COLLECTION OF ABSTRACTS
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: origins, peacemaking and the role of civil society International Scientific and Practical Conference, March 13-15, 2017, Baku
CAUCASUS HISTORY CENTER
BAKU - 2017
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: origins, peacemaking and the role of civil society International Scientific and Practical Conference, March 13-15, 2017, Baku
Over 25 years the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh region has been the threat for peace and security in the South Caucasus. This conflict resulted in deaths of tens of thousands of people and over a million became refugees and internally displaced persons. Moreover, 20% of Azerbaijani lands are still under occupation of the Armenian Armed Forces. Over all these years, the resolution of the conflict has not been moved from the dead point, due to both the passivity of the world community in the person of the Minsk Group of the OSCE and the aggressive policy of Armenian leadership who do not recognize the numerous resolutions of the UNO and other organizations calling for the withdrawal of the Armenian Armed Forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories. This position led to the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which turned into a shortterm resumption of military actions on the line of contact in Karabakh at the beginning of April 2016. As a result, both sides suffered losses and the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were able to liberate some strategically important areas from the Armenian occupation. However, Azerbaijan does not abandon the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and continues to seek a peaceful solution to the issue. Against this backdrop, the Armenian and Azerbaijani societies realize that there are still chances to avoid a full-scale resumption of war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. As a result a group of Azerbaijani and Armenian public figures gather in Baku on December 6th 2016 and created a “Platform for Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan”, which has been accepted by a large number of Armenian activists in recent months. Representatives of other nations from different countries also joined this Platform. In fact, Armenian representatives of civil society accepted a hard peacekeeping mission. Within the framework of this mission, Armenian activists expose the aggressive position of the current Armenian authorities, they also consolidate the forces of the Armenian society who is wishing to live in peace and harmony with Azerbaijan and advocating the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. In order to expand the peacekeeping mission and involve the political and scientific communities of different countries, the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: origins, peacemaking and the role of civil society” was held in Baku on March 14. It was organized by the public organization “Caucasus History Center”. The conference was devoted to the issues of history, expansion of international dialogue, peacekeeping initiatives, as well as the Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogue in order of find the ways of solving of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Over 50 scientists, politicians and public figures from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Uzbekistan, including Armenian public figures and researchers have participated in the conference. The event was led by Rizvan Huseynov, the director of “Caucasus History Center” and a senior researcher at the Institute of Law and Human Rights of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences.
List of the speakers at the conference: Vahe Avetian (Sweden), Arthur Agadzhanov (Ukraine), Tatyana Krupa (Ukraine), Guram Markhulia (Georgia), Samira Ismailova (Georgia), Mehmet Bora Perinchek (Turkey), Maxim Shevchenko (Russia), Oleg Kuznetsov (Russia), Yevgeniy Mikhailov (Russia), Shukhrat (Barlas) Salamov (Uzbekistan)
Virtual participants and speakers: Edward Vartanov (Russia), Vahagn Karapetian (Canada), Alexander Garkavets (Kazakhstan).
Participants made presentations on three panels of the conference: -
1. Peacemaking initiatives and ways of solving of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict;
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2. Armenian terrorism and ethnic conflicts as security threat in the South Caucasus;
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3. Christians of Karabakh, the Armeno-Kipchaks and the Albanian Autocephalous Church
The conference was also attended by representatives of Azerbaijani state authorities, diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in Baku. Over 30 mass media and TV channels covered the event. Following the results of the international scientific and practical conference “Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: origins, peacemaking and the role of civil society” a decision was taken to develop peacekeeping initiatives and scientific research aimed at solving the conflict. The collection of articles “The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: origins, peacemaking and the role of civil society” was also published in Azerbaijani, Russian and English. This collection included articles and abstracts of foreign speakers at the conference.
