to heighten our pleasure. We then started cutting her body: her tongue, head, internal organs, which we then fed to dogs to express our disgust of the Armenian body.

The children of Baku who witnessed this “education” were to become the leaders and soldiers of independent Azerbaijan. It was now their turn to continue the “game” in Baku, Gianja, Sumkayit and Shushi well into the closing decade of the 20^th century. 

II. ARMENIAN MASSACRES IN AZERBAIJAN: 1918-1920

The leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which attained its independence on May 27, 1918, made it a priority to change the demographic composition of its population  through massacres not only in the capital city of Baku, but also in Nagorno Karabagh.

The Turkish Army took control of Baku on September 15, 1918. This was  what the Azeri leadership had waited for. The following table shows the extent of the ensuing massacres:

Armenians in Baku prior to September 1918                             89541

Massacred on and after September 15                                      28884

Deported                                                                                  32000

Missing                                                                                     3586

TABLE 1

The massacres included Gianja and Karabagh and continued unabated well into 1920. In March of that year the Armenians of Shushi perished during the organized onslaught of the 20000 strong Azeri Army.

NUMBER OF ARMENIANS IN GIANJA AND KARABAGH

COMPARISON BETWEEN 1916 AND 1921

Location                                             1916                            1921

Gianja                                                  10728                          1000

Shamakh city                                        4534                              36

Shamakh county                                 17800                          6265

Giukcha                                               17207                          4310

Nukh city                                              8009                          1628

Nukh county                                       17751                          1782

Aresh county                                       19169                          5099

Chakatala county                                  2530                          1064

Shushi                                                 22370                            300

TOTAL                                            120098                        21484

TABLE 2

III. ETHNIC CLEANSING OF ARMENIANS IN AZERBAIJAN: 1921-1988

The Azeri leadership changed its methods of dealing with its Armenian minority during the Soviet era. Massacres and forced deportations were switched with human rights violations as well as cultural, educational, and social pressures. Suffice it to say that by the 1970’s all of Baku’s 76 Armenian schools had been closed. So were the Armenian Teachers’ Institute, and the Armenian Theatre. This happened at a time when Yerevan,  the capital of Armenia, boasted 2 Azeri schools, an Azeri Faculty at its Abovian Teachers’ Institute, and an Azeri Theatre for its 2300 Azeri citizens.

Human rights violations against Armenians and other minorities were so obvious and vulgar in nature that it was treated as an agenda point during the July 1, 1959 meeting of the presidency of the Central Committee of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Maj. Gen. I. V. Shigin, who had investigated the matter for the presidency, had indicated the acute nature of the problem in his report to the degree that the president of the Azerbaijani Supreme Council M. Ibrahimovits stated during the meeting:

This is not the 1920’s. We have policies in place that would allow us to replace all non Azeri citizens (from governmental positions)

Khrushchev himself spoke several times during the meeting regarding the issue:  

This comrades is in Baku, where 66 percent of the population is not of Azeri origin…In the United States of America too there are areas inhabited by Poles, Ukrainians and others. Americans take that into consideration. Even the bourgeois Americans do not do what you [Azeris] are doing. This is a hitlerian mindset. It is an animalistic mindset. If we define it as vulgar we see that even the democratic bourgeois class is not operating in that manner. It [the bourgeoisie] is giving nations, even small nations, self-rule. They are treating these minorities with dignity. You, however, are just trying to take advantage of a situation. You call yourself Communists. What Communists? You are Nazis, Hitlerists…You are making a big deal out of the luster of such leaders of yours as Nariman Narimanov. He insists that he was unaware of the mistakes being committed. If the mistakes of such communist leaders as Orchonigitse and Stepan Shahumian are being mentioned in communist publications, why is it then that nothing is mentioned about the gross miscalculations of your Nariman Narimanov, especially in what concerns your national policy toward minorities. Are you not ashamed that you are being strangled in the swamp of your  bourgeois nationalism? You call yourselves communists? Please, rid us of friends like you. As for enemies, we ourselves can take care of them. I asked you a question: Why isn’t there any Armenians and Russians in your leadership?

According to the newspaper Chergalo whose November 19, 2005 issue gave substantial space to publish the minutes quoted above. According to the same newspaper:

The document [i.e. the minutes] shows how Ibrahimovits as well as his propaganda manager, Sh. Ghurbanov, were treating the national and minorities issues in an effort to preserve the national [Azeri] language and identity.

