By Gabil Ashirov

Jingoist Armenian nationalists go the extra mile to axe the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which has never been so close to the deal. The revanchist clique is trying every possible way to achieve its goals without taking any lessons from the past humiliating defeats in 2020 and 2023. They still believe that proliferating lies could save them at the end of the day – the lies that we know as fabrications of ostensible so-called genocides, Armenian pogroms, and Armenophobia in Azerbaijan, but at the end of the day, the truth was revealed, and the justice was restored.

Deprived of all possible resources, Armenians are now engaged in spreading baseless materials and disinformation on the Western media about the destruction of the so-called Armenian cultural heritage, which never existed.

It is clear that the material was prepared and circulated with reference to the same centre, which transmits to all media in the form of a thesis. Press agencies, which receive orders from only one centre controlled by the Armenian lobby, print the materials in a standardized way without any different research.

However, the media outlet in the Netherlands went further to compare Azerbaijan, a country famous for its multiculturalism, with ISIS. Besides, Azerbaijan has not only taken care of cultural heritage in the country but also sponsored the restoration of historic buildings throughout the world including Europe. So, I condemn the rhetoric of nos.nl and advise them to go through the colonial history of the Netherlands instead of conducting a smearing campaign against Azerbaijan.

As for the starkly distorted article, it reminds me of the style of the Anti-Tom literature series. Like the said series, the lies are so blunt that the author cannot hide them despite all his/her efforts. Generally, we can divide the cultural heritages mentioned in the article into three groups.

The first and most ridiculous cultural heritages are the buildings belonging to the terrorist and separatist group that called itself NKR. It is interesting: "In which country are the symbols of separatists and invaders preserved as cultural heritages?" Even today, after 160 years, the Confederate Flag is prohibited in the USA. Besides, does the Netherlands preserve the symbols of the Nazis, who invaded the country in the 1940s, as cultural heritage? Surely, not. If neither the USA nor the Netherlands allows displaying the symbols of separatism and invasion why should Azerbaijan preserve them as cultural heritage? If it is normal, let the Netherlands do it first.

The second cultural heritages mentioned in the so-called article are churches that were built during the invasion. Frankly speaking, as a citizen of Azerbaijan, I have never been interested in the fate of any edifice built in Garabagh during the invasion. That is why we do not know whether they have been deconstructed or not. But here arises a question: "Can anyone construct, for example, a mosque without permission in any part of the Netherlands? Or what does the Dutch government do against such illegal constructions?" Again, we are coming to the same point. i.e. some people in the Netherlands are thinking that Azerbaijan cannot do the things which can do the Netherlands. Let me remind you that Azerbaijan is not a colony of the Netherlands. Azerbaijan has the right to do everything according to national and international laws.

The third and last cultural heritage mentioned in the article is the churches built in the Middle Ages. Obviously, the issue is a little bit complicated. To understand the point, we should leaf through the pages of history.

So, the first country in the territory of the present Azerbaijan was Albania. The said country kept its existence until the Arab invasions. Albania was the first to recognize Christianity as a religion of the state. Present Garabag was the strategic territory of Albania and the country built many churches in the region. Even the first church assembly in the said country, which is called Aquen Church Assembly, was conducted in Garabagh. Anyone can google and find out the truth. However, the Arab invasion ended this state and the population converted to Islam. Despite the Islamization of the country, the Albanian church with its tiny community kept its existence in Garabagh. After the Arabs, the Armenian Church eyed the Albanian Church. The struggle between the two churches continued until the Russian invasion in the XIX century. As is known, following the invasion of the Caucasus, Tsar Russia settled Armenians from Iran and Ottoman in Azerbaijani territories. In mid of the 1830s, the head of the Armenian Church applied the Russian Tsar on the issue. Russian Tsar not only abolished the Albanian Church but also dispersed the Albanian community in Garabagh throughout Azerbaijan.

In a nutshell, Armenia erased the Albanian heritage after usurping the Albanian Church in Garabagh. Azerbaijan restored the Albanian Church in the 2000s and after the 44-day Patriotic War, Azerbaijan restored justice and returned the magnificence of the Albanian churches to itself, to their lawful heirs, in Garabagh - first to the community and then to all Azerbaijanis who are progenies of Albans.

So, the destruction of any cultural heritage in liberated Garabagh is out of the question. It is just a provocation of Armenian jingoist nationalists. Azerbaijan was, is, and will be a multicultural country. All people regardless of their nationality and religion are living and will live in peace forever.

The opinions of outside forces are not important to us. We are neither interested nor worried about their untrue opinions about Azerbaijan. As the proverb says, the dogs bark but the caravan moves on.