Azernews.Az

A group of journalists from America continues their journey in the district of Guba, the north of Azerbaijan.

According to the press service of the State Committee for Diaspora Work, the guests were first acquainted with the Six Dome Synagogue and the World Historical and Ethnographic Museum of Mountain Jews in the settlement of Krasnaya Sloboda, where Mountain Jews live compactly, in accordance with the program of the trip, Azernews reports, citing Diaspora Work.

The guests were informed that numerous different national communities live in Guba, and Krasnaya Sloboda is a unique place with the most compact settlement of Jews in the world after Israel. It was noted that Jews living in the settlement, called "Jerusalem of Caucasus", have been preserving their customs and traditions for many years, living together with Azerbaijanis in peace and tranquillity. It was emphasized that mountain Jews actively participated in the First and Second Garabagh wars for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The heroism of the National Hero of Azerbaijan Albert Agarunov was cited as an illustrative example. It was noted that the Azerbaijani state immortalized the memory of Albert Agarunov, a monument was erected to him, and streets and schools were named after him.

Then during the visit to Guba Genocide Memorial Complex, the American guests were informed in detail about the genocide committed by Armenians against our people in March-April 1918. It was underlined that the burial place of the Guba genocide was discovered on 1 April 2007 during the earthworks in the territory. Employees of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan carried out large-scale research work in the mass grave. In the course of the research, it was established that the mass grave appeared in 1918 as a result of genocide committed by Armenians against the peaceful local population. The Guba Genocide Memorial Complex created with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation was opened on 18 September 2013. The American guests were deeply impressed by what they saw at the Complex. They emphasized that they were deeply depressed by the horrible tragedy committed against our people and wished that such a horror would not happen again.

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