The Azeri leadership that played this nationalistic string during the 1960’s was changed. However, the newcomers hold intact whatever racist instincts they inherited from their predecessors, albeit shrouded in a veneer of careful political utterances and stances. This is best exemplified in the following statement by Haidar Aliev:

Only I was coming forward with statements against the Dashnags and Armenian nationalists in Karabagh and Armenia…We were just caretakers of the situation in Nagorno Karabagh. For what? First because the Soviet system wanted us to do that. Second, I am speaking about the period when I was the first secretary [of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan]. At that time I did a lot to help Nagorno Karabagh and its people.. At the same time I was trying to enhance our national awareness in the region. The issue of opening educational institutions for higher education was being debated. The leadership around me was against the suggestion. I thought and decided to open such institutions there on the condition that they would have Azeri, Russian, and Armenian faculties. The institutions were opened. We encouraged Azeris from neighboring areas to attend these institutes rather than the ones in Baku. We opened a magnificent shoe factory there. Stepanakert did not have enough workers to populate the factory. We encouraged Azeris from neighboring areas to relocate and to work there. I was doing this to augment the number of Azeris in the area, while at the same time shrinking the number of Armenians. He who has worked in Nagorno Karabagh during that time knows this. (Chergalo,; July 23, 2003)

Consider also the following declaration by Aliev:

In order to preserve the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan we were keenly focused on what was taking place in Nagorno Karabagh. It is true that some diligent nationalists were positioned against me during that time.  But I was doing what I was doing to first secure that a greater number of Azeris would migrate to Nagorno Karabagh and, second, that Armenians would not dare to bring the issue up for discussion. (Excerpts from Aliev’s speech at the “Milli Majlis [Parliament] concerning Nagorno Karabagh. Bakinski Rabochi; January 24, 2001)

This unbearable situation obliged hundreds of thousands of Armenians to forcefully migrate to Armenia, Russia, Central Asian Republics and elsewhere.

The result of depopulating Nagorno Karabagh from Armenians can be summed up in the following table:

POPULATION GROWTH IN NAGORNO KARABAGH: 1923-1929

POPULATION                                                           ETHNICITY

 (In thousands)                                    ARMENIANS                AZERIS                RUSSIANS

Year                Total                                         %                           %                               %

1923                157.8               149.6               94.8          7.7         4.9            0.5            0.3

1926                125.3               111.7               89.1         12.6      10.1            0.6            0.5

1939                150.8               132.8               88.1         14.1        9.3            3.2            2.1

1959                130.4               110.1               84.4         18.0      13.8            1.8            1.4

1970                150.3               121.1               80.6         27.2      18.1            1.3            0.9

1979                162.2               123.1               75.9         37.3      22.9            1.3            0.8

1989                189.1               145.1               76.9         40.6      21.5            1.99         1.0

TABLE 3

According to the above table the population growth in the self governing region of Nagorno Karabagh can be summed up as follows:

Total Population growth                         102%

  Armenians                                              82.3%

Azeris                                                     484%

Russians                                                 260%

TABLE 4

IV. THE DINAMICS OF POPULATION GROWTH IN NAKHICHEVAN: 1917-1979

There were 53,900 Armenians living in Nakhichevan in 1917. This number constituted 40% of the population. In 1926, three years after Nakhichevan was absorbed into the Soviet Union, the number of Armenians had dropped to 11,276. During the following years the picture deteriorated as follows:

                             NUMBER                               PERCENTAGES

NAKHICHEVAN                    1959        1970     1979       1989                    1959       1970       1979        1989

TOTAL                                  141361  202487  240459  293875                  100         100         100         100

AZERIS                                 127508  189679  229968  281870                  90.2        93.7        95.7        95.9

ARMENIANS                         9519       5823       3406       0                     6.7          1.9          1.4          0

RUSSIANS                            3161       3919       3807       3782                2.2          1.9          1.6          1.3

TABLE 5

Today, there are no Armenians living in Nakhichevan.

POPULATION GROWTH IN THE AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN SOVIET REPUBLICS: 1959-1979

NUMBER OF PEOPLE                  PERCENTAGES

                                                                1959       1970      1979                                       1959       1970       1979

AZERBAIJAN SSR

TOTAL  ( MILIONS)                          3.70        5.18        6                                              100         100         100

AZERIS ( MILIONS)                         2.50        3.78        4.7                                             67.5        73.8        78

ARMENIANS                                      442089  483520  475486                                       12           9.4          7.9

RUSSIANS                                           501282  510059  475255                                        13.6        10           7.9

ARMENIAN SSR                

TOTAL (MILIONS)                            1.763      2.50        3.04                                        100         100         100

ARMENIANS (MILIONS)                1.55        2.21        3.04                                        88           88.6        89.7

AZERIS                                                 107748  148189  160841                                  6.1          5.9          5.3

RUSSIANS                                           56477    68108    70336                                    3.2          2.7          2.3         

TABLE 6

V. THE AZERI GOVERNMENT’S ETHNIC CLEANSING OF ARMENIANS AFTER 1988

What started as the emancipatory movement of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabagh in 1988 was directed primarily against the government of Azerbaijan. The latter’s policies were geared toward emptying Karabagh of its Armenian inhabitants, as it had successfully achieved in Nakhichevan and in the villages and hamlets adjacent to Mountainous Karabagh.