1. Peacebuilding in resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict The OSCE Minsk Group: Imitations for being mediator or inability to resolve NagornoKarabakh conflict. Maxim Shevchenko (Russia) The member of the Human Rights and Civil Society Development Committee and also the member of Civil Chambers under the President of Russian Federation
I will outline in five main points my attitude towards imitation for resolution of the Armenian Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by OSCE Mink Group continuous more than twenty-five years 1. The fiasco of Minsk Group OSCE and its members. Particularly United States and others actors are not interested in resolution of the situation. 2. The Problem could be solved only in active development of the format Russia-Turkey-Iran 3. The solutions should cover not only the Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied Azerbaijani territories, but to establish the opportunities for mutual restitution of all refugees. 4. There is no militaristic solution. The escalation of the conflict will lead to clash on the territories of Georgia, Russia and NATO. Armenia will demand the corridor, in order to reach Russia, Georgia will ask for NATO support and the Russia will stand up for defending of its interests in the region. Azerbaijan will be squeezed between Iran and Russia and this will endanger the political capabilities and influence to Russia. 5. Currently the alternative way is to create the new supervisory boards of “triangle”, which the West will never accept. So, the humanitarian support to permanent military escalations until now is the main scene which will be in nearest future.
Karabakh Christians for the restoration of a whole history and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. Arthur Agadzhanov (Ukraine) researcher from Nagorno-Karabakh
During the many centuries, the land of Karabakh was the arena for variety of wars and clashes. Because of these wars suffered the ancient culture, churches, the architectural monuments and heritage of Karabakh and local people who were a part of ancient country of the Caucasian Albania. This ancient country had specific culture, history and architecture. There were Autocephalous Albanian churches, which are one of the most ancient in Christian world. Unfortunately, currently this ancient heritage was vanished or ascribed to Armenian history and culture. Nearly two centuries the Armenian migrants (the representatives of Hayk or Haykan people) from Turkey, Iran and the Middle East countries settled the ancient lands of Karabakh. For this period, the ancient Albanian Autocephalos church was abolished by support of Etchmiadzin church. After the abolition of Gandzasar and Amarass and other patriarchs of the Albanian church in Karabakh
and the South Caucasus many nations with their culture, churches, books and heritage were defalcated and owned by Etchmiadzin. Part of these nationalities: Turk-Kipchak, Udins, Aysors, Tats, Kurds and others, started to worship the Armenian Gregorian church, who had no common with Armenian haykan nationalities and Etchmiadzin. But these nations were forced to Armenization and to lost ethic identity. Anybody trying to mention about the history of the Caucasian Albania and its Christian culture, faced the threats to his own life. But we think, that it is correct to fight for the truth. We need to resolve the Karabakh problem, but in other way this burden will be transmitted to our kids with future bloodshed. The people are dying and died, because of falsified history concocted and currently realizing by Armenian nationalists. Exactly in this historical concept the evil is sleeping, which befell on fate of our nations, so we must put forth to disclose this falsified history and suspend the bloodshed. We call to International Community and International Organizations- the UN, UNESCO and others to take all measures in preserving and research the crumbs of knowledge and heritage of variety nationalities of Armenian creed. We are ready to give inputs in fighting for preservation and researching and popularization of Armenian creed, people heritage and restoration of the Albanian Autocephalos church, which is one of the ancient churches in the world. We were happy to receive the information about the revival of the Albanian Church in Azerbaijan and restoration of the church services in temples. This is prime incentive and the reason for us to unite around the Albanian spiritual heritage. Based on that in nearest future we are planning to establish the organization to join for everybody who cares about the history of Karabakh. The policy of current ruling regime in Armenia is to impede the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The policy of the current Armenian authorities as an obstacle to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Vahe Avetisan (Sweden) Armenian public figure and publicist
I have recall in Baku in 2016 the memory of Khojaly genocide victims who were Azerbaijani civilians of Khojaly town killed by Armenians’ armed troops on 25-26th of February 1992. Possibly it is ambiguously perceived in Armenia, that Armenians became so brutal to be astonished to the normal behavior of somebody. A lot of Armenian public figures and common peoples support me. But first, in order to Armenians to express themselves freely, we need to unleash the peoples from concentrations camp, where they habituate last twenty-five years. In Armenia, even one word could be fatal. I am with other Armenian public figures for the first time after twenty years since conflict began, visited the memorial for Khojaly Genocide in Baku. It is important to admit, that I came to Baku mostly to change the killer Armenian stereotype, raised by the president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. Many Armenians feel and think same like me. In Armenia, many people understand, that the power in the country was seized by the criminal group, so not all support the politics of the regimes on Karabakh Conflict. I would not say, that the people generally were agreeable in the beginning and particularly now. Ruling elite used all the
mass media, agitation and propaganda technologies, in order to manipulate the mind of the people. The Peace desired by all, but there is no idea how to reach it. We were taught, that this issue of our just cause. Making the compromise for our societies means, that they are wrong and we are right, so we will cede just a little piece of land and achieve the peace. This will not work. The Peace will be reality, if the both sides start not to admit that I am right or you are wrong. The Peace will be achieved, when we will tell to each other - We both were wrong, who more who less. We need to increase the social order for peace, make it heard, strong and in that way when the officials could not refrain from it. We must to revive all the human relations step by step. The process has begun and let`s go on.
