Author: Kajoyan Gevork

ARMENIA READY FOR DIALOGUE WITH EASTERN PARTNERSHIP STATES

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 12, 2011 – 15:42 AMT

Within the Eastern Partnership initiative, Armenia is ready to
establish a constructive dialogue with its neighbours without
preconditions, RA Deputy Foreign Minister stated.

As Karine Kazinian said during the seminar titled EU’s Role in the
South Caucasus: From Cooperation to Partnership through Reforms:
Challenges and Opportunities, “Armenia gives high assessment to
the initiative, specifically from the point of view of promoting
cooperation, dialogue and trust atmosphere.”

However, as Kazinian noted with regret, some countries take no pains
to support EU efforts to establish regional stability.

“Eastern Partnership took Armenia-EU cooperation to a new level,” Ms.
Kazinian said in conclusion.

YEREVAN TO HOST INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED DOG SHOW

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 12, 2011 – 16:54 AMT

On May 22, Yerevan will host Armenian Super Cup 2011 international
certified dog show. The event is organized for all breeds of CACIB
class by the Armenian cynological and sports union.

Applications for participation are accepted until May 13, when the
number of participants will become clear. Dogs above 2 months may
participate in it. The jury members will arrive from England, Latvia
and Lithuania.

A similar tournament was held in 2010, while another certified
international show will be organized in October 2011.

JERUSALEM’S ARMENIANS FACE UNCERTAIN FUTURE
By MATTI FRIEDMAN

Associated Press
12 May 2011

JERUSALEM (AP) – One of the four quarters of old Jerusalem belongs
to the Armenians, keepers of an ancient monastery and library, heirs
to a tragic history and to a stubborn 1,600-year presence that some
fear is now in doubt.

Buffeted by Mideast forces more powerful than themselves and drawn
by better lives elsewhere, this historic Jerusalem community has seen
its numbers quietly drop below 1,000 people. The Armenians, led by an
ailing 94-year-old patriarch, find themselves caught between Jews and
Muslims in a Middle East emptying of Christians, and between a deep
sense of belonging in Jerusalem and a realization that their future
might lie elsewhere.

‘Very few will remain here if it goes on like this,’ said Kevork
Kahvedjian, a Jerusalem storeowner.

Kahvedjian sells vintage black-and-white photos of the Holy Land from
a store founded in 1949 by his father, who arrived in Jerusalem as
a child after mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule during
World War I claimed his own parents. Today, Kahvedjian said, he has
siblings in Canada and the U.S., a son in Washington, D.C., and a
daughter who plans to move away soon.

The insular world of the Jerusalem Armenians is reached through a
modest iron door set in a stone wall.

The door, locked every night at 10:30, leads into a monastery compound
that is home to a contingent of cloaked clergymen and also to several
hundred Armenian laypeople: grandparents, parents and children,
living in a warrens of small apartments alongside their priests in a
self-contained outpost that has existed here, in some form, at least
as far back as the fifth century A.D.

Also inside is a library, a health center, two social clubs and a
school where each grade now has an average of only six or seven pupils.

‘We worry about this, of course. But we haven’t found a solution,’
said Samuel Aghoyan, 71, one of the community’s senior priests.

On a recent afternoon in the Armenian monastery’s nerve center,
the medieval cathedral of St. James, clerics in black cowls chanted
under dozens of oil lamps suspended from the vaulted ceiling. Next to
a priest waving a censer was an inlaid panel concealing the entrance
to a staircase ascending inside the wall to the church’s second floor.

The monastery, led by the patriarch Torkom Manoogian, 94, guards
other secrets. It holds the world’s second-largest collection of
ancient Armenian manuscripts, 4,000 texts guarded in a chapel opened
only once a year. It also owns the Bible of Keran, a gold-covered
manuscript named for an Armenian queen and kept in a treasury whose
location the priests will not divulge, and the staff of King Hetum,
made from a single piece of amber and revealed to the public for a
few minutes every January.

The several dozen priests, most of whom are sent to Jerusalem by the
church from elsewhere, will remain, as will their edifices and relics.

But the community itself, made up of laypeople subject to the pressures
and pulls of this world, may not.

Aghoyan arrived at the monastery as a 16-year-old seminarian in 1956
from Syria, where his parents had fled from Turkey. He found the
Jerusalem monastery crowded with families, most of them refugees or
descendants of refugees who escaped the killings.