The Azeri government’s response was quick and swift. On February 26, 1988 the mass murder of Armenians started in earnest in Sumkayit. The city’s 9000 Armenians were either murdered or forcibly deported as a result of the four-day long pogroms.

In his book “Pain for Government,” which was published in Yerevan in 1997, the renowned humanitarian, Alexander Sakharov, wrote concerning the Sumkayit pogroms:

Sumkayit was engulfed in medieval sadism. Animalistic and inhumane cruelty was the master and was most often mixed with idiocy.

Sakharov also expressed his views a propos the historically just cause of the Armenian demands regarding Karabagh:

No half measures would calm human beings. Not even the gesture of friendship between neighboring peoples. If there was anyone who thought so before, that thought was shattered after the Sumkayit events.  Nobody can now morally pressure Armenians concerning Azerbaijan’s control over Nagorno Karabagh.

On November 21, 1988 massacres and forceful deportations of Armenians commenced in all Armenian populated areas of Azerbaijan. That those events were blessed by the Azeri government is proven by the fact that premeditated exact scenarios were implemented on the same date and time in Nakhichevan, Shamkhor, Khanlar, Minkechaur, Dashkesan, Gianja, Imishli, Sheki, Ismayili, Chakatala, Getabeg, Ghazakh and hundreds of other locals.   

Thus, about 200,000 Armenians were forcibly deported—and some murdered—from their ancestral lands in a matter of few days. In January 1990 the wave of anti-Armenian pogroms reached Baku. The one week long turmoil resulted in the murder of hundreds of Armenians. The 200,000 Armenians of Baku were forced to leave their homes and all material belongings and to find refuge in Armenian and Russia.

During 1990 too Armenians were deported from Hadrut, Berdatsor, Shahumian and scores of villages in areas adjacent to Nagorno Karabagh. Between 1998 and 1990 some 400,000 Armenians were thus forcefully deported from Azerbaijan to make room for Azeris to relocate themselves in these “newly liberated” territories.

VI. THE DESTINY OF AZERBAIJAN’S OTHER MINORITIES

The Azeri government’s ethnic cleansing policies encompassed the country’s Kurdish, Lazki, Talish, Tat, Udi, Budukh, Khriz, Khinalug, Avar, Georgian, Ingiluyts (Muslim Georgians), Russian, Jewish, and German minorities. Those who came forward denouncing governmental measures were deported to Siberia as anti-Soviet dissidents. Some of these minorities amazingly were not even mentioned in the census figures published between the1950’s and 1980’s, while the Lazki, Talish, Tat, Kurdish, and Ingiluyts, who presented substantially higher population figures, were always underrepresented.

1. KURDISH FIGURES ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL CENSUS

According to non official figures there are some 250,000 Kurds who live in Azerbaijan. However, their official numbers are presented as:

1921                               32780

1926                               44193

1936                                6000

1959                                1500

1979                                 0

1989                                12226

1999                               13100

                                                                    

                                                                                       TABLE 7

According to the above figures, it follows that by 1979 a minority with a very high birth rate such as the Kurds had vanished from the face of Azerbaijan! In comparison, and according to official census figures published during the 1970’s, it follows that the number of Kurds in the Armenian and Georgian SSR’s had quadrupled in relation to their 1920’s official figures.

It is interesting to note that the reappearance of the Kurds in the 1989 census is a result of direct correlation to Armenian demands in Nagorno Karabagh. If it shows anything, the reappearance of the Kurds as a minority stresses the fact that successive Azeri governments had a totally negative attitude toward minorities and their rights.

2. THE CASE OF THE TATS

“The Great Soviet Encyclopedia” mentions that Azerbaijan was home to some 150,000 Tats during the 1930’s. (vol. 53, p. 669, published in 1937). The source also mentions that about 30,000 Tats spoke the Hebrew language, while some 20,000 of them were Armenian speaking. However, official census figures differ:

1926                                28443

1959                                  5900

1970                                14200

      1979                                 8800

1989                               10000

1999                               10900

                                                                                         TABLE 8

3. THE TALISH CASE

According to non official figures the number of Azerbaijan’s Talish population ranges between 300,000 to half a million. However, census figures show:

1926                                77323

1931                                89398 *

1959                                        0

1970                                        0

1979                                        0

1989                                21000

1999                                80000

                                                                                          TABLE 9

(*) The figure is from 1931 and is published by the states socio-economic commission.

