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NEW SATELLITE IMAGES CONFIRM COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF DJULFA CEMETERY
Asbarez
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
LOS ANGELES
The world's largest body of scientists, the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, just released satellite image comparison
and analysis confirming the complete destruction of the ancient Djulfa
cemetery, located in an historic Armenian exclave currently occupied
by Azerbaijan.
The AAAS case study, including the satellite photos, is available here.
To urge UNESCO to hold Azerbaijan accountable for Djulfa's loss send
an action alert from here.
Five years ago this month, more than 100 uniformed Azerbaijanis were
caught on tape destroying the burial monuments of the medieval Djulfa
cemetery, founded in the Armenian province of Nakhichevan during the
9th century and thriving as late as the early 1600s. The soldiers were
smashing Armenian monuments with sledgehammers, using a crane to remove
some of the largest monuments from the ground, breaking the stones into
small pieces, and dumping them into the River Araxes by a large truck.
Overall, an estimated 3,000 khachkars, or intricately carved burial
monuments, the craftsmanship of which is a UNESCO Intangible Heritage
Tradition, were erased from the face of the earth. Azerbaijan's
president called the destruction report an "absolute lie," and has
maintained that official denial ever since.
AAAS' release, which can be read here, conclusively confirms the
destruction of a sacred place of memory.
"Azerbaijan's war against indigenous Armenian heritage in Nakhichevan
cannot be justified in any way-including by the gridlock in
the negotiations over the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that fought for independence in the early
1990s from Azerbaijan precisely so that a destruction similar to
Djulfa's would not take place there," Simon Maghakyan, the founder
and project Manager at the Djulfa Virtual Memorial and Museum
(www.djulfa.com), said today in a widely circulated email to media
and advocacy groups.
"The loss of Djulfa was a blow to not just Armenian culture, but
also to all world heritage," said Maghakyan, who first exposed the
destruction when he published his video footage of the crime in 2005.
Maghakyan criticized UNESCO, "the organization charged with protecting
our common heritage," for its "shameful silence" on Djulfa's
destruction and urged action to tell UNESCO that "its unequivocal
protest is long overdue."
Maghakyan provides a more detailed account of the five-year rampage
against Djulfa in a special blog post on the Amnesty International's
"Human Rights Now" blog. The post, titled "Cultural Oppression in
Azerbaijan can be read here.
From: A. Papazian
Asbarez
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
LOS ANGELES
The world's largest body of scientists, the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, just released satellite image comparison
and analysis confirming the complete destruction of the ancient Djulfa
cemetery, located in an historic Armenian exclave currently occupied
by Azerbaijan.
The AAAS case study, including the satellite photos, is available here.
To urge UNESCO to hold Azerbaijan accountable for Djulfa's loss send
an action alert from here.
Five years ago this month, more than 100 uniformed Azerbaijanis were
caught on tape destroying the burial monuments of the medieval Djulfa
cemetery, founded in the Armenian province of Nakhichevan during the
9th century and thriving as late as the early 1600s. The soldiers were
smashing Armenian monuments with sledgehammers, using a crane to remove
some of the largest monuments from the ground, breaking the stones into
small pieces, and dumping them into the River Araxes by a large truck.
Overall, an estimated 3,000 khachkars, or intricately carved burial
monuments, the craftsmanship of which is a UNESCO Intangible Heritage
Tradition, were erased from the face of the earth. Azerbaijan's
president called the destruction report an "absolute lie," and has
maintained that official denial ever since.
AAAS' release, which can be read here, conclusively confirms the
destruction of a sacred place of memory.
"Azerbaijan's war against indigenous Armenian heritage in Nakhichevan
cannot be justified in any way-including by the gridlock in
the negotiations over the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that fought for independence in the early
1990s from Azerbaijan precisely so that a destruction similar to
Djulfa's would not take place there," Simon Maghakyan, the founder
and project Manager at the Djulfa Virtual Memorial and Museum
(www.djulfa.com), said today in a widely circulated email to media
and advocacy groups.
"The loss of Djulfa was a blow to not just Armenian culture, but
also to all world heritage," said Maghakyan, who first exposed the
destruction when he published his video footage of the crime in 2005.
Maghakyan criticized UNESCO, "the organization charged with protecting
our common heritage," for its "shameful silence" on Djulfa's
destruction and urged action to tell UNESCO that "its unequivocal
protest is long overdue."
Maghakyan provides a more detailed account of the five-year rampage
against Djulfa in a special blog post on the Amnesty International's
"Human Rights Now" blog. The post, titled "Cultural Oppression in
Azerbaijan can be read here.
From: A. Papazian