Many international historians say up to 1.5 million Armenians were
killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, which they
call the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey disputes this,
saying the death toll has been inflated and those killed were victims
of civil war and unrest as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

The resulting refugees swelled the small existing community of Armenian
priests and laymen, and by the time Jerusalem was split between
Jordan and Israel in 1948 the Armenians numbered over 25,000, by some
counts. They were traders and craftsmen whose distinctive mosaics of
painted tiles remain one of the city’s signature design features.

After 1948, with the city divided, the Old City under Jordanian control
and economic prospects bleak, most Armenians left, joining thriving
exile communities in places like Fresno, California, and Toronto.

Perhaps 3,000 remained by the time Israel captured the Old City
in 1967.

The Armenians, along with Arab residents of east Jerusalem, were
given residency rights in Israel, and some have since applied for
full citizenship. But the community has tried to plot a neutral
course in a place where that is difficult. Ties with both Israelis
and Palestinians have been tense at times.

Israel’s Interior Ministry does not have statistics on the number
of Armenians. Community leaders like Aghoyan and Tsolag Momjian, the
honorary consul of Armenia, agree there are now fewer than 1,000 in
the city.

The slow decline of the Jerusalem Armenians reflects a broader
shrinking of the Middle East’s ancient Christian population. For
much of the past century, Christians in Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt,
the Palestinian territories and elsewhere have been moving to the
West, fleeing poverty, religious intolerance and violence like the
anti-Christian riot that erupted this week in Cairo, leaving 12 dead
and a church burned.

Young Armenians, expected to marry Armenians, are faced with a shortage
of potential spouses. Because they are typically well-educated, fluent
in English and have family connections abroad, they are equipped to
leave. Those who do join a diaspora that numbers an estimated 11
million people worldwide and supports churches, community centers
and at least a dozen international online dating sites with names
like Armenians Connect and armenianpassion.com.

‘Whoever leaves still dreams about Jerusalem and says they’ll come
back. But they won’t,’ Aghoyan said.

Others are more optimistic. Ruppen Nalbandian, 29, a community
youth leader with a master’s degree in neurobiology from an Israeli
university, said the outflow has slowed. Of 11 students in his class
at school, he said, only two have left. Ten men he knows have found
brides in Armenia and brought them back to Jerusalem, he said.

Some in the community point to an unexpected boon in the form of
Armenian Christians – possibly more than 10,000 of them, though
estimates vary – who arrived in Israel as part of a mass immigration of
Soviet Jews in the 1990s and were eligible for citizenship because they
had a Jewish parent or spouse. Some have mixed with the established
Armenian community.

Not long after the Armenians adopted Christianity in 301 A.D. in
their homeland around the biblical Mt. Ararat, on the eastern border
of modern-day Turkey, they dispatched priests to Jerusalem.

They have remained ever since, through often devastating conquests by
Arab dynasties, Persian armies, mounted Turkish archers, Crusaders,
the Ottoman Empire, Englishmen, Jordanians and Jews.

‘As we have lived here for 1,600 years, we will continue to live here,’
Nalbandian said.

ARMENIAN INTEREST RATES KEPT ON HOLD AS INFLATION FINALLY EASES
BYLINE: Venla Sipila

Global Insight
May 11, 2011

The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) has kept its refinancing rate
stable at 8.5% in May, Reuters reports. This follows policy rate
increases every month since February (see Armenia: 13 April 2011:
Far-Above-Target Inflation Spurs Further Interest Rate Hike in
Armenia). The CBA took this decision after consumer prices in April
had retreated by 0.2% from March, whereas annual inflation eased
to 8.9% from 11.5% in March, according to the Armenian National
Statistical Service. The central bank expects inflation pressures
to moderate further in the coming months. In particular, the bank
noted that global food and commodity prices in April showed signs
of stabilisation. Indeed, lower food prices were the key factor
contributing to the m/m deflation seen in April, while they still
posted by far the fastest gain in annual comparison. The CBA projects
that inflation will ease back to the target range of 4.5% with a band
of 1.5 percentage points on either side within the second half of 2011.

