Vatican’s official newspaper, “L’Osservatore Romano,” recently published an article titled “A Khudavang, Ganjasar e Khatiravang Monasteri tra le nuvole” (meaning “Dadivank, Gandzasar, and Khatiravank Monasteries in the Clouds”), where the exceptional Armenian monuments, Dadivank, Gandzasar, and Khatravank, are presented as Caucasian Albanian heritage. The author of the article, Rossella Fabiani, wrote about her visits to Azerbaijan and noted that she visited “Garabagh” (emphasis in the original article) and got acquainted with the famous monasteries of Albanian heritage.
It is important to emphasize that the article is devoid of scientific basis and relies purely on subjective viewpoints and personal observations. Moreover, the article’s title involves Azerbaijani-modified names for Armenian monumemts, indicating an infiltration of Azerbaijani state propaganda into the official Vatican publication.
The Geghard Foundation has consistently addressed the issue of the ‘Albanization’ of Armenian cultural heritage by Azerbaijan. It is alarming that the mechanism of forcibly appropriating Armenian heritage is now extending its reach to new international platforms. This is, of course, due to Azerbaijan’s oil money and its huge investments in the activities of international structures and organizations.
On the one hand, Azerbaijan is creating an image of a ‘multi-cultural and democratic’ state, while on the other hand, it is ‘internationalizing’ the mechanisms of forced appropriation of Armenian cultural heritage and falsifications of history.
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A few months ago, a photo exhibition dedicated to the so-called ‘Albanian heritage’ was organized in Poland, where the Azerbaijani embassy was actively involved. These are dangerous precedents for the distortion of the identity of Armenian heritage, the falsification of historical facts, and the spread of these theses through international platforms.
The Geghard Foundation strongly denounces the Aliyev regime’s systematic efforts to appropriate Armenian cultural heritage. We urge leading international scientific organizations, institutions, and media not to promote Azerbaijan’s state-sponsored campaign of anti-Armenian propaganda.