If the 11,688 inhabitants of Lenkoran are added to this figure the total number would

be estimated at 100,000.

4. THE LAZKI CASE

The Lazkis are about 1.2 million strong. About 300,000 Lazkis live in Dagestan, while some 700,000 of their brethren are located in Azerbaijan. However, the official Azeri figures offer a skewed picture of the countries strongest minority:

1926                                109332

1999                                178000

                                                                                             TABLE 10

5. THECASE OF THE INGILUYTS

1921                                100000

1999                                13000

                                                                        

                                                                                         TABLE 11

VII. AZERBAIJANS POPULATION FIGURES ACCORDING TO THE 1999 CENSUS

It is interesting to note that the Azeris who numbered about 1.24 million in 1926 had, by 1999, grown with a 5.8 factor. This is important since in comparison even people who have a higher or at par birthrate to Azeris have not and could not grow with such a factor. It must also be underlined that the 1989 and 1999 census figures are misleading, since the population numbers of minorities there are presented in a symbolic manner rather than exact figures for purposes of political manipulation.

The first of these political manipulations is evident in the reintroduction of statistics for minorities that were wiped out completely in previous census figures. Thus, the reintegration of Kurds, Talishes, Ukrainians, and others into the Azeri population fabric can be construed as a direct result of the Karabagh conflict. In its attempt to show the international community its evenhandedness in dealing with its minorities the Azeri government had to devise mechanisms that are dubious in nature. For instance, The Talish minority that was assigned a zero figure in the 1979 census suddenly reemerged as a minority numbering 21,000 in the 1989 census, and rose all the way to 80,000 in the 1999 census.

The other factor that necessitated such a political maneuver had to do with the foreign politics of Azerbaijan. It is no secret that a signatory to the European framework of the “Convention for the Protection of National Minorities,” Azerbaijan is mandated to periodically report on its progress in this regard. In 2002 Azerbaijan presented its population figure to the European Convention as follows:

National/Ethnic belonging                            Number                      Percentage

Azeri                                                               7,205,500                    90.6 %

Lazki                                                                  178,000                      2.2 %

Russian                                                               141,700                      1.8%

Armenian (Nagorno Karabagh)                         120,000                      1.5%

Talish                                                                    76,800                      1.0%

Avar                                                                     50,900                      0.6%

Meskheti Turks                                                    43,400                      0.5%

Tatar                                                                     30,000                      0.4%

Ukrainian                                                             29,000                      0.4%

Dzakhur                                                               15,900                      0.2%

Kurdish                                                                13,100                      0.2%

Georgian                                                              13,100                      0.2%

Tat                                                                        10,900                      0.13%

Jewish                                                                  10,900                      0.13%

Uti                                                                          4,200                      0.05%

Other                                                                      9,500                      0.12%           

TABLE 12

Subtract the number of Russians, Ukrainians, and Georgians. Jews, and Armenians (since the Armenians of Nagorno Karabagh, who are living in an independent entity cannot be considered as part of the “Azerbaijani population) from the total, it becomes evident that the remaining 5% of minorities will be soon integrated within the Azeri “Melting Pot,” since they are devoid of ethnic schools, and the means by which they can propagate their own culture and traditions. In other words they are doomed to disappear from the population mix. Therefore, Azerbaijan will be unable to fulfill its obligations to preserve its minorities under the rules and procedures of the European covenant it had signed.

The Azeri ethnographer A. Musabegov concludes his book titled “Some Aspects about the Modern Ethnographic Situation,” By stating that:

Condensing the givens and putting the separatist movement of Armenians in Karabagh aside it can be concluded without any doubt that the existence of many national minorities within the boundaries of the Republic of Azerbaijan does not present any danger to its security, independence, and territorial integrity. It is worthy to note that this is the result of the aggressive growth of the Azeri people within the last century where it constituted only 62.1% of the population in 1926 while it comprised more than 90% of the population in 1999.

The aim justifies the means. This saying has been at the core of the Azeri government’s actions. Since national minorities are potential dangers to Azerbaijan’s independence, security, and territorial integrity, they must become extinct. It is within this perspective that Azerbaijani president’s and other high ranking officials’ statements must be understood. That is, under no condition would they accept a specials arrangement of self rule for Nagorno Karabagh.