Significance:The monthly deflation in April as well as the clear
moderation in the annual inflation rate are very welcome. The recent
world market price developments and the consequent easing of Armenian
inflation also somewhat alleviate fears that rapid price gains might
even lead to some social unrest in Armenia, where good costs still
play a very large role in the consumption basket. The expectations
of easing–even if still notable–inflation pressures seem warranted.

However, y/y inflation still remains significantly above target,
and thus, rapid price gains still remain a source for concern.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT BACKS INCREASED MILITARY DEPLOYMENT IN AFGHANISTAN
BYLINE: Lilit Gevorgyan

Global Insight
May 11, 2011

Today (11 May) the Armenian parliament approved the deployment of
almost three times more troops in Afghanistan as part of the South
Caucasian former Soviet republic’s ongoing contribution to the NATO-led
military campaign against the Afghan Taliban. Defence Minister Seiran
Oganian, presenting the draft bill to parliamentarians, stated that the
deployment of troops would help not only advance Armenia’s relations
with NATO but also with the European Union (EU), US and Germany. The
number of Armenian soldiers will increase from 45 to 130 and their
mission in Afghanistan will extend until the end of 2012. The soldiers
will serve with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and
will co-operate closely with the German contingent. Part of their
mission will be guarding the airport in northern Afghan city of Kunduz,
which has been under German command since January 2010. The Armenian
military will also train local Afghan security forces. Aside from the
Afghan mission, Armenian troops are serving with NATO-led forces in
Kosovo and US-led military mission in Iraq.

Significance:The Armenian government’s decision to increase its troop
numbers comes at a time when some countries such as Poland and Canada
are scaling back their involvement in Afghanistan and others appear
eager to follow suit as domestic support for the war flags. However,
popular support for involvement in the Afghan mission is relatively
high in Armenia, despite the fact the country is still involved in
an unresolved conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the status
of the Armenian-populated breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Well-trained Armenian troops are much needed along the volatile
Armenian-Azerbaijani Line of Contact, especially now that
the Azerbaijani government is openly calling for a new war in
Nagorno-Karabakh. Nevertheless, the Armenian popular support
for the anti-Taliban campaign remains strong precisely due to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. During the 1988-1994 war that claimed 30,000
lives on both sides, the Azerbaijani government decided to accept
outside military help in 1992 and 1993. The North Caucasian Islamist
leader Shamil Basayev–infamous for the school siege in Beslan,
southern Russia–admitted fighting against Armenians alongside
Azerbaijani troops and Taliban from Pakistan and Afghanistan,
some of whom were subsequently captured by Armenian forces. On the
wider foreign policy front, involvement with NATO helps Armenia to
somewhat balance its strong military ties with Russia and use the
NATO peacekeeping missions as opportune avenue to boost diplomatic
ties with the West.

EUROPARLIAMENT CONDEMNS AZERI HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

asbarez
Thursday, May 12th, 2011

European Parliament

BRUSSELS-The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution
unanimously condemning Azerbaijan continued human rights violations and
Baku’s oppression of opposition forces and press during its plenary
convened in Strasbourg, reported the European Armenian Federation
for Justice and Democracy.

During oral discussion at the plenary session, representatives of
all political factions strongly condemened Azerbaijan’s executive
and judicial branches for their continued breach of human rights norms.

The European Parliament also stressed that European Union should not
bow to Aliyev’s regime because of Azerbaijan’s import of oil and gas.

Under the basic freedoms, human rights and democracy agenda item
members of parliament discussed and unanimously approved the resolution
condemning Azerbaijan for “the increasing number of incidents of
harassment, attacks and violence against civil society and social
network activists and journalists in Azerbaijan.”

The resolution “strongly deplores the practice of intimidating,
arresting, prosecuting and convicting independent journalists and
political activists on various criminal charges.”

The European Parliament also urged the authorities of Azerbaijan
“to safeguard all necessary conditions to allow the media, including
opposition media, to operate, so that journalists can work and report
freely without any pressure, and to pay special attention to the
safety of journalists; in this regard recalls the pledge given by
President Ilham Aliyev in 2005, in which he asserted that the rights
of every journalist were protected and defended by the State.”

The resolution expressed deep concern about “the worsening human rights
situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan; calls on the Azerbaijani
authorities to safeguard the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
and other international treaties to which the Republic of Azerbaijan
is a party and to respect OSCE and Council of Europe commitments.”

