Albanian-Udi community of Azerbaijan: a bone in Echmiadzin's throat

At the end of May, in the very center of Warsaw, in front of the Ko?cio?em Sióstr Wizytek church, a photo exhibition "Christian heritage in the multicultural identity of Azerbaijan" was opened. The exhibition was organized on the initiative of our Embassy in Poland with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Azerbaijan International Development Assistance Agency, Azertag and the Baku International Center for Multiculturalism. The photographs presented at the stands told about the state of the Christian heritage in our country and the state's care for it. The fact that representatives of the Christian communities of Azerbaijan were present at the opening ceremony clearly demonstrated that Azerbaijani multiculturalism is not a theory, but a practice.

A lot has been said about tolerance in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani model of multiculturalism is being studied in the world and is recognized as a model for building relations between nations and faiths. Nations and faiths really live in Azerbaijan in conditions of peace and full mutual understanding. The Armenian agitprop has made a lot of efforts to destroy this image, to bring doubts into the minds of the world community. But such a thing turned out to be beyond his power, because representatives of peoples and religions themselves speak on behalf of Azerbaijan, not propaganda.

The opening of such an exhibition in Warsaw has greatly affected the Armenian nationalist propaganda. So much so that the exhibition is coming to an end, but they can't calm down there. More recently, revanchists and nationalists celebrated the statements of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, which saw "persecution of Christians" in our country, and here such an exposition opens, and not anywhere, but in Poland, a country where there are politicians nodding in agreement when Armenians claim to have brought culture to Poles. Now the Diaspora is accused of blinking and not preventing it. And the separatists and nationalists are giving interviews and making statements. Even the fraudster Pargev Martirosyan, who headed the AAC branch in Karabakh during the years of the Armenian occupation, voiced his voice.

The statement of the so-called Geghard Scientific and Analytical Foundation, established at the end of last year under the patronage of the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, is also being distributed in Armenian public media.
A few words about this fund. The organization is very dubious. The President of the Academy of Sciences Ashot Sagyan said earlier that the foundation will fight against "anti-Armenian propaganda." The academician himself will head the Board of Trustees of the foundation. It seems that our neighbors have come up with another way to "cut" the Diaspora - this time under the pretext of fighting anti-Armenian propaganda. According to Sagyan, the foundation will contrast scientific facts with the policy of distorting the history of the region. The chief academician surprised even his compatriots by saying that "Armenia has not done proper work for 30 years to counter the disinformation spread by Azerbaijan, and this gap needs to be filled." As an example of such a gap, he cited the genocide in Khojaly, telling reporters that if these events were recognized as a crime against humanity somewhere, it means that they did a bad job in Armenia.

"Geghard" expressed his endless nonsense about the theme and name of the photo exhibition in Warsaw and tried to scare Baku with international law for "destroying the Armenian heritage." The incomprehensible structure does not like the fact that the Albanian-Udi community of Azerbaijan has been given the opportunity to visit historical Albanian temples, which Armenians used to consider their property.

"To be honest, this is the first time I've heard about this fund. What is "Geghard"? I don't think you should pay much attention to them. Armenians, as always, are trying to turn attention to themselves. The event was not related to Armenians, but to the theme of multiculturalism in Azerbaijan, it was about the Christian heritage in our country. Our goal was to show how Catholic and Orthodox churches are restored and protected by the state. The photo exhibition was opened in the center of Warsaw, in front of the church. I purposely stayed the day after the opening to see if our exhibition would be interesting to the people of Warsaw. And the interest was great. Not only those who went to church stopped in front of our stands, but also just passers-by.

The neighbors are trying to present Azerbaijani multiculturalism as a simple propaganda trick. But they have a lot of problems with this, because tolerance and multiculturalism of Azerbaijan are already widely known and recognized in the world. The organizers tried to reflect this important aspect on the stands of the photo exhibition. I want to remind you of two points. During his visit to Azerbaijan in May 2002, Pope John Paul II highly appreciated the atmosphere of tolerance prevailing in Azerbaijan and noted that it is a source of pride for the country. In February 2020, during the visit of President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva to the Vatican, Pope Francis touched upon the tolerant relations between religious communities in our country. He stated that today, when tensions and conflicts are increasing in many places of the world, when some circles, using the religious factor, are trying to further spread hostility and hostility, Azerbaijan is a model of true tolerance.

I should note that these assessments were not given by us, and they have nothing to do with propaganda.

The Armenians carry out certain work in Poland and Europe as a whole through their diaspora, cultural centers, and propaganda in the media. Therefore, it is very important to hold such exhibitions in European countries in order to contrast our truth with Armenian insinuations. The historical Christian heritage on the territory of Karabakh and Azerbaijan as a whole is an Albanian heritage. In recent centuries, Orthodox and Catholic churches have begun to appear here. Armenians also built their own churches. For example, the church in Baku, which has been restored and is protected by the state. But the historical Christian heritage of Azerbaijan has nothing to do with the Armenian Church.

Armenians may be outraged, but we are based on historical facts. There are both Russian and Armenian churches in Karabakh, but the historical Christian heritage in this region belongs to the Albanian Church. The Armenians, of course, have left some kind of trace over two or three hundred years of living in Karabakh. But mostly their churches were built on the foundations of Albanian churches or were Armenian-built ancient Albanian temples. It would be better if the Geghard Foundation paid attention to the facts of Armenian vandalism and falsifications.

The topic that we raised at the exhibition opened in Warsaw is very painful for the AAC. I understand it. Our Albanian-Udi Christian community is like a bone in Echmiadzin's throat. At one time, the Armenian Church was able to remove the Albanian Church from the road and appropriate its heritage in Azerbaijan. It was a great blow for the Armenians when we raised the issue of Karabakh's Albanian heritage. But the neighbors will have to put up with it. Because the truth comes out sooner or later."