Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The cultural and spiritual heritage of Azerbaijan is constantly exposed to aggression by the Armenians.

The remarks were made by Chairman of Copyright Agency of Azerbaijan Kamran Imanov at a conference titled "Saving cultural heritage. Armenian falsifications".

The conference was organized on the occasion of the World Book and Copyright Day on April 23.

Imanov said the Armenians' act of stealing the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people for centuries by the "came, saw, grabbed" principle is closely linked to their territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

"The intention of the creators of the 'Great Armenia' myth is clear enough. In order to 'justify' their claims to the land they do not own, the Armenians resort to methods such as grabbing and Armenization of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage belonging to the true inhabitants of these lands," Imanov noted.

He said they were trying to realize this goal by historical and geographical fabrications, creating their own false history and distorting history of Azerbaijan and the region as a whole.

Imanov stressed that the brazen Armenians had still not forsaken Azerbaijan's occupied territories, ignoring international law and the decisions of international organizations and recently making claims on Nakhchivan once again.

Imanov also said the information disseminated by the Armenian media shows that a new political initiative called "Nahijivan" has emerged in Armenia. "This is ridiculous. Such 'initiators' are inspired by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan," he said.

The official noted that Armenians themselves affirm that their 'culture' was grabbed from Azerbaijan and the territorial claims are groundless.

He noted that in his recent interview with an Armenian newspaper, the artistic director of an Armenian theater spoke about appropriation of the samples of the Azerbaijani culture by Armenians, adding that the Armenians were distorting the Azerbaijani music and presenting it as their own, but were indignant when they were told truth.

Also speaking at the conference, head of the department of the National Security Ministry of Azerbaijan, Farhad Vahabov said the ministry, fighting against the Armenians' lies, was interacting with the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the Copyright Agency, and other organizations.

Vahabov said the Armenian diaspora is so strong that it has been committing organized activity in the world for 200 years.

"We are striving to gradually reverse the situation. There have been certain achievements. A monitoring was conducted on the state of fighting Armenians in 2005. Compared to 2005, the ongoing efforts in the fight against Armenian lies increased seven times in 2011. This is the result of the joint struggles of the Azerbaijani public and law enforcement bodies. Thousands of books, CDs, and movies were published and a comprehensive struggle was conducted. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation and other ministries have played a major role in this work. We should not stop! It is necessary to mobilize efforts and broaden the struggle," Vahabov stressed.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Sevda Mammadaliyeva said the Armenian plagiarism and falsification is known worldwide.

Mammadaliyeva noted that the Armenians' falsification of history, claiming the lands of others, and appropriation of famous historical figures are irrefutable facts.

She said this aggressive neighbor of Azerbaijan was trying to grab customs and traditions, historical monuments, music, musical instruments, kitchen, etc.

Noting that for this, the Armenians use all the ways, even the criminal ways, Mammadaliyeva said today the highest priority was to preserve the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people and prevent their appropriation.

She said the Armenian vandalism, which resulted in destruction, burning, and looting more than 700 historical and cultural monuments that reflected the long history of the Azerbaijani people, including 11 monuments of global importance, still remains unpunished.

"All opportunities should be used for preventing the Armenians from grabbing Azerbaijan's cultural heritage. A single integrated approach should be shown in this regard and implemented measures should be systematic and continuous," Mammadaliyeva said.

The event also featured several reports, including on "The Maiden Tower and Armenian forgery claim" and "The first Gregorian church, the real history of Etchmiadzin Cathedral".