Below is the complete text of the resolution:

European Parliament resolution of 12 May 2011 on Azerbaijan

The European Parliament, – having regard to its previous resolutions
on Azerbaijan, in particular that of 17 December 2009 ,

– having regard to its resolutions of 20 May 2010 on the need for an
EU strategy for the South Caucasus, of 7 April 2011 on the review
of the European Neighbourhood Policy – Eastern Dimension and of 20
January 2011 on an EU Strategy for the Black Sea,

– having regard to the statement by the spokesperson of the
Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy of 18
April 2011 and the statement by the EU Delegation office in Baku of
10 March 2011,

– having regard to the conclusions of the Eastern Partnership Foreign
Ministers’meeting of 13 December 2010,

– having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between
the EC and Azerbaijan which entered into force in 1999,

– having regard to the statements of the OSCE Representative on
Freedom of the Media on the attack on journalists of 10 March 2011
and of 28 March 2011,

– having regard to the report by the ODIHR Election Observation
Mission on the parliamentary elections of 7 November 2010,

– having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas Azerbaijan is actively participating in the European
Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership, is a founding member
of Euronest and is committed to respecting democracy, human rights
and the rule of law, which are core values of these initiatives,

B. whereas since 15 July 2010 negotiations have been launched on an
EU-Azerbaijan Association Agreement based on joint commitments to
a set of shared values, covering a wide range of areas, including
political dialogue, justice, freedom and security, as well as trade
and cooperation in sectoral policies,

C. whereas although, according to the joint statement of the Election
Observation Mission composed by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European
Parliament, the 7 November parliamentary elections in the Republic
of Azerbaijan were characterised by a peaceful atmosphere and all
opposition parties participated in the political process, nonetheless
the conduct of these elections overall was not sufficient to constitute
meaningful progress in the democratic development of the country,

D. whereas a wide-ranging clampdown on freedom of expression and
assembly is being carried out in Azerbaijan following the peaceful
protests against the government on 11 March and 2 April 2011; whereas
the clampdown includes arrests, harassment and intimidation of civil
society activists, media professionals and opposition politicians
in Azerbaijan,

E. whereas the cases of the activists Jabbar Savalan and Bakhtiyar
Hajiev are of particular concern; whereas Mr Savalan, a member of
the youth group of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP), and
Mr Hajiyev, an activist and former parliamentary candidate, were
apparently targeted for using Facebook to call for demonstrations
against the government; whereas Mr Savalan was sentenced to two and a
half years in prison for allegedly possessing drugs; whereas Mr Hajiev
was arrested on 4 March after calling on Facebook for demonstrations
against the government and now faces two years in jail for allegedly
evading military service; whereas serious doubts exist as regards
the fairness of the trials of Mr Savalan and Mr Hajiyev,

F. whereas in mid-March Azerbaijani courts sentenced at least 30 people
who took part in those peaceful protests to between 5 and 8 days in
prison in late-night trials that were closed to the public; whereas
most defendants did not have access to counsel of their choosing;
whereas the police refused to allow detainees to contact lawyers and
whereas lawyers for some of the defendants did not know when or where
the trials were being held,

G. whereas around 200 activists were arrested on 2 April 2011,
including the head of the Youth Organisation of the Musavat Party,
Tural Abbasli,

H. whereas the Human Rights House Azerbaijan, which is a member of
the International Human Rights House Network, registered in Azerbaijan
in May 2007, was closed down by the authorities following an order of
the Ministry of Justice issued on 10 March 2011; whereas the Ministry
justified the closure by reference to a breach by the organisation
of the Azerbaijani Law on Non-Governmental Organisations,

I. whereas the European Court of Human Rights ordered the Republic
of Azerbaijan to release the jailed journalist Eynulla Fatullayev
from prison and to pay him EUR 25 000 in moral damages,

J. whereas Azerbaijan is a member of the Council of Europe and a
party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as well as a
number of other international human rights treaties, including the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1. Expresses
its deep concern at the increasing number of incidents of harassment,
attacks and violence against civil society and social network activists
and journalists in Azerbaijan;

2. Strongly deplores the practice of intimidating, arresting,
prosecuting and convicting independent journalists and political
activists on various criminal charges;

