The Social Research Center held a presentation ceremony of the book titled "Our material and cultural heritage in the historical lands of Azerbaijan: from Iravan to Zangezur"

The Social Research Center held a presentation ceremony of the book titled "Our tangible cultural heritage in the historical lands of Azerbaijan: from Iravan to Zangezur"

The policy of Armenianization of the South Caucasus, and historical, geopolitical situations, were reviewed in the book created by the Social Research Center.

At the beginning of the 19th century, after the agreements of Kurakchay, Gulustan, Edirne and Turkmenchay concluded between the states of Russia, Turkey and Iran, the mass migration of Armenians to the lands of Azerbaijan started to begin. Furthermore, with the Armenianization of the region, the deportation and genocide of Azerbaijanis living in the regions of Iravan, Goycha, Zangezur and Zangibasar, which are historical Azerbaijani lands, from their historical homelands was started.

On May 28, 1918, the first Armenian state in history was founded on the grounds of the ancient Iravan Khanate. It is well known that the historical Azerbaijani regions are where the state of Armenia was created. It is also known that the Azerbaijani people have resided in what is now Armenia for thousands of years, creating states and khanates in their historical homelands, developing a rich and limitless culture, and constructing monuments including palaces, bridges, caravansaria, mosques, and tombs. The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Province was created on July 7, 1923, by forcibly allowing Armenians who had been relocated from Iran and the Ottoman Empire to the Karabakh Khanate land the right to autonomy.

The ethnic makeup of the population in the area changed at the beginning of the 20th century as a result of the migration of Russians from the central provinces of Russia and Armenians from Iran and Turkey to the historical lands of Azerbaijan. With the arrival of Armenians in the area, the historical lands also became a source of unrest and conflict. During the early years of Soviet authority, Turkey and Nakhchivan were divided from Azerbaijan and the Turkic world, respectively, while a portion of the Zangezur area was granted to Armenia. The tsarism, when Armenians were imported and placed in the South Caucasus for specific goals, laid the groundwork for the destruction of historical and cultural landmarks in the region known as Armenia, which belongs to the Azerbaijanis.

The non-native Armenians became wealthy by stealing their land, goods, and property as soon as they had the chance. They also formed armed terrorist-political organizations and drove the Azerbaijanis out of their native settlements during times of crisis.

Armenians' policy of occupation of cultural heritage in historical territories: More than a thousand Azerbaijani communities, hundreds of Albanian-Turkish historical-architectural structures, caravanserais, mansions, mosques, mausoleums, Albanian Turkish - Oguz cemeteries, burial monuments, etc. were within the territory of modern-day Armenia, which was historically Azerbaijan. The so-called Republic of Ararat was founded for the Armenians in the historical territory of Azerbaijan in 1918, under the challenging circumstances that occurred in the area. Genocide, the burning of Azerbaijani-owned homes, deportations, the destruction of historical and cultural sites, the purging of Armenians of Azerbaijanis, and Armenianization of Armenia were all official policies during the years 1918–1920.

The nationalist Dashnak doctrine was upheld by the Armenian communists who took power in 1920. Throughout the years of Soviet control, decisions were taken by the central Soviet government to relocate Armenians from other nations, and Azerbaijanis were expelled from their ancestral lands to make room for Armenians. When Armenians were integrated into Azerbaijani neighborhoods, they either destroyed historical and cultural landmarks or changed their connection to their own names.

At the start of the 20th century, 310 mosques were listed on the area of the Iravan governorate; however, as of today, just one mosque—the Blue Mosque—presented to foreign visitors as a "Persian" mosque has partially survived on Armenian soil. In the current territory of Armenia, there were 42 mosques in the Yerevan district, 33 in the Etchmiadzin district, and 35 in the Zangezur district prior to 1912. Iravan and Zangezur governorates' territories saw a rise in mosque construction in 1915. There were 382 Shia and 9 Sunni mosques operating here. All of these mosques were demolished beginning in 1918 by Armenians.

The 1988–1989 deportations, and their impact on our material and cultural heritage: After the fall of the USSR, the current Republic of Armenia carried on the cruel and violent policy of expelling Azerbaijanis from their ancestral lands. The names of Azerbaijani-owned residential neighborhoods, as well as rivers, lakes, and hills, were changed by decisions made by the Armenian legislative body, and historical-cultural landmarks were demolished. Armenians utterly destroyed and Armenianized the historical, material, and cultural heritage that belonged to Azerbaijanis there.

The cultural, global community has long turned a blind eye to this savagery, despite the fact that it is one of the signs of vandalism in Armenia and a brutal attitude toward the local Azerbaijanis' heritage. About 250,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from 22 areas of Armenia in the years 1988–1989 (40,928 families from 172 purely Azerbaijani and 89 mixed Armenian settlements). Furthermore, the monoethnic Armenian state's foundation was established in the former Azerbaijan. Armenians have been given control of the 234 schools, 214 libraries, 268 cultural institutions, 235 health centers, 112 kindergartens, and 152 homes that the Azerbaijanis left behind. Armenian vandals steadily demolished 223 cemeteries, 49 mosques, 68 historical, and 7 architectural sites that belonged to Azerbaijanis. This study, conducted by the Center for Social Research, created an opportunity to obtain information about an important part of our material and moral heritage in Western Azerbaijan. This study provides an opportunity to create an idea of the current state of the process of destruction and erasure of the material and cultural heritage belonging to Azerbaijanis in the historical lands in the territory of Armenia. The useful and ruined monuments presented in the table are appropriated by Armenians and presented as Armenian monuments.

Note: Of the 244 studied monuments, the number of destroyed monuments is 133, the number of ruined / armenized monuments is 51, the number of usable / armenized monuments is 58, the number of usable / turned into an Armenian church is 1, the usable one is presented as a Persian mosque. Among the monuments, there are 49 pyres / hearths / sanctuaries, 40 mosques, 38 grave monuments, 15 temples, 13 fortresses, 19 Albanian churches, 13 caravansaries, 8 tombs, 6 ethnographic-archaeological monuments, 6 domes, 5 grave statues, 5 bridges, 3 mausoleums, 3 vaults, 3 archaeological monuments, 3 stone inscriptions, 2 madrasahs, 2 neighborhoods, 2 buildings, 9 rock paintings, information collected from local and foreign sources about ancient settlements were discovered for the first time as a result of our research and added to the existing list, and the list is further expanded improved. At the same time, as a result of the research, the pre-existing information was reworked and enriched based on new references and sources, and it was decided to be ready for publication as a book. It is planned to be published in several volumes. At the end of the event, an appeal to the Director General of UNESCO was accepted by the conference participants.

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