Cultural agency fights against Armenia's misappropriation of heritage

Since 2016, Azerbaijan’s Intellectual Property Agency has continued to publish materials under the series "Don b?z?y?r d?, if?a ed?r d?" aimed at exposing Armenian falsifications of Azerbaijani cultural heritage.

Speaking at a briefing today, Chairman of the Agency Kamran Imanov stated that in 2024, new books from the series titled “Western Azerbaijan lands in ancient and classical sources and DNA analysis” were published in both Azerbaijani and Russian. The works, authored by Imanov himself, highlight historical evidence and scientific data countering Armenian territorial claims.

He also noted that the Agency and the Ministry of Culture had jointly protested the misappropriation of music from "O olmas?n, bu olsun", a classic Azerbaijani comedy by Uzeyir Hajibeyli. A segment of the music was falsely uploaded on YouTube under the name “Vagharshabat Dance”, attributed to Armenian composer Arno Babajanyan. The joint statement demanded the restoration of Hajibeyli’s copyright and action against systematic cultural theft by Armenia.

Imanov further pointed to the case of the song “Garabagh” (Garabagh is always the mother of dreams), written by Azerbaijani composer Bahram Nasibov. Its lyrics were altered and falsely presented as “Sirun jan” (“Armenian Folk”) by Armenian singer Gor Yepremyan. Following action by the Agency, the song was removed from YouTube and global streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Deezer.

Another case involved the piece “Yar?mgil?”, composed by Javanshir Guliyev. Armenian performer Minas Hovhannesyan, known as Mino, changed its lyrics and released it as “Xrovel e im yare” on YouTube. The Intellectual Property Agency succeeded in removing the video from five YouTube pages.

Additionally, songs like “Yar g?ldi, yar” (Adil Gera & Ali Karim), “Töhfe” (Firangiz Babyeva & Baba Veziroglu), and “Getm? amand?r” (Haji Khanmammadov & Ash?g Alasgar), performed by Shovket Alakbarova, were also falsely posted as Armenian music. Other affected Azerbaijani compositions include “Yavash-yavash” and “Bayram Shamlari”, which were all taken down following the Agency’s intervention.

Imanov emphasized that Azerbaijan will continue to fight against the misappropriation of its cultural and musical heritage on international platforms.