VIII. THE FATE OF ARMENIAN HISTORICAL/CULTURAL MONUMENTS IN AZERBAIJAN

Throughout millennia of its existence the Armenian people have enriched is historical and cultural heritage all over historical Armenian. It is no secret that each and every invasion and invader has negatively impacted this rich heritage and even halted its progress for long periods of time. According to primary sources this negative impact had reached its zenith during the Turkic invasions of the 11^th and 12^th centuries. One event that exemplifies this trend was the capture of Siunik in 1170, where the Turkic hordes of Alp Aslan burned some 10,000 manuscripts housed in the monastic structure of Baghabert Castle.

In its design to control Armenian territories Azerbaijan had during decades of Soviet rule destroyed and/or aided in the destruction of a myriad of Armenian architectural and cultural monuments. The number of destroyed monuments and the enlargement of the geographical boundaries of this banditry grew throughout the years. Armenian monuments of proportionate physical grandeur were the most affected. For example, Armenian monuments near Karabagh and especially those located on the left banks of the Kura River were literally devastated. The northern regions of Karabagh, especially Gedabeg and Dashkesan were hit the hardest. Today some of these territories are under Armenian control and thus away of harms way.

Phalanges of Azeri historians working under the auspices of the Azeri Academy of Sciences had tried since the 1960’s to present Armenian historical and cultural monuments in Azerbaijan as belonging to the Christian Allans, who were categorized as the forefathers of Turkic-Tatar tribes in those territories.

However, the recent methodic destruction of the so-called Allan monuments prove, without doubt, that the Azeri government has changed its policy of preserving its presumed “ancestral heritage,” to the detriment of the remaining Armenian monuments. The result of this new policy is evident in the continuing destruction of thousands of Khachkars (tombstones) and their valuable historical inscriptions together with the cemeteries, churches, and monasteries hosting them.

The obvious question that asserts itself is why would Azeris destroy historical artifacts that their own historians presume to be part of their Allan heritage? The answer to this puzzling question is that what Azeris consider to be their forefathers, the Allans, lived in a territory bounded by the Kura River and the Caspian Sea. This territory was not part of the contended areas where Armenian monuments are located. Besides, the Allans had been extinct from the theatre of history since circa 9^th century. Therefore, they and whatever historical heritage they had left behind can never be construed as belonging to the Azeri people whose first waves arrived into the area with the Turkic invasions of circa 11^th century.

The campaign to demolish Armenian historical and cultural monuments took of in earnest in 1988. Trying to benefit from the Armenian demands of independence and the ensuing military conflict in Nagorno Karabagh, the Azerbaijani government enacted a policy of destroying Armenian historical monuments not by explosives as was the case before the conflict, but by using army tanks and heavy artillery, whose projectiles caused serious damage to the walls of the targeted monuments if not their outright demolition. This was the destiny of Yeghnasar Monastery near Getashen that was taken over by the Azeri Omon (police) in May 1991.

During the 1950’s and 1960’s the south-eastern wall of an Azeri school built in the village of Dzar was filled with stone fragments from hundreds of Khachkars dating back to the 13^th through 18^th centuries.

Consider also the following cases:

1. The Church in village of Dzar (13^th century) was semi-standing. Today there is no trace of this church.

2. The St. Sargis Church in Dzar (built circa 1274) stood almost intact in 1950. Today it is entirely demolished.

3. The Kedamicho Monastery (built circa 1301) was destroyed during the 1960’s. Few dwellings were built from stones quarried from the church site. A school was also built by using the remnants of the church walls. Traces of inscriptions on stones set in the walls are still visible in the dwellings and the school building.

4. An Armenian church (built circa 12^th-13^th centuries and situated about two kilometers south-west of the village of Yeghegnud (Ghamishli) in the area of Karavajar was totally demolished through explosives in 1983.

5. The 12^th and 13^th century Khachkars of the Armenian cemetery on the borders of Agha Village have been destroyed between 1970 and 1980.

6. The 13^th century Armenian church in the area of the Arokhlu (Arakelots) and Movsesashen villages of Kashadagh (Lachin formerly) was demolished in 1983 through explosives.

7. Still in the area of Kashadagh and specifically in the village of Harar (Inner Parajan), the 12^th -20^th century Armenian cemetery and its Khachkars have been wiped-out and the area now houses an Animal shelter.

8. The Ohana Armenian Church near the Krham castle north of Zangelan in the wooded area of Susanasar has been recently demolished by an explosive devise.

9. The 12^th-13^th century old St. Tovmas (Tomas) Armenian Church in the area of Jibrayil was destroyed during the 1970’s. Traces of its stones are still visible in the staircase of a school built nearby.

10. Under the pretext of renovation the 6^th-7^th century Vankasar Armenian Church was deformed during the 1980’s. The only Khachkar remaining from the church cemetery is now housed in open museum of Aghdam as a relic of the “Allan civilization.”

