Efforts to expropriate Armenian culture have intensified around the false term "Western Azerbaijan". "Monumentwatch.org"

Recently, various Azerbaijani events and efforts to expropriate Armenian culture on various public and international platforms have become very active around the false term "Western Azerbaijan". This is written by the "Monumentwatch.org" website, which monitors Artsakh's cultural heritage, where it is specifically stated:

"Thus, from December 15, 2023, the exhibition "Western Azerbaijan in cultural memory" was opened in the "National Art Museum" of Azerbaijan.

Under the coined term "Western Azerbaijan", Azerbaijan tries to present the history of Yerevan in the light of decorative art, photographs, falsification of historical documents and the creation of a newly created Azerbaijani identity. The exhibition is based on photographs of the palace of the Persian khans of Yerevan, objects originating from the Yerevan fortress and many monuments, which are presented as the culture of "Western Azerbaijan".

One such event was the "Return to West Azerbaijan" festival held in Nakhichevan on November 23-24, 2023, which was preceded by the "Road to West Azerbaijan" conference. The organizers were the authorized representative office of Baku in Nakhijevan, the Ministry of Education and Science of Azerbaijan, Nakhijevan State University, etc. The poster of the festival repeats the political map of the Republic of Armenia, and with various photos and decorative art objects presented within the festival, an attempt was made to present the map of Armenia with invented names of cities and villages.

Within the framework of the festival, many Armenian and regional cultural manifestations were presented under the Azerbaijani language, including examples of folklore, a book exhibition, stands with samples of culinary and material culture, a concert program, films, samples of literature, scientific research, a collection of articles, pictures dedicated to "Western Azerbaijan". Within the framework of the festival, various cuisines were also presented under the name "Irevan cuisine".

In the framework of the propaganda accompaniment of the "event", the state propaganda machine of Azerbaijan even talks about the artificial "return of Armenia (in their "conclusion", allegedly "Western Azerbaijan") to the arms of Azerbaijan and other similar terms.

Our response

Parallel to Azerbaijan's policy of depatriation of Armenians, genocide in their historical homeland and forced deportation, Azerbaijan continues the policy of territorial, historical and cultural ambitions against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, the historical homeland and cultural heritage of the Armenian people. These are a set of unacceptable actions, the purpose of which is the annihilation of the Armenian trace. You can read more about the newly created term "Western Azerbaijan" in Ruben Galichyan's article.