Armenian protectionism Yevgeniy Mikhailov (Rostov-on-Don, Russia) The chief editor of the periodic edition “Analytics South of Russia”
I have been considering often, why during the Soviet Union at Rostov province and Krasnodar Territory there was not any interethnic tensions between Slavs and local Armenians, who came to the region as early as in XVIII century during reigning of Catherine the Great. But after demise of USSR and beginning of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, when the Republic of Armenia traitorously occupied Azerbaijanian territories and later in the south of Russia the Armenian criminal groups appeared everywhere. Per the opinion of the experts it is straight depends on the mass migration of Armenian population from Armenia and former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous region of Azerbaijan in 1990th. In Russia using the financial incomes and bribing the corrupted representatives of local authorities, they became quite respectable part of population ignoring the historical heritage of local Armenians, which have been living here in peace with different nationalities before they arrive and not claiming for the name “antient nation”. Arrived immigrants denied to accept local compatriots and more than that, I witnessed, when the guests openly were insulting locals, blaming them in inferiority and in treachery to “Great Armenia”. It is interesting that local Armenians are ethnically different population, which were forced by Etchmiadzin church to Armenization during the long period. The main revelation for me was that, local Armenians are straight descendant of ancient Polovtsian and Kipchaks, because of strong Armenian propaganda in Russia few people was aware about it. Let us to admit, that Eduard Vartanov is the descendant of Armeno- Kipchaks and many years researches the heritage of Armenian Kipchaks of Don and neighbor regions and de-ethnization of Kipchaks, in other words, who were included compulsory into ethnic Armenians. It is important to outline the role of Ukrainian researcher Artur Agadzhanov, who originates from Karabakh Armenians, and who also stands for preservation of cultural-historical and spiritual heritage of Karabakh Christians. A. Agadzhanov relying on many historical facts proves that, considerable part of Karabakh Christians was forcible Armenized by help of Etchmiadzin church after the abolishment of the Albanian Autocephalos church - one of the most ancient in Christian world. Majority of Karabakh Armenians were Kipchaks, Udins and other nationalities but they were forcibly registered as ethnic Armenian. The one of the main reasons of hostility in Karabakh,
Rostov, Stavropol, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don and other regions is forcible Armenization and propaganda of Armenian historical concept about “Great Armenia”. All these historical facts must be carefully estimated by World Community and we all must to put forth maximum efforts in preserving of ethical heritage of original culture, language and history of Armenian Kipchaks, who relates to Turkic people.
