The Union of Armenians of Russia, led by Ara Abrahamyan, released a video on the topic "Christian monuments in Karabakh are under threat." The video consists of numerous falsehoods. At the beginning of the film, the host claims that Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in the Caucasus between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In reality, Nagorno-Karabakh is located within Azerbaijan and does not share a border with Armenia. This is akin to an "Armenian radio" in video format.
The following phrase is cited: "For 16 centuries, its population consisted of Armenians, Christians." However, this is also a distortion of facts. As a result of the resettlement policy of Tsarist Russia, Armenians were resettled here, and before that, it was the Christian state of Caucasian Albania, which left behind monasteries, churches, and other architectural monuments. The descendants of the inhabitants of this state, many of whom have retained the Christian faith, have no connection to ethnic Armenians.
The host continues: "The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh built more than 500 unique Christian churches, monasteries, and other architectural monuments here." On the screen, they show the building of the separatist parliament with a latticed dome, which has no relation to ancient Christian monuments.
There are more serious falsehoods, such as the attempt to call the Armenian-Gregorian Church "Apostolic," which it is not. The Armenian Church, which emerged in the 4th century, cannot be called Apostolic.
Another false claim: "In September 2020, Azerbaijani forces attacked Nagorno-Karabakh." How can the legitimate army of a state "attack" its own territory? It's like saying that in 1943 the Soviet army attacked Smolensk, which was under German occupation.
The host continues: "The illegal division of the Caucasus map by the Bolshevik government." Apparently, Ara Abrahamyan and the Union of Armenians of Russia are unaware of such a detail as internationally recognized borders. If Mr. Abrahamyan dislikes the illegal division of the Caucasus map by the Bolsheviks, perhaps he should start with the return of Western Zangezur to Azerbaijan, which the Bolsheviks handed over to Armenia.
The authors of the provocative video insist that under Azerbaijani control, the ancient churches of Karabakh are threatened with destruction. The video claims that Baku plans to change the identity of Armenian churches in Karabakh, asserting that they are Albanian churches. However, the Albanian Catholicos Nerses, in whose memory an inscription on the wall of the Gandzasar Monastery, the main Christian shrine in Karabakh, was made, was the Catholicos of the Albanian Church, not the Armenian.
Academician Arakelyan, in his book "Inscriptions of Gandzasar," presents numerous inscriptions in which the word "Armenian" is never mentioned. The video ends with a call to protect all Christian monuments in Karabakh and to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan. The authors of the film insist on protecting structures such as a chapel built in 2017 on the territory of Jabrayil, occupied by Armenians, and other falsified Armenian monuments.
In reality, during the years of Armenian occupation, Karabakh became a scene of barbarism. Everything was destroyed here: houses, schools, museums, cemeteries. Of the 67 mosques, only 3 survived, and they were used as stables. They also recommend that fellow citizens go to YouTube and look at the faces of foreign journalists whom the Azerbaijanis show the ruins, revealing the consequences of the occupation.
