Armenians, leaving Azerbaijan's Kalbajar, continue committing vandalism

By Trend

The Armenians leaving the Kalbajar district of Azerbaijan are committing another act of vandalism, Trend reports.

Along with the fact that leaving the district, the Armenians set fire to houses and forests on the territory of the district, they began to destroy the ancient Albanian monument located here - the Khudavan monastery complex, founded in the 6th-7th centuries. They take out ancient valuable objects and exhibits from the monastery, taking them to Armenia.

Khudavan monastery is one of the magnificent examples of Albanian architecture. This ancient Albanian temple complex is located near the village of Baglipaga along the Agdara-Kalbajar highway. In subsequent periods, the temple was restored and completed several times. Major restoration work in it was carried out by Prince Hasan Jalal (1215-1261). According to some reports, the wife of Hasan Jalal, Mina Khatun, is buried here. Arzu Khatun church, which is part of the complex, is distinguished by its monumentality. It was built in 1214 by the wife of the Albanian prince Vakhtang, Arzu Khatun, in memory of her husband and two sons.

After the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, the Khudavan monastery was repeatedly vandalized by the Armenians. The Armenians cut down the crosses and destroyed the inscriptions in the Albanian church, in an attempt to falsify history. Now the Armenians are illegally exporting bells and other valuable items from the monastery to Armenia.

Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM and the president of Russia.

A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is introduced at 00:00 hours (Moscow time) on 10 November 2020.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.

Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.