3. Deplores the arrest of around 200 people prior to, and during,
the anti-government protests of 2 April 2011 in Baku; calls on the
Azerbaijani authorities to allow peaceful protest as well as freedom of
assembly, which are central tenets of an open and democratic society;
deplores the physical violence used against protesters;

4. Calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to release all members of the
opposition, youth activists and bloggers remaining in custody after
the peaceful demonstrations of 11 March and 2 and 17 April 2011, to
release Mr Savalan and Mr Hajiyev and to drop the charges against them;
calls on the Government of Azerbaijan to respect the international
conventions that it has ratified by respecting freedom of expression;

5. Urges the authorities to safeguard all necessary conditions to
allow the media, including opposition media, to operate, so that
journalists can work and report freely without any pressure, and to
pay special attention to the safety of journalists; in this regard
recalls the pledge given by President Ilham Aliyev in 2005, in which
he asserted that the rights of every journalist were protected and
defended by the State;

6. Expresses its concern at reports of threats in prison against
newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev, the deterioration in his health
which has been exacerbated and denial of access to medical care,
and calls for his immediate release;

7. Is worried about the worsening human rights situation in the
Republic of Azerbaijan; calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to
safeguard the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and other
international treaties to which the Republic of Azerbaijan is a party
and to respect OSCE and Council of Europe commitments;

8. Deplores recent written ‘termination of activity’ warnings sent from
the Azerbaijani Justice Ministry to the National Democratic Institute
and the Human Rights House Network and urges, in this respect, the
Azerbaijani authorities to allow the latter organisation to continue
its activities in the country without any further hindrance;

9. Calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to maintain a dialogue with
members of civil-society organisations and to take all steps to allow
individuals to freely engage in peaceful, democratic activities and to
allow activists to organise freely and without government interference;

10. Encourages the Azerbaijani authorities to allow peaceful
demonstrations to take place in relevant locations and urges them
to refrain from intimidating the organisers by detaining them and
charging them with criminal and other offences; regrets that some
youth activists have been expelled from Baku State University after
missing examinations while in police custody linked to their political
activities;

11. Welcomes the recent release from jail of the two bloggers Adnan
Hajizade and Emin Abdullayev (Milli);

12. Considers access to information and communication technologies,
including free and uncensored access to the internet, essential for
the development of democracy and the rule of law and as a means of
promoting exchanges and communication between the Azerbaijanis and
the EU;

13. Calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to address shortcomings
identified by the OSCE/ODIHR final report on the parliamentary
elections and expects further cooperation with the Venice Commission
to ensure that Azerbaijan’s electoral legislation is fully in line
with international norms and standards;

14. Calls for renewed efforts by Azerbaijan to implement in full
during its final year the ENP Action Plan and on the Commission to
continue to assist Azerbaijan in such efforts;

15. Welcomes the establishment of the new subcommittees of the
EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Committee, which will strengthen the
institutional framework for discussions in the field of justice,
freedom and security and on respect for human rights and democracy;

16. Welcomes the Azerbaijani contribution to the Eastern Partnership
and the participation of the delegation from the Milli Majlis in the
inaugural session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly;

17. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the High
Representative / Vice-President of the Commission, the Council, the
Commission, the President, Government and Parliament of Azerbaijan
and the OSCE/ODIHR.

POET AND TRANSLATOR TO GIVE WORKSHOPS

US Fed News
May 10, 2011 Tuesday 1:09 PM EST

NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 10 — Southern Connecticut State University
issued the following news release:

On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, Diana Der-Hovanessian, the president of
the New England Poetry Club and the foremost editor and translator
of Armenian poetry in the United States, will present programs for
the SCSU community:

* 12:30-1:40 p.m., Engleman 266D – Der-Hovanessian will give advice
about how to do translations, how to edit a book, read some of her
translations of Armenian poetry and read her own poems from her new
book, Dancing at the Monastery.

* 1:45-3:00 p.m. in Engleman 245D – She will be available for
individual discussion.

* 3:15-4:30 p.m. – She will present another program in The English
Common Room, Engleman 245D.

Please contact Vivian Shipley at [email protected] for a
specific appointment.

