(MENAFN- AzerNews)
The French La Gazette du Caucase online newspaper
published an article about how the truth from the Vatican
has stirred the Armenian diaspora, Azernews
reports.
The article noted that a few days ago, L'Osservatore Romano, the
only official printed organ of the Holy See, published an article
titled "At the Origins of Christianity. Following the Albanian
Apostolic Church in Azerbaijan. A Journey to Ancient Caucasian
Albania".
"The article is interesting, rich with facts, and tells about an
ancient Christian state located on the territory of modern
Azerbaijan – Caucasian Albania, from which ancient churches,
monasteries, and temples have been inherited. The ancient churches
and monasteries in Karabakh are Albanian, not Armenian, except for
those built in the second half of the 19th century, when Tsarist
Russia massively resettled ethnic Armenians from the Ottoman Empire
and Persia to the lands of the Karabakh and Iravan Khanates.
The scientific community has paid understandable attention to
this article. Materials on the history of Caucasian Albania do not
appear in the press as often as desired. Moreover, if anyone
forgot, L'Osservatore Romano is the main printed organ of the
Vatican, which is well aware of which Christian state existed on
the territory of modern Azerbaijan at the beginning of our era.
Furthermore, the richest Vatican archives contain plenty of
historical documents on this subject," the author said.
The article emphasized that many people do not like to talk
about this out loud, but when the Russian Empire annexed the South
Caucasus, it transferred the property of the Albanian church to
Armenian clerics.
"The ancient archives of the Albanian church were simply burned.
As historians well know, it's impossible to destroy everything. One
can study their own archives, but inconvenient evidence remains in
others'. And today, L'Osservatore Romano is restoring access to
historical truth for its audience.
It is interesting, of course, whether such an article, rich with
scientific facts and arguments, could appear in the French press,
which, apparently, is most afraid of going against the local
Armenian diaspora.
The reaction in the Armenian community was quite unexpected. For
example, Tigran Khzmalyan, head of the 'European Party of Armenia,'
not only expressed a wish for L'Osservatore Romano to write a
serious study on the Christian heritage of the Armenians of
Karabakh but also declared the publication of the article on
Caucasian Albania as the result of the inactivity of the two
Armenian embassies – in Italy and the Vatican," the article
reads.
Anxieties among Armenians are greatly heightened whenever the
topic of Caucasian Albania is brought up, as the author noted.
"One can understand why. 'Ancient Armenian churches and
monasteries' are almost the main argument for Armenia's territorial
claims on Azerbaijani Karabakh. Actually, arguments like 'it
belonged to us 1,000 years ago!' are inapplicable in a world of
recognized borders and international law.
On such shaky grounds, Germany could very well claim Alsace and
Lorraine, the UK – Brittany, southern Spain, the former Cordoban
Caliphate should be handed over, let's say, to Morocco, and Italy
could well claim the entire territory of the former Roman
Empire.
However, we should be realistic: regarding Azerbaijani Karabakh,
the international community preferred to ignore recognized borders
and even four UN Security Council resolutions demanding the
liberation of Azerbaijan's occupied territories for too long, and
if it now turns out that the ancient Christian churches and
monasteries of Karabakh are not Armenian, then the 'cheating class'
in Yerevan has a reason to be nervous, especially if L'Osservatore
Romano writes about Caucasian Albania and Armenia's claims on
Karabakh are still remaining on the agenda.
It's enough to read Aram Gabrelyanov's social media posts, for
example: 'I always say - Armenia and 'Artsakh' will still have
chances to return their lands. The conflict between Türkiye and
Israel is just the beginning. There will be a chance, and it must
be used, but with the traitors of the Homeland led by Pashinyan and
his camarilla, there are no chances. First, Pashinyan must be
overthrown, and then 'Artsakh' be returned!!!' Meanwhile,
Pashinyan, whom this person calls to be 'overthrown', is in every
way hindering constitutional reforms and does not remove the
Armenian constitution's claims on Azerbaijani Karabakh," the
article said.
According to the author, in all this aggressive policy, the
turned upside-down historiography with theories about 'Greater
Armenia', the declaration of 'primordially Armenian' territories of
neighboring countries, etc., plays an important role.
"Revanchists seem to easily control the informational and
scientific space of Armenia itself, but doing the same with the
Vatican press is a more difficult task, and as a result, Mr.
Khzmalyan is outraged: how did they allow it? Why didn't they
prevent it?! Where were they looking?!!
It's curious, but in fact, the Khzmalyans are confident that
they can establish their own censorship in the global press,
bulldoze historical facts, 'to fit a square peg into a round hole'
and prove that vast territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye,
and Iran must belong to Armenia!
Well, to the disappointment of these misters, we'll continue to
provide the public of France and other countries with information
based on archival documents and recognized historical facts. And
everyone will have to come to terms with this," the article
concluded.
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