2. Armenian terrorism and ethnic conflicts as a threat to security in the South Caucasus Grigory Artsruni and the roots of racism and collaborationism of Armenian nationalism Mehmet Bora Perinçek (Turkey) Doctor of Historical Sciences (Istanbul University) To understand the milestones that led to the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Turkey, as well as to the Khojaly tragedy, it is important to study the issues of the appearance and characteristics of Armenian nationalism. Armenian nationalism developed in parallel in the projects of the West and Tsarist Russia, especially in the 19th century, in connection with the use of Armenian separatism against the Ottoman Turkey. The tendency of Armenian nationalism to collaborate, and the roots of fanaticism and aggressiveness are clearly visible in the editions and documents of its ideologists. In this regard, the first ideologist of Armenian nationalism was Grigor Yeremeevich Artsruni (1845-1892), whose ideas and the basis created by him are of great importance for understanding the causes of Armenian nationalism. In 1872, in Tbilisi G.Artsruni began to publish the most important and effective printed organ of Armenian nationalism - Mshak (Worker). Among the main tasks of Mshak was: rapprochement between Turkish and Russian Armenians, and familiarization of Europe with the Armenian people. On the pages of this popular newspaper, Artsruni began to develop basic theses of the Dashnak ideology, later "applied in practice." Artsruni for the first time clearly outlined the essence of Armenian bourgeois ideology, thus becoming the ideological father of Dashnaktsutyun. Dashnaks recognized Grigory Artsruni as one of his theoreticians and always emphasized, that the Dashnak ideology is a natural continuation of the views of Grigory Artsruni. Being one of the first theoreticians of Armenian nationalism, Artsruni in his works calls on the European peoples, together with the Armenians and other Christian peoples of Asia, to fight and destroy the Turkish peoples. He calls it the wars of "civilized nations against barbarian nations", the Aryan and Semitic tribes against the Turanian tribe. Artsruni considers important the war of the Slavs, Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Georgians and Jews against the "oppressing Mongol yoke". According to the pioneer of Armenian liberalism and fascism Artsruni, neither the Turks, nor even the predatory Kurds - have no past, no history, no literature, no schools, no economic production, and no love for work. At the same time he calls "stupid" those Armenians who don’t agree with his calls to destroy other nations. Educated on the ideas of G.Artsruni, Armenian nationalists committed massacres in Ottoman Turkey and provoked retaliatory actions against the Armenian population. The new generations of Armenian nationalists that grew up on Artsruni ideas during the collapse of the Soviet Union provoked the Karabakh conflict, committed crimes against humanity in Khojaly and other settlements, and now they came to power in Armenia. All this clearly demonstrates what terrible consequences in our days have the ideas of nationalism, racism and fascism, planted a hundred years ago by such ideologists as Artsruni.
Bagramyan Battalion - a symbol of the Armenian betrayal Guram Markhulia (Georgia) doctor of Historical Sciences, professor of Sukhumi State University During the collapse of the Soviet Union, a feeling of uncertainty intensified among the Abkhaz people. This deprived the simple Abkhazian man of spiritual support of his existence, as a result of which the Abkhaz people suffered a cultural trauma that prevented them from realizing the political situation. And the Abkhaz began to prepare to fight against their own country - Georgia. The Armenian population acted as an ally of the Abkhaz in the struggle against their own country, except for Russia. It should be considered in depth the activities in Abkhazia of the organization “Krunk” and crimes against humanity committed by its brainchild – “Bagramyan Battalion”, created on February 9, 1993. The brutality and cruelty of the Bagramyan battalion commanders during the Abkhaz war are a stone on the history of the Georgian and Armenian peoples. The general prosecutor's office of Georgia holds 200 volumes of materials on crimes committed against the Georgian civilian population during the Abkhaz war. The most terrible crimes were committed by the Bagramyan battalion. These crimes should receive wide publicity and condemnation of the world community.
