Geghard Scientific and Analytical Foundation exposed Azerbaijani propaganda about Armenian Shushi in Egypt
ArmInfo.The Azerbaijani state propaganda continues to spread false information about the occupied territories and the Armenian cultural heritage of Artsakh in various ways, as stated by the Geghard Scientific and Analytical Foundation.
According to the Foundation, an article was recently published on the Internet platform of the authoritative Egyptian and Arabic media and the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. The article presents the original Armenian city of Shushi as an Azerbaijani city, using names like "Little Paris", "Caucasian Center of the Arts", etc. The Arabic article notes that currently "residents of Shushi" are busy restoring the city to its pre-war appearance. "At the beginning of the article, the Artsakh problem is distortedly presented as a territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but the Artsakh problem originally stemmed from the Armenians of Artsakh fighting for self-determination.
The author of the article, talking about the presence of Muslims in Shushi, overlooks the fact that the main population of the city was Armenian. Shushi has historically been the center of Armenian Christian culture, as evidenced by the Armenian churches and the historical cemetery of Shushi. These cultural sites were specifically targeted by the Azerbaijani military forces during the 2020 war, and have since been subjected to vandalism and destruction following the occupation of the city.
In addition to Armenian and foreign sources, Russian sources also confirm the Armenian presence in Shushi. According to these sources, in 1916, 23,916 Armenians lived in Shushi, making up half of the city's population. In March 1920, Azerbaijani authorities orchestrated a brutal massacre of the Armenian population in Shushi, as a result of which the city turned into ruins, thousands of Armenians were killed. It is worth noting that the article mentions several Turkic-speaking Muslim figures, but there is no information provided about Khosrov bey Sultanov.
It should be noted that Sultanov was the temporary governor-general of Karabakh and Zangezur in 1920, appointed by the Azerbaijani authorities. He organized the massacre of the Armenians in Shushi and other regions of Artsakh. For some reason, the Aliyev regime and the author of the article decided to ignore this "interesting" episode. On one hand, Baku declares Shushi the Islamic cultural capital and on the other hand they have very close, friendly and allied relations with Israel, which conducts massacre against Muslims in the Gaza Strip and destroys mosques. The author of the article also mentions Mrs. Gohar's mosque, but fails to acknowledge the initiative by Artsakh authorities to restore the mosque in 2009. The article overlooks the Armenian people's efforts to not only protect the Christian heritage, but also show state care for Muslim heritage, as seen in the restoration of Mrs. Gohar's mosque.
In fact, the author of the article intentionally present one-sided and falsified information, depriving Shushi of its Armenian identity. This aligns with the Azerbaijan's state target policy, which began with the 44-day Artsakh war and the occupation of Shushi. The policy of de-Armenization of the city of Shushi also involves organizing international conferences, cultural events and festivals, as well as commissioning articles like the one mentioned" the Foundation said in a statement. In this regard, "Geghard" is calling on journalists and researchers to refrain from disseminating one-sided, biased and false information presented by the Aliyev regime.