11. Only one of the twelve churches built during the 9^th through 11^th centuries in the Ghalakyant Village of Gedabeg remains in semi demolished state.

12. The 9^th-11^th century Armenian church located eight kilometers south of Banants Village in Dashkesan was destroyed during 1986-1987. The stones were dumped to fill a ridge.

13. The 16^th-17^th century Armenian church of Tsndzahal Village in Dashkesan was completely demolished during the 1960’s. A school was built on the grounds.

14. The Armenian Church of Girants Village was demolished to make way for electricity poles

15. The 16^th-17^th century Armenian church of The Upper Karhad Village was demolished during the 1970’s under the pretext of mining privileges.

16. Before Shushi’s liberation in 1992 the city’s Kanach Zham Church was transformed into a mineral water tasting hall. Furthermore, the city’s Ghazanchetsots Church was used as common toilette.

17. The Parin Bizh Monastery near Shushi was heavily damaged during its occupation by Azeri forces between 1989 and 1992.

18. The St. Mary Monastery in Shamakhu region was destroyed by an explosive device in the 1970’s.

19. Two bridges dating back to the 12^th-13^th centuries, three 13^th-17^th century praying chapels, and some 70 Khachkars were willfully destroyed during the construction of the Sarsang Dam in northeastern Karabagh. The remnants of these architectural monuments were either filled into the dam walls or were left to lie at the bottom of the artificial lake.

20. The 17^th century Armenian St. Sargis Church in the city of Gianja was deformed during the 1980’s under the pretext of renovation. The church was later used as a “Hall of Friendship between Peoples.”

21. The 18^th -20^th century cemetery in Baku was methodically destroyed in recent years; the Khachkars were cut and used as fill to pave the road from Inturist Hotel to Kirov Park.

1. THE CASE OF NAKHICHEVAN

The historical Armenian counties of Shahaponk, Yerenchak, and Goghtn are situated within the boundaries of Nakhichevan. In late medieval times Julfa (Jugha) was the capital of Yerenchak. It was situated on left banks of the Araxes River. At present it is on the border between Iran and Nakhichevan.

Julfa was a famous trading post since circa 7^th century. It was developed more during the 10^th-13^th centuries. In 1604, on his way back from his campaign against the Ottomans, Shah Abbas of Iran destroyed Julfa (only its cemetery remained untouched) and forcefully relocated its Armenian tradesmen and artisans to Iran. The Armenians of Julfa prospered in New Julfa, a city they built out of scratch near the capital Isfahan. This constituted the beginning of the Armenian community in Iran.

Julfa’s magnificence could be construed from the ruins of its 18 churches, numerous bridges, caravansaries, roofed marketplace, dwellings, and especially its almost intact cemetery.

The cemetery encompasses several hills to the west of the ruined city. Its Khachkars can be divided into three categories: 9^th to 14^th century, 14^th to 16^th century, and those carved up to 1605. Julfa’s Khachkars are considered to be real masterpieces of the artistic Armenian Khachkar genre.

It must be stated that in 1648 the cemetery in Julfa contained some 10,000 Khachkars. During 1903-1904 the number of Khachkars was 5,000. During 1971-1973 the number was 4,000-4,200.

During the Soviet era the cemetery was neglected, while nearby villagers used the Khachkars and tombstones for the construction of their dwellings.

It must also be noted that no certain statistics exists regarding Armenian monuments in Azerbaijan, since nobody, even those visiting from non-Soviet countries, could visit the monuments. The only exception was the Swedish expert Steven Simm’s visit to Nakhichevan in the fall of 2005. Simm’s stayed there for three days before being escorted out of the country. During this short time he was able to take photographs of only some of the destroyed monasteries in Shorot, Abrakunia, and Kerna villages.

The above example is important in order to illuminate the fact that no study of the fate of Armenian monuments in Azerbaijan has been conducted on the ground. The only reporting method relies on sightings of monument destruction observed by visitors in the border areas of Azerbaijan from Armenia, Nagorno Karabagh, and Iran.

For example, the photos taken from the Iranian border in November 1998 showed how Azeris in Nakhichevan bulldozed an Armenian cemetery:  Khachkars were first uprooted and tombstones destroyed. The Khachkars were then transported by rail to unknown places. Finally, Azeris cleaned and resurfaced the bulldozed area to wipe-out any trace of their misdeed.

During three weeks of such barbarism 30% of the cemetery’s Khachkars were removed. The transport by rail indicated, if anything, that the state supervised the process.

