Maps of historical Azerbaijani territories found in world archives
By Aynur Jafarova
Scores of maps related to Azerbaijan and its historical territories have been found in the archives of France, the United Kingdom, Turkey and other countries, head of the European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS) Tale Heydarov said.
"Currently, we are engaged in collecting various historical maps of Azerbaijan. These maps and other materials will be published in a book and promoted all over the world. The publication will be available in Azerbaijani and English, and if necessary, the book will be translated into other languages," Heydarov said.
According to him, the maps have been obtained from the world's well-known archives.
"These are the archives of Russia, France, Iran, the United Kingdom, Arab states and the countries of Central Asia. There are maps that have been revealed for the first time. For example, Armenians always claim that Karabakh was a part of the so-called 'Great Armenia' in the first five centuries AD. We have found maps that completely refute their claims," Heydarov said. He noted that there are maps showing that these territories were part of the ancient Caucasus Albania.
"Unknown maps of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic have been found. They show that not only Karabakh, Zengezur, but also other territories belong to us. Medieval maps related to the period of Aggoyunlu, Garagoyunlu have also been found," he said.
Heydarov noted that along with Russian archives, Azerbaijan-related historical materials are also available in the archives of Turkey.
"There are many documents in the Ottoman archives that were not previously studied by Azerbaijani historians. We have found a lot of maps there and assume that there are even more maps than we think. We have also found more maps in France and the United Kingdom than we expected. In 1918, the British were in Azerbaijan and seized the historical documents that were once delivered from India and other foreign countries. There are also findings dating back to the Safavid period," Heydarov said.
In 2012, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Professor Govhar Bakhshaliyeva brought the copies of five maps related to Azerbaijan from the Egyptian Dar-al-Kutub library, which confirm the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and expose the Armenian claims against Azerbaijani territories.