War in Karabakh is the first terrorist war in the history of mankind Oleg Kuznetsov (Russia) Candidate of Historical Sciences On February 26, 2017 marked the 25th anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy - the mass killing by Armenian illegal armed groups of Nagorno-Karabakh, by militants supported by military rebels from the 2nd battalion of the 336th motorized rifle regiment of the CIS Joint Armed Forces, who attacked on the night of February 25-26 Armored vehicles, the small Azerbaijani town of Khojaly and destroyed 613 people in it and around it (according to the official data of the Republic of Azerbaijan), injured 487 people, 150 people were missing, and 1275 - were taken hostage. This crime against humanity was the most significant in the course of that war and became, in fact, its quintessence, and therefore the first anniversary date of this tragedy is an excellent occasion to give legal qualification of the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as its main cause and historical background. In total, in 1988-1994 in the fighting on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions of Azerbaijan from 4,000 to 6,000 citizens of foreign states of Armenian nationality from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Bulgaria, the United States and France took part. Most of them came to the conflict region, having behind them the experience of participating in combat operations and in the composition of previously formed and combat-coordinated illegal armed formations. From the standpoint of the norms of modern Russian criminal law, the Karabakh war of 19881994 is a terrorist war, since all its content is the totality and consistency of “terrorist crimes”. Transnational Armenian terrorism as a socio-economic, socio-political and legal phenomenon arose at the end of the XIX century in the territory of the Ottoman Empire, from where it spread to the Russian Empire and the Balkan countries, from which it then spread to Western Europe and the North America. The first crimes of Armenian terrorism date back to the 1890s, therefore it has
nothing to do with the theme of the notorious "Armenian genocide" in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Today we can definitely talk about the presence of common immanent features inherent in existing in the neighboring regions of the Middle East and South Caucasus two terrorist quasi-states, based on the ideology of national-religious extremism. It is a quasi-state “Artsakh” or so-called” “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” (NKR) and quasi-state “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIS), the second being a replica, reproduction or reproduction of the first, but on a larger scale. Artsakh and ISIS are located on the occupied lands of other states and forcibly extend their jurisdiction over the lands of sovereign states seized as a result of armed attack, using at the same time terror and violence against the civilian population. The ruling circles of modern Armenia represent, as a matter of fact, the community in the past field commanders of the terrorist armed formations of the separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh, completely alienating the natives of the Armenian SSR from the power and financial resources of the state. Therefore, the Armenian authorities will never independently and unilaterally comply with the requirements of international law: terrorists who have disregarded the law once will never follow it again. The return of the occupied territories to Azerbaijan will mean for them political and, possibly, physical suicide, and will also become the final chord of the existence in the world of the phenomenon of transnational Armenian terrorism, which will finally collapse into nothingness and turn into yet another gloomy page in the history of mankind.
Dashnak terrorism in the history of Turkestan and Azerbaijan Shukhrat (Barlas) Salamov (Uzbekistan) historian, the publicist In the twentieth century, the terrorism of Armenian nationalists in an acute form showed itself not only against the civilians of Eastern Anatolia and the South Caucasus, but also the peaceful population of the Fergana Valley of Turkestan in 1918. Uzbek scientists and publicists systematically conduct special studies involving a complex of archival materials to study the consequences of Bolshevik policy in Turkestan. Armenian Dashnaks during 1918-1919 not only exterminated local residents, but also plundered and destroyed almost all the cities in the Ferghana Valley and 180 villages, killed and drove away hundreds of thousands of civilians. The handwriting and methods of action of the Dashnaks in Turkestan are repeated the same in the Caucasus. Similarity of handwriting and methods is mainly traced in crimes such as the murder of children, women and the old people: cutting off women's breasts, rape of young girls, poking their eyes, desecrating corpses, dismembering a living person, cutting off the hands and feet of the victims. These inhuman acts of the Dashnaks provoked a war of local peoples against the Bolsheviks. The use of the Dashnaks by the Bolsheviks to carry out the terror against the peaceful population of Turkestan and the Caucasus in 1918 is directly connected both with the policy and the activities of the Russian Empire and the Bolsheviks, and with the fact that the nationalists of Armenians were their factor of influence in Turkestan and the Caucasus. The Bolsheviks initially needed the forces capable of carrying out terror on the ground. As before, and in the XXI century, many organizations, lobbying for the interests of the great powers and major regional states, supposedly in order to solve the "Armenian question" in its geopolitical and geostrategic games reused malleable Armenian national chauvinism. The latest example of this policy was the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which claimed
the lives of tens of thousands of people, over a million made refugees and internally displaced persons and occupation of 20% of the Azerbaijani lands by the Armenian armed forces.