UNESCO’s and other international organizations’ fierce protests put a halt to this cultural genocide, which culminated in the uprooting and transport of 800 Khachkars. Reliable sources indicate that some 250 Armenian monasteries have been destroyed in Nakhichevan. The cases of Astapat’s Red Monastery and Julfa’s St. Mary’s Monastery are somehow documented.

However, the barbarism is being continued unabated. Today if someone looks at the Julfa cemetery from the Iranian border he/she will not be able to identify a single standing Khachkar in a cemetery that housed almost 4,000 as late as 1973.

In December 2005 a new phase of destruction started. Observations from the Iranian border showed about a hundred Azeri soldiers destroying Khachkars and tombstones that were uprooted since 2002 with specially equipped hammers. The existence of “excavators,” transportation vehicles, and other equipment showed once again that the Azeri state is involved in the endeavor.

The only relaxing aspect in the whole debacle is that those Armenian monuments in the liberated areas of Nagorno Karabagh and the surrounding areas are in safe hands and are being cared for. This process started in 1993 and continued until 1998, whereby some 1600 existing historical/cultural monuments in the liberated areas are now documented. Some of the sites have already been renovated and/or reinforced, while others are in the process.

The destruction of Armenian monuments is a challenge to the world community and the history of human civilization. Aside from their Armenian heritage, they convey a universal human legacy regardless of their geographical location or national origin.

XI. THE LEGAL JUSTIFICATION OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF NAGORNO KARABAGH

Until 1918 Nagorno Karabagh had never been part of the Republic of Azerbaijan, since that entity did not exist prior to 1918.

During 1918-1922 the fledgling Azeri republic demanded not only the annexation of Nagorno Karabagh but other regions of the Armenian Republic. It was because of Azerbaijan’s aggression that The League of Nations rejected Azerbaijan’s membership application.

The first time that Nagorno Karabagh was annexed to Azerbaijan was when the latter lost its independence and was forcibly integrated into the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks attached the region to Azerbaijan to punish the rebel Armenian Republic.

Therefore, the annexation of Nagorno Karabagh to Azerbaijan was a uniquely soviet political act. The Soviet Union seized to exist as of 1991. So did the annexation of Karabagh by Azerbaijan. Therefore, the independence of Nagorno Karabagh was the result of totally legal and just circumstances.

On August 30, 1991, Azerbaijan seceded from the Soviet Union by enacting its constitutional right to do so. By so doing, Azerbaijan resurrected as the continuation of the 1918-1920 free Azeri republic. This resurrected republic could not include Nagorno Karabagh within its boundaries, since it was not there during its previous existence.

Three days later Nagorno Karabagh declared its own independence based also on its constitutional right to do so in accordance to the laws governing the secession of a state from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The third article of the Law on Secession from the USSR indicates that: “In each republic that includes self-governing republics or regions within its boundaries a special popular referendum for independence must be organized within each of the self-governed entities. It is the people of these self-governing republics or regions that decide to either succeed from or remain joined to the republic that decides to secede from the USSR.”

Since this is what happened in the “self-ruling Republic of Nagorno Karabagh,” therefore its people’s decision by popular referendum to be independent from Azerbaijan constitutes the legal and just basis for its independence. Furthermore, the independence of Nagorno Karabagh was necessitated due to decades-long political oppression and obvious human rights violations by the central Azeri government in Baku.

This legal, just, and democratic action taken the people of Nagorno Karabagh was met with outright Azeri aggression. It led to war and destruction. It led to forceful deportations and a blockade of Armenia. It brought about tragic events. However, the aggressor bears the full responsibility of the consequences.

X. ANTI-ARMENIANISM AS A NEW WEAPON IN THE HANDS OF AZERBAIJAN’S POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

There is an atmosphere of anti-Armenian sentiments in all aspects of Azerbaijan’s national and social life. Armenians are portrayed as the enemy. Several sectors in Azerbaijan are behind this escalation. These include:

1. The political leadership
2. Sociopolitical institutions
3. Mass-media outlets
4. Scientific/ academic circles and institutions
5. Educational institutions (textbooks)

Since the political leadership of Azerbaijan openly motivates this dynamic propaganda, it is beneficial to reproduce here some of the statements Azeri leaders have made vis-à-vis the Armenian issue in general and the Nagorno Karabagh conflict in particular:

If until this year’s [1992] October even one Armenian remains in Nagorno Karabagh Let the Azeri people hang me from a pole in the center of Baku. (A. Elchibey, June 992, “Ethnic Cleansing in Progress: War in Nagorno Karabagh,” Caroline Cox and John Eibner; Institute for Religious Studies in the Muslim World; Washington, 1993.)

