The fate of museums and historical monuments of Karabakh

Abstract

The article presents a brief history of relations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani population of Karabakh and provides a concise chronological sequence of the resettlement of Armenians. It focuses on the consequences of the conflict that lasted for 30 years. As a result of the conflict, cultural heritage sites were destroyed on the territory of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and millions of residents lost their homes when they were evicted from their ancestral lands. The investigated events brought a significant amount of troubles and sufferings to the Azerbaijani people, the number of its victims is estimated in the thousands. The Khojaly tragedy went down in history as the cruelest massacre of the civilian population. The military clash affected not only the population, but also the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people. Karabakh was the birthplace of many leading figures of Azerbaijani culture, such as Uzeyir Hajibeyli (Hajibeyov), Bulbul, Rashid Behbudov and others. Before joining the Russian Empire, these territories were part of the Karabakh Khanate and its main city was the impenetrable fortress of Shusha, the main population of which was Azerbaijanis. However, after joining Russia, Armenians from Iran, Turkey, and Syria began to move to these territories. After the creation of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, this region was preserved in its structure under the name of the Nagorno — Karabakh Autonomous Region, which later became a bone of contention between the two peoples. Emphasis in the article is given to museums and historical monuments destroyed as a result of the conflict. On the basis of facts, the authors trace the milestones of the destruction of the Azerbaijani cultural heritage — archaeological sites, museums, mausoleums, mosques, and churches. Ancient Albanian temples underwent armenization. Attention is drawn to the facts of violation of international conventions and normative legal acts on the preservation of cultural heritage.