ARMENIANS ARE RECONSTRUCTING THE AZERI TOMBS
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[02:20 pm] 05 September, 2006
more images Surik Truzyan, head of Nor Khachakap community has got
a videotape revealing the brutal acts of the Azeris while destroying
his ancestors’ tombs.
Surik Truzyan is from Koushi, Dashkistan region. He was forcibly
displaced with his compatriots 17 years ago and resettled in the
village of Nor Khachakap which was inhabited by Azeris and was called
Saral till 1988. It is noteworthy that contrary to their vandalism,
the Azeri tombs have been cleaned and restored in Armenia. (You may
see the reconstructed Azeri tomb in the picture)
"The Azeris treated our tombs very badly; they completely destroyed
them and broke the khachkars," says 74-year-old Ashot Kyalabyan.
The Armenia and Azeri tombs are side by side in Nor Khachakap. The
Azeri tombs of the village have been restored this year on the
initiative of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens’
Assembly. Regardless of the fact that the Azeris destroyed their
ancestors’ tombs the residents of the village treat it normally.
Arthur Sakunts, head of the Vanadzor office, claims that the tomb
of his ancestors which is in the territory of Azerbaijan, in the
village of Vernishen, Shahoumyan Region, is far from being in a proper
state. But in his opinion the conflict has aroused so many problems and
caused so much trouble that new demolitions are irrelevant. "Humanity
is not simply a term; it also implies respect and good treatment to
the memory of your rival."
Asked whether there is any probability that the Armenian tombs may
be reconstructed in Azerbaijan like the Azeri tombs in Armenia, Arzu
Abdulajev, head of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly in Azerbaijan,
answered that he had no notion of the state of the Armenian tombs in
Azerbaijan as they mainly worked in Baku and added, "It will cause
no more trouble as we take measures on this score." By the way, an
Azeri journalist who was in Armenian in summer noted that Armenian
tombs may hardly be reconstructed in Azerbaijan.
Nine hundred USD was spent on the reconstruction of the Azeri tombs
which lasted five months.
By the way, the RA Government allocated 2 million 308 thousand AMD
to find the places of the Azeri tombs and cultural monuments in the
territories of Armenia and Karabakh and to take their photos.
And what work is being done by the above-mentioned sum allocated by the
government? The press service of the Ministry of Culture informed us
that they are implementing some work but they didn’t go into details.
According to the data of the Azeri media, the Azeris, formerly living
in the territory of Armenia, handed applications to the European Court
of Human Rights with the request to compensate their real estate of
20 milliard USD left in Armenia. By the way, the Azeri media notes
that Armenians have ruined all the Azeri tombs in Armenia.