Not only would it be an impossibility to give Nagorno Karabagh any kind of self-rule within Azerbaijan, it would be even more impossible to grant Armenians Azeri citizenship. Such an act would be tantamount to treason. (Vafa Gulizade, Aid to President Haydar Aliev, Bakinski Rabochi, February 24, 2001.)

In summer 2001 Isfendiakh Vahabzade, Azerbaijan’s permanent representative to the United Nations communicated with Azerbaijan’s Parliament speaker Murtuz Aleskerov regarding the ousting of his predecessor, Eldar Huseynov, by stating that:

There are many among Azerbaijan’s foreign services who diplomatic corps. who have alien blood in their veins. Those who have Armenian, Russian, or even Jewish mothers could not faithfully serve Azerbaijan’s interests. (“Azeri Permanent Representative at United Nations, Eldar Huseynov has been called back,” Ekho, June 5, 2001.)

In about 20 to 30 years the Armenian state would seize to exist in the Caucasus. This state has committed so many transgressions against its neighbors that it has lost its reason to exist. This Armenian republic was created on what were previously Azeri lands. I think that in about 20 to 30 years these lands will once again come under Azeri control. (Ramiz Melikov [Azeri Defense Monastery’s spokesman], Chergalo, August 4, 2004.)

The names of many Armenians are mentioned here [The Encyclopedia of Azerbaijan] who have done nothing for the Azeri people throughout Azerbaijan’s history. If you take a look you will see that for yourselves. I was very surprised when I saw this. Why did this happen: Harutyunian, Gevorgian, Yeramian, Martiros Sarian, David of Sasun. What does this mean? Is this what constitutes the foundation of our national encyclopedia? I am at once trapidated. I now see that this is a cursed volume. I turned over the page and what do you think? What did I see? Stepanakert [capital of Nagorno Karabagh]. There is no city by that name in Azerbaijan. (Ilham Aliev, Day.Az, April 9, 2004. Excerpt from speech by Ilham Aliev, President of Azerbaijan, during his meeting with the collective editorial board of “The Encyclopedia of Azerbaijan.”)

We must be ready to liberate the [Armenian] occupied lands at any moment through military means. We have everything necessary for that end: The unity of the Azeri people; a strong army; the strong will of the country’s leadership and people. (Ilham Aliev, Chergalo, August 4, 2004.)

I am now confidently going to raise the military budget. In 2004 Azerbaijan’s military budget was 170 million dollars. In 2005 that budget will be 300 million dollars, while in 2006 that will increase to 600 million dollars. I have said that our military budget alone must be equal to the total budget of the Republic of Armenia. We will reach that moment. What is necessary is that we must be strong. We can decide anything when we are strong. (Ilham Aliev, Interfax, October 30, 2005.)

        

It is no secret to anybody that Armenians came to the ancestral Azeri land of Nagorno Karabagh as guests. This is clear to us. However, we have to make the international community privy of the truth behind this fact…The Armenians who came to Nagorno Karabagh during the seventh decade of the 19^th century have no historical right on that region. (Ilham Aliev, http://regnum.ru/, December 15, 2005. Excerpts from speech Aliev delivered during a sixtieth anniversary celebration of the formation of the Azerbaijani Academy of Sciences.)

On February 19 2004, Aba Ramil Safarov of the Azeri army killed Gurgen Margarian while the latter was sleeping his sleep in Budapest. Both officers were participating in NATO’s “ Working Together for Peace” program.

…I have always told our officers who are being trained in Turkey: You are essential in Karabagh. You must kill them [Armenians] in Karabagh. Not in other places. (Anar Mamedkhanov, Debutant in the Milli Majlis [Azeri Parliament], Chergalo, March 6, 2004.)

R[amil] Safarov Must be considered a role model for the Azeri youth. (Elmira Suleymanova, Chergalo, February 28,2004. Suleymanova is one of Azerbaijan’s top ranking human rights violations activist.)

I do not advice Armenians to sleep peacefully at night while the [Nagorno] Karabagh issue is not yet settled. (Ambassador Akshim Mehdi, Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan at the European Union, Chergalo, March 23, 2004.)

If in the current situation Ramil Safarov is not saved from the wrath of the Armenian Diaspora, then we will not be able to liberate Azeri lands occupied by Armenians during any war. (Guytekin Hajiyeva, member of Azerbaijan’s Permanent Representation at the European Union, Chergalo, February 28, 2004.)

If we are unable to defend Ramil Safarov today, tomorrow no Azeri will raise a weapon in the face of Armenian when the time comes. (Zakhit Oruj,  Debutant in the Milli Majlis [Azeri Parliament], Chergalo,  February 28, 2004.)