Vatican article on Caucasian Albania ignites controversy in Armenian diaspora, La Gazette du Caucase reports

The French La Gazette du Caucase online newspaper published an article about how the truth from the Vatican has stirred the Armenian diaspora, Azernews reports.

The article noted that a few days ago, L'Osservatore Romano, the only official printed organ of the Holy See, published an article titled "At the Origins of Christianity. Following the Albanian Apostolic Church in Azerbaijan. A Journey to Ancient Caucasian Albania".

"The article is interesting, rich with facts, and tells about an ancient Christian state located on the territory of modern Azerbaijan – Caucasian Albania, from which ancient churches, monasteries, and temples have been inherited. The ancient churches and monasteries in Karabakh are Albanian, not Armenian, except for those built in the second half of the 19th century, when Tsarist Russia massively resettled ethnic Armenians from the Ottoman Empire and Persia to the lands of the Karabakh and Iravan Khanates.

The scientific community has paid understandable attention to this article. Materials on the history of Caucasian Albania do not appear in the press as often as desired. Moreover, if anyone forgot, L'Osservatore Romano is the main printed organ of the Vatican, which is well aware of which Christian state existed on the territory of modern Azerbaijan at the beginning of our era. Furthermore, the richest Vatican archives contain plenty of historical documents on this subject," the author said.

The article emphasized that many people do not like to talk about this out loud, but when the Russian Empire annexed the South Caucasus, it transferred the property of the Albanian church to Armenian clerics.

"The ancient archives of the Albanian church were simply burned. As historians well know, it's impossible to destroy everything. One can study their own archives, but inconvenient evidence remains in others'. And today, L'Osservatore Romano is restoring access to historical truth for its audience.

It is interesting, of course, whether such an article, rich with scientific facts and arguments, could appear in the French press, which, apparently, is most afraid of going against the local Armenian diaspora.

The reaction in the Armenian community was quite unexpected. For example, Tigran Khzmalyan, head of the 'European Party of Armenia,' not only expressed a wish for L'Osservatore Romano to write a serious study on the Christian heritage of the Armenians of Karabakh but also declared the publication of the article on Caucasian Albania as the result of the inactivity of the two Armenian embassies – in Italy and the Vatican," the article reads.

Anxieties among Armenians are greatly heightened whenever the topic of Caucasian Albania is brought up, as the author noted.

"One can understand why. 'Ancient Armenian churches and monasteries' are almost the main argument for Armenia's territorial claims on Azerbaijani Karabakh. Actually, arguments like 'it belonged to us 1,000 years ago!' are inapplicable in a world of recognized borders and international law.

On such shaky grounds, Germany could very well claim Alsace and Lorraine, the UK – Brittany, southern Spain, the former Cordoban Caliphate should be handed over, let’s say, to Morocco, and Italy could well claim the entire territory of the former Roman Empire.

However, we should be realistic: regarding Azerbaijani Karabakh, the international community preferred to ignore recognized borders and even four UN Security Council resolutions demanding the liberation of Azerbaijan’s occupied territories for too long, and if it now turns out that the ancient Christian churches and monasteries of Karabakh are not Armenian, then the 'cheating class' in Yerevan has a reason to be nervous, especially if L'Osservatore Romano writes about Caucasian Albania and Armenia's claims on Karabakh are still remaining on the agenda.

It's enough to read Aram Gabrelyanov's social media posts, for example: 'I always say - Armenia and 'Artsakh' will still have chances to return their lands. The conflict between Türkiye and Israel is just the beginning. There will be a chance, and it must be used, but with the traitors of the Homeland led by Pashinyan and his camarilla, there are no chances. First, Pashinyan must be overthrown, and then 'Artsakh' be returned!!!' Meanwhile, Pashinyan, whom this person calls to be 'overthrown', is in every way hindering constitutional reforms and does not remove the Armenian constitution's claims on Azerbaijani Karabakh," the article said.

According to the author, in all this aggressive policy, the turned upside-down historiography with theories about 'Greater Armenia', the declaration of 'primordially Armenian' territories of neighboring countries, etc., plays an important role.

"Revanchists seem to easily control the informational and scientific space of Armenia itself, but doing the same with the Vatican press is a more difficult task, and as a result, Mr. Khzmalyan is outraged: how did they allow it? Why didn’t they prevent it?! Where were they looking?!!

It's curious, but in fact, the Khzmalyans are confident that they can establish their own censorship in the global press, bulldoze historical facts, 'to fit a square peg into a round hole' and prove that vast territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye, and Iran must belong to Armenia!

Well, to the disappointment of these misters, we'll continue to provide the public of France and other countries with information based on archival documents and recognized historical facts. And everyone will have to come to terms with this," the article concluded.