3. Karabakh Christians, Armeno-Kipchaks and the Albanian
Autocephalous church Resubordination of Armeno-Kipchaks to Etchmiadzin and their compulsory de-ethnization
Eduard Vartanov (Rostov-on-Don, Russia) regional ethnographer, researcher
The article describes resubordination process of Armeno-Kipchaks of Don (Turks of the Armenian-Gregorian confession) to the Armenian church of Etchmiadzin in the 18-20th centuries and their compulsory de-ethnization that followed after, which culminated in the period of the USSR. De-ethnization of Armeno-Kipchaks has taken place after they were forcibly separated from the Albanian church of Gandzasar which through many centuries was a spiritual center for them. After joining of extensive territories of Don, the Black Sea Coastal, the Crimea, the Caucasus and other regions to Tsarist Russia, various people of the Armenian-Gregorian confession have been resubordinated to the Armenian church of Etchmiadzin which has resulted in loss of ethnic consciousness, language and identity of these people. In Soviet time these people were registered as ethnic Armenians, thereby finishing a process of their de-ethnization. The Armenian church strived to erase centuries-old heritage of the Albanian church, TurksChristians and to appropriate their temples, property, books and congregation. Especially it should be dwelled upon that this policy was performed in the 18-20th centuries on Don, the Black Sea Coastal, the Crimea, the Caucasus and other regions of Tsarist Russia and then the USSR. Today there is a lack of awareness among the general public about this question, and any mentioning of the Armenian culture, temples and heritage is mistakenly related to Hayer Armenians - the present population of Armenia. And any attempts to study Turkic ArmenianGregorian heritage face obstruction, repressions and persecutions from Armenian political, scientific and public communities. In Armenian society this subject is taboo, and if anybody violates it, is destined to an unenviable fate. For nearly two centuries Armeno-Kipchaks were forced to learn Armenian language and to forget their native Turkic heritage. A significant negative role in this process was played by the Armenian church of Etchmiadzin, and also the Armenian lobbying communities on the south of Russia. And a total elimination and Armenization of the last city center of Armeno-Kipchaks has occurred in the Soviet times. At first, in 1925, for the Armenian refugees from Turkey who could not get on with local Armeno-Kipchaks there was founded a new Armenian village of Shaumyan. After this in 1929, also was abolished Nakhchivan-on-Don – the last city stronghold of Armeno-Kipchaks. With that positioning of “the Armenian district” as self-governed civil community was terminated. Only Armenian villages of Don continued to resist, where remain
traditions of language culture of their ancestors – Kipchaks within a family tribal ties from threefour generations. Appeal to the international organizations: Save heritage of the Albanian Autocephalous church and Turk-Christians. Eduard Vartanov (Russia), Artur Agadzhanov (Ukraine) and a group of activists of “The movement for restoration of the Albanian Autocephalous church and heritage of Turk-Christians”, have distributed on the international website of public petitions Àvaaz.org the petition under the name “An appeal to the international organizations: Save heritage of the Albanian Autocephalous church and Turk-Christians”. In the petition with an appeal to world community and the international organizations in particular it is told: “From time immemorial numerous communities of Christian Komans (Armeno-Kipchaks) lived on Don, Crimea, Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Their important role in trade and cultural- historical life of the regions is well-known, but today the fact that they in all centuries from the moment of the baptism remained in a spiritual binding to church of the Caucasian Albania is firmly forgotten. Because within the 19th century the Armenian church of Etchmiadzin, the Armenian figures who were close to the Russian imperial court made everything for their resubordination to Etchmiadzin by fraud and with that cut their spiritual tie with church of the Caucasian Albania. In the first years of the Soviet power on Don, Stalinist regime through Anastas Mikoyan carried out a total destruction of Don’s intellectual elite - the last custodians of memory of “Albanian baptism” their Turko-Kipchak ancestors. However the resilience of indigenous Don Armenians isn't broken. We continue