Azernews.Az

By Seymur Aliyev, AzerNews Staff Writer

"I came, I saw, I stole" - Armenian country is based on this theory, the head of Copyrights Agency of Azerbaijan, professor Kamran Imanov believes. An Armenian tradition to misappropriate the Azerbaijani cultural traditions during the centuries targeted definite territorial claims.

Animators of the "Great Armenia" myth has a quite clear intention: to justify their territorial claims the endemic ethnos were misappropriated, and armenized the material and spiritual heritage of the native owners of the land - Azerbaijanis.

Armenians came to the Caucasus not so long ago. They saw a colorful art and rich culture of nations living there for centuries and decided to create a culture stealing the heritage made by native people for ages. For a short period Armenians could make a strong fraud scheme which helped them to enrich their history at the expense of heritage of other neighbor nations.

Armenian thefts have a huge range, beginning from misappropriation of history and ancient historical artifacts up to Azerbaijani folklore, art, music, etc. The most disappointing is that such actions are continuing. Since ancient times, Armenians try to prove their immixture in these lands through false evidences.

According to Prof. Imanov, the thesis of Armenian inheritance of the kingdoms of Urartu and Caucasian Albania can be viewed as the main argument of their mythmaking about "the great territories" and "the foundation" of the Armenian aggression and seizure of lands, firstly the Azerbaijani lands. However, none of the archeological researches confirmed the similarities between Armenian and Urartu cultures, although the linguistic background of Urartu people is recognized as Ural-Altaic. Armenians use every chance to claim a proof of their Urartu origin. As to their claims on Albania as "the Eastern Edge of Armenia", probative works of both national and foreign specialists about Albania, which was a powerful and independent state during a long historical period, show its direct connection with the ethnical formation of the Azerbaijan people.

The main thefts of Armenians are Azerbaijani historical artifacts and material heritage. Armenians started from an Azykh man - one of the oldest kind of Paleolithic human indwelling in the territory of Fizuli 350,000 - 400,000 years ago. The materials of the Azykh cave allow drawing back the history of Azerbaijan over million years.

Imanov said the tools of completely ancient culture have been found in the lowest layers of the cave, After occupation of Fizuli by Armenian forces, they started to armenize the Azykh cave.

The famous armenologist Manuk Abegyan asserted that "ancestry of Armenians long before our era dwelled in Europe, near the ancestry of Greeks and Thracians and then they passage to the Asia Minor. In Herodotus times in V century B.C everyone clearly knew that Armenians come to their land form the West".

Logically this fact quite clearly explain that Armenians couldn't be in Caucasus 350,000 - 400,000 years ago.

Most of all Armenians encroached to the material heritage of an ancient Azerbaijani state Caucasian Albania. Prof. Imranov says Armenians claim on all the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the Christian Albania. The churches, monasteries, holy sites, tombstones in the form of crosses, manuscripts which where produced by the intellect of the Albanians were included into this list.

"For example, famous Gandsazar complex as well as all the Albanian monuments in Karabakh have been added to the list of Armenian monuments," Imanov said. "However, Armenians have never thought to read the inscriptions on the altar, on the interior and outer walls and never thought why they depicted events from the Albanian life and spiritual life of the Albanians."

In his book "Tall Armenian Tales: A Guide To The "Art" Of The Heritage Thievery" Prof. Imanov described the dawn of Christianity in Caucasus. He stressed that the Armenians claim everywhere that they were the first who adopted Christianity in the Caucasus and it beginning of the V century BC. Along with it, historical chronicles reflect, saying it mildly, completely a different picture. According to the existing sources, Christianity began to spread first in the Caucasian Albania, since the I - II centuries BC. It was the first so-called apostolic period of the apostles Thaddeus, Bartholomew and Thaddeus's disciple Elias. For instance, Apostle Thaddeus was tragically killed by Armenian ruler Sanatruk when he tried to preach Christianity in these lands. How one can say that Armenians officially converted the Christianity first?

One of the most widespread and ongoing Armenian thefts refers to the music sphere. They try to assimilate ancient songs and melodies, lyrical bayaties, elegies, ashug songs, folk dance music and mugam - the peak of the folk music of Azerbaijan. It may be noticed famous Azerbaijan folklore lyric song "Sari Galin", as well as musical masterpieces of great Azerbaijan composer Uzeir Hajibeyov. They also armenized most of Azerbaijani music tools, which are presented in foreign countries as part of the Armenian culture.

Another Armenian falsification concerns Azerbaijani folklore -- Dastans (myth and legends), bayaties (short folklore poems), sayings and proverbs and etc. They rename crucial heroes and personages, also scenes of events, armenifying them, on his own way. There are more than 25 legends, which were stolen by Armenians. These legends, keeping the Turkic (Azerbaijani) toponyms, ethnicons and historical narrative canvas, are shown as Armenian ones.

"Bayaties" -- short form of folklore poem -- absorbed the whole life of Azerbaijan nation. The rhythm and stylistics fully reflect Azerbaijani folklore manner. To steal Russian "chastushkas" is also absurdly as stealing Azerbaijani bayaties from the Azerbaijani people. Prof. Imanov noticed in his book that a huge quantity of bayaties are stored in Armenian archives and most of them are originally in the Azerbaijani language but in the Armenian alphabet. Manuk Abegian, an Armenian Soviet specialist in literature, linguist, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR in his book "Folk songs" published in 1904 wrote that there are more than 1,700 different variations of bayaties at their disposal. "Unfortunately our language is poor of poly - semantic words, very few expressions that have one and the same meaning and therefore we appeal to the familiar Turkish (Azerbaijani)."

Azerbaijan has its own great and colorful heritage making this nation rich both mentally and materially. Armenians may try to thieve all of them, but cannot create something like these. All scientific linguistic researches unquestioningly prove that the style and form of this folklore, architectural and spiritual art wholly belonging to Azerbaijani people and is an integral part of Turkish heritage. This heritage will always be ingrained in Azerbaijani and Turkish souls.