The map of RA with invented names of cities and villages was presented within the framework of the festival in Nakhichevan. "Monument Watch"

Recently, Baku has launched a targeted campaign against the sovereign territory of RA and is trying to "legitimize" territorial aspirations and give new directions to the process of appropriation of Armenian cultural heritage by targeting intangible heritage with various cultural events. The independent academic platform "MONUMENT WATCH" that implements "Monitoring of Artsakh's cultural heritage" warns about this.

The platform specifically states: "One of such events was the ethnographic festival-convention held in Nakhichevan from June 21 to 22, 2024, which had the theme "Return to Western Azerbaijan". The festival was organized by the presidents of the Republic of Baku and Nakhichevan, the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Baku, the State University of the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan and the community called "West Azerbaijan". According to the organizers, the main goal of the event is to support the country's President Ilham Aliyev's policy to restore the "historical rights" of Azerbaijanis who left their homeland. The map of RA with invented names of cities and villages was presented with various photographs and decorative art objects presented within the framework of the festival. Within the framework of the festival, many Armenian and regional cultural manifestations were presented as purely Azerbaijani, including examples of folklore dedicated to "West Azerbaijan", a concert program, films, samples of literature, etc. Within the framework of the festival, various Armenian cuisine dishes were also presented under the name "Irevan cuisine", referring not to Armenia, but, of course, to the Republic of Baku.

The first day of the festival-convention was held on the Batabat Plateau. Tents representing the 11 marzes of the Republic of Armenia were placed here (on the websites of Azerbaijanis, the marzes of the Republic of Armenia are presented as provinces of "Western Azerbaijan"). Each pavilion presents its own version of Armenian culture, including folklore and ethnographic culture, national cuisine and crafts. The two-day event also became a platform for socio-cultural discussions on the topic of returning to Armenia (according to them, "Western Azerbaijan"). Baku (ed.) National Academy of Sciences, Baku State University, Baku (ed.) National Conservatory, Baku Engineering University were involved in the "scientific" discussions of the festival. The goal is to ensure the support of the scientific and educational community for the process of returning to the "ancient homeland" - Western Azerbaijan. Let's remind that another such festival was held in November 2023, with the same title and the same goal of appropriating Armenian heritage.

Our response

Parallel to the policy of de-Armenization, genocide of Armenians in their historical homeland and forced deportation, the Republic of Baku (ed.) continues the policy of territorial, historical and cultural ambitions towards the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, the historical homeland and cultural heritage of the Armenian people.