to restrain a pressure at a language boundary and therefore are interested in attraction of interest in scientific research of both our Turkic roots, and our spiritual bond with the Albanian Autocephalous Church. Nearly nine centuries ago our ancestors - pagans settled in Ani and Shirak (on the territory of present Armenia) where the Albanian Autocephalous church accepted them in a bosom of Christian civilization, - those years when no “Etchmiadzin” in the South Caucasus has existed yet. Armeno-Kipchaks brought with themselves to Don their religion, language and culture. Karabakh Christians had suffered a similar fate of a violent Armenization as Turko-Kipchaks of Albanian Autocephalous Church which had existed at one time. On behalf of a group of Karabakh Christians Turks who are descendants of Karabakh Albanians we appeal to the international public to save the remains of our Albanian spiritual, cultural, historical and architectural heritage from Armenization. We within the last two centuries were violently subordinated to the Armenian church of Etchmiadzin, have been deprived of ethnic consciousness, temples and were included into ethnic “Armenians”. And from time immemorial Karabakh Christians submitted to the Albanian Autocephalous church which was abolished at the beginning of the 19th century and all its heritage has been transmitted to the Armenian church of Etchmiadzin. We call on Russian scientific community, and also the UN, UNESCO and other international structures to give support for salvage in cultural and spiritual heritage of Ani–Crimean-Don Armenians, and also Karabakh Armenians up to now who are loyal to shrines of Albanian church. We express the gratitude to all who make a contribution to the idea of revival of Albanian church, its temples and spiritual heritage”.
Presentation of the new edition of “Kipchak written heritage”
Alexander Garkavets (Kazakhstan) doctor of philological science, Turkologist
I want to present to general public the new edition of “Kipchak written heritage” which has incorporated a part of a huge heritage of Armeno-Kipchaks – the Turkic people of the ArmenianGregorian confession. (Garkavets Alexander Nikolayevich. “Kipchak written heritage”. In 3 volumes. 2nd edition. 2nd, revised and updated. Volume I. Armenian written monuments, held in Austria, part 1. – Almaty: Baur, 2017. – Vol. I, pp. 810; Vol. II, pp. 941, Vol. ІІІ, pp. 950). In this unique three-volume collection 109 Armenian-written monuments of 1519-1689 open the scatterings in full: 3 chronicles, 5 Psalters, all Letters of apostle Paul, 8 hand-written prayer books and one printing (1618), 2 hagiography collections, 3 Codes of laws, 3 Remedial codes, numerous compositions on theosophy, didactics, histories of religion and church, cosmologies, astrologies, selections, chemistry, medicine, calendars, documents of self-management Kipchak speaking Armenians of Kamenets-Podolsk, Lviv, Stanislav and individuals, samples of Armenian-Kipchak dictionaries and glossaries of 16-17th centuries. Karaim Prayer book, Cuman prays, hymns, sermons and riddles of the collection "Codex Cumanicus" and selection of Kipchak lexicon from Mahmud Kashgari's dictionary (in Introduction) are present a speech of Kipchak-Cuman-Polovets of more ancient centuries. The volume of Kipchak written monuments, held in Austria, Armenia, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Romania, Ukraine and France have nearly four million symbols and reproduced here by means of Turkological transcription. Thanks to abundance of verbal illustrative material and objective interpretation this work can be used by experts in the most various fields of science and the wide range of readers who eager to acquire real knowledge about our ancient, insufficiently known common past. On materials of my 40 books about the Great Steppe, Kipchak written heritage, folklore and languages documentary filmmakers of Almaty, Yerevan, Baku, Moscow, Ankara and Istanbul have made several films. The last one – "Desht-i-Kipchak: Secret signs" was made in 2015, in 2 series, in Kazakh, Russian and English languages at the request of the Minister for Culture and Sports of Republic of Kazakhstan Arystanbek Mukhamediul.
Forgotten heritage of the steppe and history of the Sloboshanshina: To the question of learning the region’s history Tatyana Krupa (Ukraine) V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University Kharkov municipal national public association of Kazakhstanis “Birlik”
Slobozhanshchina is a unique and original region on the northeast of modern Ukraine.
