MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGE AZERBAIJANI GOVERNMENT TO STOP DEMOLITION OF ARMENIAN CEMETERY IN NAKHICHEVAN
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Dec 28 2005
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN - ARMENIANS TODAY. Rep. Adam
Schiff (D-CA) added his voice to those raised by Congressional Armenian
Caucus Co-chairs Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ),
on December 25, in calling on the Azerbaijani Government to end the
destruction of centuries-old Armenian stone crosses (khatchkars)
in the historic Djulfa cemetery, located in southern Nakhichevan,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA.)
In a strongly worded letter to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev,
Rep. Schiff condemned "in the strongest terms" the Azerbaijani action,
calling the acts of desecration "offensive, violative of international
treaty obligations." He added that this destructive behavior "further
inflame[s] the relationship between your country and the Republic of
Armenia." The letter went on to note that, "By permitting, indeed
by promoting these acts, the Republic of Azerbaijan dishonors not
only the dead interred at the cemetery, but Azerbaijan and the Azeri
people as well."
Rep. Schiff's letter follows a call from Congressional Armenian Caucus
Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg and Frank Pallone, last week, to "halt the
ongoing vandalism in Julfa's Old Cemetery immediately." In a December
22nd letter to Azerbaijani Ambassador to the U.S. Hafez Pashayev,
Reps. Knollenberg and Pallone went on to "urge the preparation and
presentation of a documented report on the damage caused to the
architectural ensemble as a result of the latest violence, to lead
to a measures in remedy of the situation."
"We want to thank the Co-Chairs of the Armenian Caucus, Frank Pallone
and Joe Knollenberg, and Representative Adam Schiff for raising
Congressional concerns directly with the Azerbaijani government over
the desecration of the Djulfa cemetery - an important world heritage
site of tremendous religious and cultural significance," said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "As Americans, we look to
our Ambassador to personally visit the site of this destruction and
to report back on the steps that our government is taking to address
this attack on our common heritage."
Thousands of Armenian Americans have already protested the destruction
of the Djulfa khatchkars, as part of an ANCA WebFax campaign to
Secretary Condoleezza Rice, urging the State Department to take
immediate action and send the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan to the
region to assess the situation. This latest wave of attacks on these
Armenian monuments was documented on video. This footage clearly
shows Azerbaijani soldiers hammering and breaking up the khatchkars
and loading them on military trucks for transport. The video may be
viewed at:
http://www.hairenik.com/Haireniktv/HA_TV_Clip04.htm
The historic Armenian cemetery in Djulfa includes khatchkars from
as far back as the 7th century and is revered as an architectural
treasure. International concerns were raised in 2002, when hundreds
of the khatchkars were destroyed in a similar manner by Azerbaijan.
Nakhichevan is a historic part of the Armenian homeland and was an
integral part of the first Armenian Republic of 1918-1920. It was
arbitrarily severed from Armenia and placed under Azerbaijani rule
as part of the Soviet Union's accommodation with Kemalist Turkey
and Moscow's "divide and conquer" gerrymandering of borders to
facilitate its control of the region. During the Soviet era, the
indigenous Armenian population was pushed out of Nakhichevan due to
discrimination, economic pressure, and other policies advanced by
the Soviet Azerbaijani authorities.