Der-Hovanessian was twice a Fulbright professor of American Poetry and
is the author of more than 25 books of poetry and translations. She
has awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Society
of America, PEN/Columbia Translation Center, National Writers Union,
Armenian Writers Union, Paterson Poetry Center, Prairie Schooner,
American Scholar, and the Armenian Ministry of Culture. Among the
several plays written by Der-Hovanessian, two (The Secret of Survival
and Growing Up Armenian) were produced, and in 1984 and 1985 traveled
to many college campuses, telling the Armenian story with poetry
and music. After 1989, The Secret of Survival, with Michael Kermoyan
and later with Vahan Khanzadian, was performed for earthquake relief
benefits.

She works as a visiting poet and guest lecturer on American poetry,
Armenian poetry in translation, and the literature of human rights
at various universities here and abroad.

Her visit to Southern is sponsored by a Faculty Development Grant.

PATRICIA FLOR: “TURKEY SHOULD FACE ITS OWN HISTORY”

ARMENPRESS
MAY 12, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS: To settle some issues Turkey must face
its own history, according to Ambassador Patricia Flor, German Federal
Foreign Ministry’s special envoy for Eastern Europe, Caucasus and
Central Asia.

She said today in an interview with Armenpress that facing the own
history requires long and painful discussions and great courage.

“Germany has passed this route in the 1960-1970s, when Chancellor Willy
Brandt took the first painful step, apologizing from the Poles and
Jews, however he has some critics inside Germany,” Patricia Flor said.

According to the ambassador, Germany is implementing various programs
in the region by uniting Armenian and Turkish young people, who
discuss the events during 1915 and the World War I.

“The essential point here is that Germany has recognized its own
guilt and responsibility,” Patricia Flor said.

PATRICIA FLOR: “THE AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT’S WARLIKE STATEMENTS ARE UNACCEPTABLE”

ARMENPRESS
MAY 12, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS: “The NAgorno Karabakh issue should
be settled only through peaceful means, and if the president of
Azerbaijan speaks in Baku about settling the issue through military
means, it is unacceptable for us,” Ambassador Patricia Flor, German
Federal Foreign Ministry’s special envoy for Eastern Europe, Caucasus
and Central Asia, stated today in an interview with Armenpress.

“Of course we understand that in this conflict the principles of
territorial integrity and self-determination of peoples clash;
however the issue should be settled through mutual concessions,”
she said. She emphasized the importance of disarmament, as well as
withdrawal of snipers for the regulation of the issue.

“We are also concerned with the arms race in the region, taking into
account the fact that Azerbaijan exceeds several times the number of
owning permissible weapons,” Patricia Flor said. She said the contact
line incidents resulting in deaths are worrying as well.

ARMENIANS SET UP MUSEUM IN OCCUPIED LANDS

news.az
May 12 2011
Azerbaijan

Armenians establish “Tigranakert” museum in Shahbulag Palace of
occupied Aghdam region of Azerbaijan.

Armenians have searched for traces of mythic Tigranakert city spoiling
10 hectares of territories under the pretext of archeological
excavations around the historic monument of Shahbulag Palace, the
summer residence of Karabakh kings in Agdam region of Azerbaijan
since 2005, chairman of the Public Union for Protection of Historic
and Cultural Monuments in the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan Faig
Ismayilov said.

He said they involved experts from UK, the US and France in
their criminal actions in the territories of Azerbaijan trying
to internationalize and legalize these actions. They declared
establishment of historic museum “Tigranakert” in the territory of
Shahbulag Palace in Agdam to attract foreign tourists and placed
information about the opening of the museum on Internet.

Armenians destroyed more than 15 famous burial mounts belonged to
Khojaly Civilization during the excavations in Agdam and took the
material evidences away to Armenia.

A large criminal group is working now in the Shahbulag Palace and
around it. The excavation work is funded by a rehabilitation center
of Armenia’s “Erkir” Public Union.

Faig Ismayilov said Shahbulag fortress was built as an administrative
center of Karabakh khanate before Bayat fortress. The fortress was
built for defensive goals, but then was used as a summer residence of
Karabakh khans. The historic sources said “king of Karabakh Panahali
Khan put forward an initiative to build a palace near the mineral
spring Shahbulag in 10 km of Agdam town”. Then Panahali Khan decided
to strengthen his defensive constructions and built Bayat and later
Shusha fortress, which became the center of Karabakh khanate.

Ismayilov said there is a number of important legal documents and
other legislative acts to protect Shahbulag Palace and other historic
monuments in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.