However, in broad understanding of this historical and geographical term, Slobozhanshchina is a historic region in the northeast of Ukraine and the southwest of Central Black Earth economic region of Russia. Now the term Slobozhanshchina is actively used as the informal collective name of Kharkiv, Sumy and Belgorod regions. In historiography of Slobozhanshchina there are many questions which were not sufficiently addressed. Controversial issues concerning its territorial size, the historical past and so forth continue to arise. We consider that the real trouble for history of the most interesting and bright region is such, we will call it, - Slavic-centrist approach. Because it ignores history of the region at all and reduces in ist formation in a modern type the role of a non Slavic population (first of all the Turkic population). The last as it is possible to judge from the given fragment and after reading the textbook, - is considered only as alien and hostile. Let's note that Ukraine should be taken into account an experience of the analysis of the past by Azerbaijan. A specific place is held by a problem of studying and full return to historical science of the Caucasian Albania heritage, ethnic-cultural history of which is many-sided and in many respects defining modern realities of modern Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan, being now a secular state, with the prevailing Muslim population, nevertheless, pays a considerable attention also to problems of the Albanian church which is one of the most ancient churches not only in the Caucasus, but also the whole Christian world and has an apostolic origin. Centuries-old existence of the Albanian Church, as journalists and researchers note, has left a large number of monuments testifying the Christian past of the people living in the historical territory of the Caucasian Albania (9th century BC — 13th century AD). Therefore all statements of Armenian “scientist” about subordination of the Albanian church to Armenian and Albanians’ adoption of Christianity from Armenians is nothing else but a propaganda trick. That the most interesting, researches of Albanian, Georgian and Armenian sources convince that in the Caucasus since the first centuries of our era and in the period of the early and late Middle Ages there were practically two churches — Albanian and Georgian. A task of the historian — to study the Truth. Therefore we also appreciate work on restoration of historical justice concerning heritage of the Caucasian Albania.
The final process of abolition of Albanian church of Gandzasar Rizvan Huseynov (Azerbaijan) The director of Caucasus History Center Senior researcher at the Institute of Law and Human Rights of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) In the 17-18th centuries there was a fierce struggle for power and influence on congregation between the Albanian Gandzasar patriarchy and the Armenian Etchmiadzin catholicosate. Etchmiadzin used all methods to subordinate to itself the weakening Gandzasar throne of the Albanian church. The Armenian churchmen who for the first time have settled in the 15th century in Uchkilsa (Etchmiadzin) from the permission of the Azerbaijani governors of Ak-Koyunlu gradually got considerably stronger and in every possible way restricted the Albanian church.
The Albanian patriarchs of Gandzasar (it is located in Kelbadzhar region of Azerbaijan which is nowadays occupied by the Armenian military forces and today completely armenified) had been long fought against Etchmiadzin and when after all had to relinguish. It has caused serious disorders among the Albanian population of Karabakh which had no wish to submit to Etchmiadzin. At the beginning of the 19th century the Armenian church, getting support from Russia, could achieve abolition of the Albanian Autocephalous Church and leave all Albanian temples, archives and congregation in the hands of Etchmiadzin. The Russian archival materials describe heavy fight which took place between the Albanian Catholicos on the one hand and the Armenian Catholicos with another. As a result the autocracy has suppressed a revolt, the Albanian churches and congregation have been subordinated to the Ethmiadzin Catholicos, and the Albanian patriarch Israel was expelled. Soon he has died after then the Etchmiadzin church began to ask autocracy to give its submission churches and congregation in Karabakh and Ganja. The request of Etchmiadzin has been satisfied with assistance of Tsarist Russia; the Armenian (Haykan) church of Etchmiadzin tries to obtain at first submission to itself dioceses of the Albanian catholicosate, and then bust the Albanian Catholicos to the rank of metropolitan, and as a result was abolition of the Albanian Autocephalous Church. Then, within the 19-20th centuries the Armenian church and nationalists could attribute themselves rich spiritual, cultural-historical and architectural heritage of the Caucasian people professing the Armenian Gregorianism. Later the “ancient Armenian” historical concept which has formed the basis of ideology of the Armenian nationalists was formed, having become ideological justification of ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijani and other people, and also occupation of their lands for creation of mythical “Great Armenia”.
