Yukhary Govhar-aga and Vardanyan: why Armenians would be better off forgetting about Shusha mosque

The fact that a global hotel chain has removed tours to liberated Karabakh from its website has inspired Armenians so much that they are now scouring the internet in search of “compromising material,” hoping to force other travel and hospitality companies to remove mentions of Karabakh and Zangezur destinations from their advertising. 

It should be recalled that earlier, the diaspora, through the organization “Ai Data,” launched an all Armenian campaign against the international chain Marriott Bonvoy, reproaching it for advertising Khankendi with a “tattoo-papiok.” The campaign was successful, and the travel ads were removed.This time, the targets were the international travel platforms Booking.com and GetYourGuide.com. These websites began advertising travel packages to Shusha, Khankendi, and other places in Karabakh. Dashnaks and revanchists are beside themselves because of this. They are unsettled by the fact that the names of Azerbaijani cities and villages are given correctly on websites, rather than in the distorted Armenian version from the occupation period. And what infuriates them even more is that, when presenting the Yukhary Govhar-aga Mosque, these websites don’t mention a word about the fact that it was “restored” in 2019 with money from Ruben Vardanyan, who is now serving his sentence for his crimes in a Baku prison. 

When, during the period of Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan sought to have the “Stepanakert” hotels and tours to the occupied Shusha and Kalbajar removed from international platforms, this was its legitimate right. Even during the years of Armenian occupation, these territories remained its internationally recognized territories, which was stated in documents, including those of the UN. Travel companies did not yield to Baku but adhered to the requirements of international law. What the Armenian community is doing today is, in fact, terror and persecution. Why do international companies cowardly bend under the pressure of Armenian hysterics Afraid. The diaspora is wealthy and influential, and most importantly, it doesn’t shy away from using any means, and when it fails to elicit tears of pity, it’s ready to extract tears of fear from the “client.”Let’s see whether these websites can withstand the hysterical pressure and the howling about “ethnic cleansing,” which will inevitably begin and turn into yet another all Armenian campaign involving lobbyists and patronizing circles.

Interestingly, the Yukhary Govhar-aga Mosque has appeared in discourse in connection with Ruben Vardanyan more than once. It’s as if he built it. The billionaire himself also constantly boasted about his involvement in the Persianization of the Azerbaijani mosque. I remember that in late October 2020, when it was already clear how everything would end, Vardanyan posed in Shusha against the backdrop of the Yukhary Govhar-aga and an Armenian church that was allegedly destroyed by an Azerbaijani missile. He wanted to show the international community the “difference” between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. But the funniest thing is that the man who financed armed gangs of separatists and terrorists was talking about universal human values, peaceful coexistence, and the inevitability of compromise solutions. It’s surprising that he hadn’t said the same thing before September 27, 2020.

Vardanyan still considers the Shusha mosque to be a vivid proof of the subtlety of his spiritual makeup. In connection with the legal proceedings against him, Vardanyan’s defenders and supporters, while describing his numerous “merits,” also recalled Yukhary Govhar-aga. But it would have been better if they hadn’t done so.

The diaspora figures who are calling for the harassment of international travel companies are also in vain when they remind people of Vardanyan’s involvement in the Persianization of the Azerbaijani mosque. Although the restoration was in fact an act of falsification and yet another step towards erasing the Azerbaijani history of Karabakh.

Since 1992, Armenians have been keeping livestock in the dilapidated Azerbaijani mosque. After 24 years of desecrating the Azerbaijani holy site, in 2016 a “contract” was signed with an Iranian company, which was tasked with falsifying this historical monument. These works were carried out within the framework of the “Armenian Development Initiatives” fund, owned by Vardanyan, and another dubious fund called “Revival of Eastern Historical Heritage.” The occupied territories were already considered by the Armenian side as “Eastern Armenia,” and then a Kazakh businessman named Baranbayev appeared on the scene. During an illegal visit to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the businessman expressed a desire to donate a large sum for the restoration of a mosque. It was him that Vardanyan mentioned, later enthusiastically declaring how “Armenians and Sunnis restored the Shiite mosque.” The falsification of the monument began in 2017 and was completed in 2019. The Armenian Minister of Culture, who was present at the event, described the vandalized monument as “a symbol of Armenian-Iranian friendship.”

The Yukhary Govhar-aga, destroyed and desecrated by the occupiers, was supposed to become a symbol of Armenian tolerance that does not exist in nature. Just like the Blue Mosque in Yerevan, which has undergone no less profound falsifications and is now serving as a propaganda tool for Yerevan. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan cannot restore the Blue Mosque to its historical appearance and restore justice. The mosques in Karabakh were luckier.

Specialists had to work hard to eliminate the consequences of the Persianization and distortions that occurred during the “restoration” of the monument and to restore its original appearance. Thanks to the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the mosque was restored and now majestically adorns Shusha.

Although the Armenian side later denied everything, foreign entities that collaborated with the separatists were directly involved in the falsifications. Representatives of the Iranian company were well aware of what they were doing, but in this case, their interests aligned with those of the Armenian side. The occupation regime invited foreigners because “we do not have enough experience to restore the heritage of another culture.”

In January 2020, plans were announced for the “restoration of the Shusha fortress.” But the occupiers did not have time to damage the monument. The process has only just begun and was halted by the 44-day liberation war.

Today, Azerbaijani and foreign specialists have to rectify what the occupiers and their foreign accomplices did to Azerbaijan’s heritage during the years of occupation. It should be noted that the conservation and restoration work at the Yukhary Govhar-aga Mosque was carried out by a consortium of Azerbaijani, Italian and Turkish companies under the supervision of the Austrian company Wehdorn Architekten. Today, the mosque has been restored to its original appearance.

Taking all of the above into account, it would be better for Vardanyan’s defenders to remind people less often about their client’s involvement in yet another falsification. Financing the “restoration” of the Shusha mosque in this way is not a plus — it’s a piece of dirt.

The Yukhary Govhar-aga Mosque was and remains an Azerbaijani mosque. And Shusha, like the entire Karabakh region and Eastern Zangezur, is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and no one doubts this fact anymore. Therefore, international travel companies have every right to advertise tours to the liberated lands of Azerbaijan, ignoring the opinions of others. Yielding to pressure, they allow the Armenian side to continue in the same vein. However, the process of the world recognizing the real, free Azerbaijani Karabakh cannot be stopped.