Armenia to display stolen Azerbaijani carpets

By Laman Ismayilova

Armenia once again attempts to appropriate Azerbaijan's Karabakh carpets by falsifying history.

Karabakh carpets stolen from Shusha city, which they have been holding under occupation for almost 30 years, are expected to be displayed at Alexander Tamanyan National Museum-Institute of Architecture in Yerevan on February 20, Trend reported. 

These exhibits of the Shusha Carpet Museum were taken from Shusha city to Armenia on November 1, 2020. The oldest of the carpets is about 350 years old.

"The so-called "Artsakh" carpets to be showcased at the exhibition are samples of the national heritage, woven by the Azerbaijani carpet weavers of the Nagorno-Karabakh region - an integral part of Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum reported. 

"This exhibition is another falsification of Armenians. Most likely, the collection consists of carpets which were left in the houses of Azerbaijanis who left Shusha after the occupation in 1992. The carpet is one of such rare works of art, which is an important source of information about the history of the region where it was woven, about the belonging of the people living there," the message said.

"One of the main goals that the Armenians are trying to achieve through changing the Azerbaijani carpets in an Armenian style is to falsify the history of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The composition, patterns and colors of these products, which have been created here for centuries, once again prove that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is one of the ancient cultural centers of Azerbaijan."

Armenians have always been engaged in trade, rather than carpet weaving. They managed to form a false idea, presenting Azerbaijani carpets as Armenian carpets.

Yakov Zedgenidze, who conducted research in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the 19th century, stressed that the entire Muslim population was engaged in carpet weaving and the Nagorno-Karabakh carpets rank first in the entire Caucasus both in quantity and quality.

"The researcher also wrote that the Armenians do not practice this art, on the contrary, they look at carpet weaving through the prism of “undesirable work. The fact that the descendants of the Armenians, who ridiculed the carpets of Azerbaijanis in the 19th century, now claim the Azerbaijani carpets in the 21st century, shows aggression against Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage," the message said. 

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