(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Sabina Mammadli read more Armenians destroyed over 60 mosques and about 200 shrines on the
territory of Azerbaijan during the occupation, Chairman of
Azerbaijan's State Committee on Religious Associations Mubariz
Gurbanli said.
He made the remarks during the "Caucasian Albania: Religious and
social life" X International conference.
Noting that ethnic cleansing and genocide were carried out on
the territories of Azerbaijan for almost 30 years, Gurbanli stated
that Albanian Christian churches were either falsified,
Gregorianized, or wrecked. He added that an Orthodox church in the
Khojavand District was looted and ruined by the Armenians.
"The purpose of destroying or appropriating cultural heritage on
the historical lands of Azerbaijan was also to break the connection
of these territories with Azerbaijanis and provide false
information to the world community," the chairman stressed.
Additionally, Gurbanli stated that Caucasian Albania was one of
the oldest states located on the territory of Azerbaijan. He also
highlighted that the independent Apostolic Church of Caucasian
Albania mainly distinguished from the Armenian-Gregorian Church by
the fact that it took its origin directly from the Church of
Jerusalem, which irritated Armenians throughout history.
"It is for this reason that in different periods of history, we
are witnessing that Armenians tried to make the Albanian Church
dependent on the Armenian-Gregorian Church, by flattering the
foreigners who occupied these lands,” he noted.
The“Caucasian Albania: Religious and social life” X
International conference organized by the Baku International
Multiculturalism Center, the ANAS Institute of History named after
A.A. Bakikhanov, the Spiritual Values Promotion Foundation, and the
Albanian-Udi Christian community, was held in Baku on April 14.
The purpose of the event is to organize effective scientific
discussions by bringing together prominent representatives of world
Albanian studies.
Research scientists representing Türkiye, South Korea, Russia,
Italy, Germany, Georgia, the UK, Norway, and Lithuania participated
in the event.
It should be noted that Azerbaijan plays the role of the main
research center in the world for the systematic study of the
history and ethnocultural heritage of Caucasian Albania. Caucasian
Albania has occupied an important place in the life of the region
for nearly a thousand years and has left behind an important
historical legacy. As a result of the comprehensive study of this
heritage, the scientific field of Albanian studies was created and
is still developing today.
The Republic of Azerbaijan is the direct historical heir and
protector of the rich Albanian ethnocultural heritage, the ancient
and early medieval culture of Caucasian Albania, and all the
historical and religious heritage created by the ethnos who lived
in this area in the following centuries. Investigating the
important problems of Albanian studies in the fields of history,
archeology, anthropology, ethnology, linguistics, architecture and
art, preserving and protecting the Albanian ethnocultural heritage
is one of the important directions of the multiculturalism policy
of Azerbaijan.
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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews' staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @sabinammdl